back in the U.S. of A.

For a brief time, at least. Mike and I spent a week in Denver back at the beginning of August, and I can't even begin to tell you how lovely it was to see our dear friends and family. My whole family--yaaaay!--swung through on their way to a wedding in Canada, and we stayed with Mike's mom and had dinner with his brother. We also got to visit two of the three brand-new-ish babies born to close and wonderful friends since we left; spent several roasting hours at the Botanic Gardens (but at least it was a dry heat...!); drove to Boulder several times; and generally kept busy with shopping and eating. Turns out, I didn't fully realize just how much I had been missing Mexican food (New and otherwise) until I had stuffed myself silly with it on this trip, but more on that later. Now, a few pretties from the Gardens, my favorite place in the whole of Denver.

Don't know what this is, but I love the color!

Apparently, it was water lily season.

I heart the succulents/cacti room.

It never ceases to amaze me what they can grow here. Incroyable, as Jean K. Jean might say.

More water lilies. You cannot possibly conceive of how many photos I took of these.

Different kinda lily.

Orchids in the new conservatory.

Some sort of hanging weirdness in the tropical conservatory.

Duckies! These guys are a joint venture with the zoo and have only been there a couple of months. And they're TINY and have blue bills. I love them.

Some sort of neat frond-y thing in the tropical conservatory.

Seriously, I even saw a Bird of Paradise growing there outdoors once. What can't they grow??

Even more seriously, back to the food. We didn't quite hit all of the eateries that I wanted to revisit, but we got the usual suspects: Twister's (twice! mmmmmmmm, enchiladas rancheros! and now opening a new branch in Denver proper!), Casa Vallarta (for pork carnitas and a burrito Colorado!), Señor Ric's (for $11 margarita pitchers, queso dip, and green pork chile con huevos! seriously, stop by on a Tuesday night, at Mississippi & 225 in Aurora--the margaritas are great and the green chile nice and spicy!), Illegal Pete's (for shredded beef/green chile and cheesy chicken burritos), Snooze (for brunchtime goodness with my best friend in all the world!), Sonic (I know, seems out of place on this list, but their green chile bacon cheeseburgers are so fantastic, and who doesn't love tater tots??), and, of course, Taco Bell (a true weakness of both my husband and myself, plus, somehow America managed to export only its more worst large fast food chains to Europe--McDonald's and Burger King, YUCK--so we needed a far tastier lard-and-"meat product" fix, please don't tell me what's actually in it, because I'll just end up being sad but continue to eat it anyway, and then that would just be mean of you). And then for the new-ish experiences: Rioja, for some fairly fancy dinin', and Jack-n-Grill for some super affordable and tasty New Mexican food.

So...Rioja. I'd really been wanting to eat there since before we left, as it came highly recommended by our friends Dane and Sarah, whose recommendation for food I'd take anytime (thanks, guys!). And whom we met there for a lovely fine dining experience. We all started with apps to split: an order of the fresh bacon (in a cardamom/curry/garbanzo bean puree), the Thai scallops (lemongrass panna cotta, compressed pineapple, plantain tuille, coconut kaffir lime purée, Thai red curry vinaigrette--not that I know what all of that means, or particularly like scallops, but these were quite nice!), and the Rioja picnic (wow: fennel salami, red wine bresaola, and Parma ham; pine nut crusted goat cheese; Italian gorgonzola; olives; truffle fennel salad; orange confit; and almonds, with some sort of giant grainy crackers). The entrees: mine was one of the evening's specials with some sort of fish and basil-filled ravioli in a salty broth with sweet cherry tomatoes, scallions (I think...!), and salmon meatballs; tasty, but nothing terribly spectacular. Mike (and Dane--the big winners of the evening, I posit) had the grilled Kurobuta pork chop with Dubliner cheddar tater tots, grilled bacon-wrapped summer beans, applewood smoked bacon vinaigrette, and black truffle crème fraîche. A giant dollop of which they slathered on top of the pork chop, rather dramatically, when the food was served. One comment on the service: Dane was away from the table at the exact moment when our entrees were served, so the waiter offered to have the kitchen keep it warm for him (bonus #1). Upon his return, they presented him not only with his own plate, but with an additional plate of the tater tots, as they felt that his original tots were now "soggy." Whatever you say, guys, but it all boils down to twice the tater tots (bonus #2!). If that's not service, I don't know what is. Anyway. Desserts: I had the lemon tart with a pine nut cornmeal crust, with lemon confit, pine nut brittle ice cream, and lemoncello granita...and I cannot even begin to describe how shockingly tart the granita was, but at the same time, how utterly delicious! (I really need to figure out how to make that at home, and then just keep it in the freezer for emergencies requiring frozen, super lemony treats.) Oh yeah...and the tart et al. was pretty fantastic, too. Mike had the “whopper” torte, with a crispy malted shortbread crust, chocolate flan, caramel mousse, and malted creme anglaise. Also very tasty, but pretty darn rich after such a large (and also rich!) meal. I will be honest, though, while the service was quite polite, and our water glasses were never empty, and we were never at a loss for delicious breads (with lavender! orange! goat cheese and scallions! and other things I can't remember!), it was a bit slow...as in, it took us three hours to eat, and not because it was Italian-style with 6 courses and a nap/walkies in between. Nope. Just slow. HOWEVER. All in all, I can highly recommend Rioja for a really nice dinner on Larimer Square. Mmmmmm, Larimer...

