Zurich Thrifting: Brockenhaus

Isn't this painting cute? I think it's two bears holding hands--mommy bear and baby bear. I love kid's art. I can't wait till Lois wants to draw and paint. This is from the Zurich Brockenhaus. I've been wanting to go there for days now. I went the other day with Lois in the stroller, but you have to walk up about 6 steps to get in, and I noticed it was multiple floors, so I decided we should go another day. It's sort of like the Salvation Army, I think. Here's some interesting background on where the name comes from. It's three floors, though I really spent most of my time on one floor. It's very neat, well organized, and nicely merchandised. It's not like most thrift stores in the states where things are just piled up. It was decorated and arranged more like any other store that would have new merchandise. They had so much great stuff--clothes, shoes, furniture, artwork, books and especially glassware and the little things I like so much--the bric-a-brac. I was in used stuff heaven! I covertly took a few photos and you can see more in the photo gallery of their site.

One thing about the second hand shops I noticed is I don't think it's especially cool to shop at these types of places like it is in the states, or at least like it is in San Francisco (not that it's necessarily cool, but maybe you know what I mean). There you have to fight a bunch of other hipsters to get to the cute vegan clutch. And I felt like people shopping at the Brokenhaus, and a few other second hand places, kind of kept to themselves, as if they didn't want to be noticed. Maybe that's a Swiss thing and not a second hand shopping thing, but second hand shopping places are the only places I've noticed people behaving that way. I wonder. I could be totally wrong. Andrew often tells me I'm a bad people reader. Maybe they're just trying to be discreet to make sure nobody else notices the cool stuff they're looking at. Maybe a Swiss Miss blogger will tell me what she thinks.

Above are some of the beautiful books. They had tons of books, new and old. Below is a cute fabric lined basket. I thought it would be cute painted red to go with the cute brown flower print. Good for a yarn stash.

They had lots of great unbrellas, uh, and a swiffer mop thing.

The kitchen stuff was the best. So many great things!

I loved this hand painted mug. I wish I had bought it. I want to go back to get it! I want to give it to my mom. I think she would really like it.

I'm on the lookout for hotel silver for Lisa. I didn't find any here, but I'm still looking.

And below is what I brought home. I wanted so many other things, but it was time to go. Lois always tells me when it's time to go. I have no idea what these books are about, but I loved the covers. Sometimes it's just good to judge a book by its cover! The one with the thorny heart, rose, crown cover is great. I love it. The crown really makes it for me. Roses and thorns, eh, but with a crown on top? Like a cherry on a cake.

Then I bought this sweet illustration of a church on a hill. Everywhere here there are churches on hills. I've never seen so many churches, especially on our train ride to Paris. Every little town had a church on a hill, just like in the picture I posted from our train ride. Whenever we travel, we bring something home to remind us of where we were. I still haven't framed what we brought home from Dublin or Tokyo, but lucky for me, this one is already framed.


And lastly, I got this cute tin. Perfect for craft stuff.

There's also this funky shop down the street from the Brockenhaus. Sorry for the glare of the street, but it was the best I could do. Looks like a fun shop, but like so many places here, it doesn't seem to be open often. Last time I went by it was closed too.

Fun random stuff is in the window display.

I had tons of fun at the Brockenhaus, but one sad thing happened today. I lost Lois' cute bunny hat that my mom made. This is her wearing it for the last time. I took some pictures of her in it this morning before we left because she looked so cute. I lost it somewhere in the Brokenhaus. As I was checking out I went to grab it to put it back on her head. I had taken it off and put in my pocket when we got there so she wouldn't get too warm. When I reached for it, it was gone! I looked everywhere and told the nice women working there about it. They said if anyone brought it to the counter trying to buy it, they'd hold it. I will have to go back. I walked the whole way home trying not to cry, thinking about how silly it was that I was so upset over it, with people dying in plane crashes, fires, starving people in world, etc. Still, it meant so much to me. As my mom reminded me when I called her to tell her--things are just that, things, and it's not that big of a deal. She looks darn cute in it though, doesn't she? I just hope whoever ends up with it will love it too.