Also managed to squeeze in some all-you-can-eat sushi at Sushi Katsu with Mike's brother Bobby and his wife Anastasiya, and how fun. They're planning to visit Europe over New Year's and we got to talk travel, which, as everyone might have guessed, is one of my favorite topics, second only, perhaps, to food. And on that subject, why, one might ask, would cosmopolitan quasi-foodies such as ourselves seek out sushi in land-locked Denver? It's simple: Switzerland, too, is quite land-locked, but Denver is a large airline hub, which means that fishies can be flown in quite fresh; and while is sushi here exorbitantly expensive, it cost $24 apiece to have all-we-could-eat sushi and appetizers at dinnertime, 10 minutes from our old house, on Havana. All we had to do was eat everything we ordered, which turned out to be no problem whatsoever. Yes, please! I couldn't even attempt to tell you which rolls we ate, being a relatively new convert to the glory of sushi: I just know there was tuna and salmon and chiles and scallions and avocado involved, as well as tempura shrimp and veggies and edamame. Yessss. Surprisingly good, fresh sushi (and other goodies, including those weird, but strangely delicious, sticky little mochi ice cream balls) in a strip mall in Aurora. Who knew?? A great recommendation from both our old next-door-neighbors and Mike's sister-in-law, and one we will surely be visiting again in the future.

And now, to the budget New Mexican food. Which, frankly, presented quite a refreshing change from the overpriced, underwhelming food one finds rather easily here in Zürich! I speak, of course, of the fabulous Jack-n-Grill, located, somewhat sketchily, on Federal, near the football stadium. We met up with some of my friends from back in the day at SWCA, most of whom live very near downtown Denver, and it was just tremendous to see them all: not to sound sappy, but these are smart, fun, independent, motivated women who I am very proud to call my friends. (Sniff.) But back to the food. This was only the second time I'd been there, and while my first experience was certainly just fine, I found it a bit underwhelming, as it promised authentic New Mexican cuisine, and the green chile was nowhere near hot. (Schade.) This time, however, Jack-n-Grill delivered. The margaritas were large and good, the chips and salsa were tasty, the guacamole was good, and the combination plates were huge, cheap, and delicious. All the things I look for in a good meal! Mike, the only male in attendance, and, as always, a terrifically good sport about it, had the no. 1, with a chicken enchilada, a soft chile relleno, a crunchy beef taco, beans 'n rice, and Christmas chile over everything. I, on the other hand, went for the no. 2: one beef and one chicken enchilada, with red and green chile, respectively; a bean tostada; and beans 'n rice. All of which came on two ginormous plates for each of us, and which neither of us could even get close to finishing. On the one hand, I'm proud of our collective self restraint; on the other, so sad to leave such delicious grub behind. If we'd had a few more days, you can bet that I would have taken those leftovers down, but as it was, my family and I had already filled my mother-in-law's refrigerator with no fewer than ten (no exaggeration!) styrofoam boxes...so I bid a fond adieu to my leftovers, and to my downtown friends. A lovely, affordable dinner on a lovely (if noisy and a bit smoky, thanks to stupid chain-smoking crazy guy!) outdoor patio, with some lovely people.

Wow, I did not mean to ramble on quite to this extent about the food. I seriously need to find a job in which they pay me to A) eat, and then B) to talk and/or write about it. Think I might have a serious obsession here. Too bad I have no actual/marketable skills or knowledge pertaining to the subject.

To sum up the Denver trip: we certainly don't miss all the driving, the strip malls, or the wicked (again, at least it's dry...!) heat, but we do miss the wonderful people, the lovely food, and affordable shopping (who knew I'd have to import a decent mouthwash?!). We'll be back to visit soon, but in the mean time, let us know if any of you are coming to visit: we have a list of goods we'll need you to smuggle bring in for us.

Up next: Zürich Street Parade. Way more than just a parade, I can tell you that.

let me just say...

that I think the quality (and cultural pertinence) of children's movies (i.e., cartoons/animation/whatever) has increased dramatically since I was a kid. I'll admit it: this evening, Mike and I have watched both 'Megamind' (yaaaay!) and 'Shrek 4' (booooo!), and I've heard, at various points, the musical intonations of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Guns 'n Roses, and the Beastie Boys. Among others. Um, yesssssss. Listen, children, to the musical heritage of your American culture, and partake. Absorb. Learn. Awesome. I know, I'm a little overexcited about this, but you have to admit, it's a far sight better than the strains of whatever transient, meaningless nonsense they piped through the 'Benji' sequels and 'Pete's Dragon,' and all the other Disney (and Disney-related) movies from my childhood. Which, frankly, were fairly terrible, including the original 'Tron' (listen, people, it wasn't that good!) and 'The Fox and the Hound' (nearly as traumatic as 'Bambi'!) Anyway. All of this to say a giant "yaaaaaaaay!" for relatively current children's movie producers (despite the fact that the actual movies may, or may not, be crap) and their musical choices. In all seriousness, way to go, gang. Record-breaking debt, crushing economic crises, global warming, ecological destruction: at least we're getting the music right...! My kids, should they ever exist, will at least be able to recognize proper music. And I thank you, Hollywood, for that, if for nothing else. Except for maybe 'Dumb and Dumber' and 'The Nightmare before Christmas.' Lasting quality, there.

good news, everyone!

I passed the ol' Stufentest with a solid B+ average on the thing, wooooooo! But that also means I get to start A2 on Monday, booooooooo. I was thinking about taking a little time off, primarily to rest my brain, but I have the opportunity to start the next level with my same teacher, so why not? It's only for a few weeks, at least: I'm stopping when my family comes to visit, so YOU GUYS BETTER BUY YOUR PLANE TICKETS BEFORE I GO MORE CRAZIER. I'm just saying. If I fall victim to German-class-induced insanity, it's all your fault. I'm sure the guilt would be unbearable. (It was...SOAP POISONING!) Just saying. That's all.

it's scary, really.

The extent to which my brain can affect me physiologically, I mean. Today was my level test (Stufentest) for German A1: should I pass, I am eligible to continue on to level A2. Should I fail, I must hang my head in shame, retire from society for a while, and then probably retake it at some point down the line. So despite the fact that I've had a test every other Friday for the last sixteen weeks or thereabouts, and have therefore grown accustomed to being under a certain level of pressure, I was just a weeny, woony bit nervous about this one. And so, at various points during said test, I found myself feeling as though I would A) pass out, B) vomit, or C) perhaps relive the joy of getting a migraine headache, as my upper lip, for some reason, went all numb and tingly. WHAT. THE. HECK. I'm not ill, I have no physical problems at this time (other than the usual...!), and yet there I am, trying to take a widdle test, and feeling like I'm going to topple over at any moment. It was utterly bizarre and appalling and amazing, all at the same time. Stupid brain. And if I get this anxious over something as relatively unimportant, in the grand scheme of things, as going on to the next level of German, do I really WANT to keep going? What might my brain inflict upon me next??

Anyway. I promised you Liechtenstein, and so Liechtenstein you shall have. Mike had a work holiday on the last Monday in July, so Sunday afternoon we took the bike to Liechtenstein, and why would we do such a thing? Because we could, and because it's there. FYI, it's actually a principality (Fürstentum), is smaller than Washington, D.C., and is one of the richest countries in the world. Their currency is the Swiss franc, and although their official language is German, they still greet you in Swiss German. There's a castle overlooking the capital city--Vaduz--but you can't visit it because the prince actually lives there. Weird little place, but so beautiful! And we found the people to be really nice, and quite fluent in English as well. Vaduz is quite pretty--in a valley, next to the Rhine River, between two fairly dramatic mountain ranges (Liechtenstein is also the only country to be entirely situated in the Alps...COOL), and we had perfect bike weather. Loved it.

The breakdown: we rolled into town and checked into our hotel, and while Mike was checking in I stood outside and kept an eye on the bike because I wasn't entirely sure that it was parked in a place that one might call "legal." In the mean time, I had my picture taken by a Japanese tourist. Entirely bizarre. After we got into our room, we took a two-hour ride up the mountain immediately to the east of the city, then explored the single street that constitutes Vaduz's historical district (walking it end to end probably took 10 minutes). Had some fantastic pizza for dinner (since everything else was, sadly, closed, it being a Sunday night) at Potenza: Mike had the capricciosa--spicy salami, capers, sardines (which he failed to notice when perusing the menu, ha, ha!)--and I had a delicious campagnola, with bacon, garlic, onions, oregano, and mushrooms (which I promptly gave to Mike). Really good pizza, our waitress was very pleasant, and we enjoyed a lovely dinner on their outdoor patio. Monday we got our souvenir passport stamps ('cause who doesn't want a passport stamp from Liechtenstein?), then caught a late breakfast at the tiny but fantastic Börsen Cafe, right on the "main drag," wherein Mike had a completely perfect grilled salami panini with both regular and sundried tomato pestos, and I demolished my own amazing panini with parma ham, goat cheese, arugula, and various pestos...sooooo tasty. Both of our sandwiches came with colossal mixed salads including scallions, peppers, carrots, and some sort of vinaigrette. Darn fine meal, and one I would highly recommend the next time you're passing through Vaduz at lunchtime.  Post paninis, we rode south to the town of Balzers, climbed the hill to their castle (from which we could see at least two other castles!!), checked out an interesting little stone church, then hopped on the bike to ride home through the insanely gorgeous hills of central Switzerland.

Riding in the mountains: turns out we followed this road essentially until it ran into a bowl and stopped. Here's the bowl, with a few locals who seemed somewhat puzzled by our presence.

Looking from the bowl into the town of Malbun. We're almost in Austria here.

This way to Sucka, suckers.

The ride back down the mountain. The scenery is waaaaay more dramatic than I could ever hope to capture with my remedial photography skills. (That's the Rhine at the bottom.)

Vaduz's castle and Rathaus.

Purty little church along the main (and only) drag.

We think this is the prince's box in the church.

Church 'n mountains.

The castle.

The castle dates back to 12th century, but here's this building. I suspect it's slightly more recently built. Really interesting mix of super old stuff and super new stuff in Vaduz.

This is apparently a popular European pastime: cutting your own flowers. These were gladiolus(es?).

Castle and mountains.

The foot bridge over the Rhine between Liechtenstein (the side we were on) and Switzerland (the other side). Long, dark, and full of horse apples, but we crossed it anyway.

South to Balzers and another castle...

...right next to another pretty little church.

View from the castle (Schloss Gutenberg). 

Another view from the castle. I heart our new wide-angle lens!

Schloss Gutenberg.

Schloss und Kirche. And mountains.

On this particular trip I tried something new: riding with the camera around my neck. I took some truly terrible photos, but at least you can get a feel for the scenery. Frickin' gorgeous.

Somewhere north of Vaduz.

Somewhere west of Liechtenstein, back in Switzerland. 

Monday, August 1, was the Swiss equivalent of Independence Day, although I think it's more like unification day: either way, there were Swiss flags everywhere.

Saw some neat buildings, but couldn't tell you where this was.

Think this was my favorite ride we've taken yet. Perfect weather, perfect scenery everywhere. I love the green, green hills, the little villages, the chalet-style architecture, the fields of sunflowers, etc., etc., etc. Just really idyllic, although you should know that on the bike, one can smell EVERY cow one passes. And Switzerland does, in accordance with tradition, have many, many cows.

Nifty shadows. 

Heh, heh. This is actually the name of some sort of swimmin' spot along Lake Zürich. Maybe its membership is limited to delinquents...?

As it was Switzerland's primary national holiday, we got home with expectations of fireworks, but found out later that Zürich proper does not actually host its own show. Several of the smaller towns along the lake, however, do, and you can see many of them from the Quaibrücke bridge, looking south down the lake. So. Mike and I, along with Jen, Dave, Aaron, and a bottle of cheap bubbly, went down to the bridge to stake out a spot. Upon our arrival, we discovered why so many little firework sales tents had sprung up in the previous month: because everyone buys their own gigantic (and perfectly legal!) fireworks and sets them off wherever they can find a little space (maybe a little dangerous, ok, but pretty spectacular!). We stood on the lake shore, watching the distant official city displays, and checking out all of the independent shows going on around us. The big fireworks are expensive, mind you, but it was very clear that a lot of people spent a lot of money preparing for that holiday. Sadly, I have no photos or video to commemorate the experience, but it was truly something we were not prepared for: crazy big fireworks in the hands of locals, shooting them off everywhere, with live music on our street until midnight! How terrifically un-Swiss of everyone! And really fun. Mike was ecstatic and is already planning to money with friends for our own fireworks next year. Yikes.

What I'm reading now: finished up the Black Bart book, which was seriously interesting, given that I knew nothing about him, and, as it turns out, he is quite underrated in the annals of pirate history. The guy was only really a pirate for 3 years, and managed to capture over 400 prizes! Really fascinating story, but I always find that when a historian takes a side--in this case, the author just kept defending how noble pirates really were, how much less bad they were than traditionally perceived, etc.--it certainly casts doubt, for me, at least, on the veracity of the story being told. As in, perhaps the author is putting a little extra, if not entirely accurate, polish on his subjects to prove his point. At any rate, it was a pretty informative and entertaining read, and it made me want to read more. Thus, onto The Pirate Hunter: the True Story of Captain Kidd, by Richard Zacks. Mr. Zacks' proposition is that Captain Kidd was not, in fact, a pirate, but a hunter of pirates, a position that runs somewhat counter to the common historical perception of the man. Knowing very little about Captain Kidd, I find the story compelling, but the book is loooong, and I find that it bogs down a bit more frequently than I'd like. I'm still reading, though: final verdict to come.

Wow...this was an epic post. I feel like I should give to you, my dear readers, a well-deserved break, at least for today. Fear not, though: there are plenty more musings to come. Stay tuned.

it's funny 'cause it's true.

Let me just first say that I think the rioting in the UK is hugely irresponsible and lame. That having been said, here's this bit of hilarity.

London riots now in Bern, Switzerland.

You're welcome.

crud. but also, really good food.

Just a quick note, as I just realized that I have neglected to mention the intriguing--and, in fact, delightful--little French cafe we found in our neighborhood, even before the mystery meat meal near our house. Mike worked from home one day a few weeks ago, and we decided to give Bistro Le Puy a try for lunch, since we've gone past it so many times. This place is darling, and only about a 5-minute walk up Forchstrasse. I am fairly certain that the proprietors would have had no problem conversing with us in French, had either of us the slightest inclination to request such a thing, but as it was, we told them we were learning German and they spoke very slowly and clearly for us. Since neither of us have any discipline at home and had been snacking all day, we both ordered small items: Mike the French onion soup, and me the lentil salad. My salad was quite large, actually, and was some combination of lentils and diced carrots and vinegar and spices on a bed of lettuce, served cold, and quite tasty. Mike's soup, though, was unlike any I've ever seen: in the standard white crockery, yes, but with a GIANT PUFF PASTRY on top. I am quite ignorant of the nuances of French cooking, and so this may be old hat to the rest of you French onion soup lovers, but it was quite a gorgeous surprise for us. It even had a little cheese baked on top. Mike actually had to break through the crust to get to the soup, and then figure out how to cave it all into the bowl so that he could eat it all together. A little messy and crumb-y, but SO tasty and spectacular. Really good food, I thought, and Mike's latte was pretty good as well. Definitely worth a return trip or ten, and as they had several items involving goat cheese on the menu, so you know I will be going back. Yummmm. What a pleasant little local neighborhood surprise.

sorry, indeed.

That's what kind of blogger I'm turning out to be. A sorry one. Indeed. Yes, folks, I am about as behind as you can be on keeping the old blog updated, and I apologize. So. To business!

Mike and I just returned to Switzerland from an extremely brief trip back to the U.S., but before we left, we did some eatin'. This here is my underwhelming attempt at managing my restaurant reviews. We live in a lovely little neighborhood here, and are surrounded by a whole lot of really small, locals-only restaurants, and Cafe Füchsli was exactly that. It's about a five-minute walk from our apartment and is in a funky little corner building with a terrace and a NEAT wooden ceiling. Its charm essentially ended there, however: the waitress, while effective enough, was not terribly thrilled to have us there. Undaunted, we perused the German menu and quickly settled on the entrecôte (Mike) and the "fleischkäse" (me). Mike's little steak turned out to be perfectly cooked, topped with a healthy slathering of herbed butter and surrounded by steamed veggies...yum. As I really had no idea what to expect from my "meatcheese", I should not have been surprised to be presented with a plate full of fried mystery meat topped with a fried egg, and yet, there it was, accompanied by some fairly decent french fries. I should have had the self control to not eat the entire slab of whatever it was (canned ham? some heretofore unknown variety of European spam?), but it was FRIED AND TOPPED WITH A FRIED EGG. Come on. How was I not supposed to finish that? It was just so meatily crunchy (and I mean that in the best possible way) and salty and topped with a fried egg. I rest my case. Not the best meal (or best service...!) of our lives, but it's just so close by that it may be worth going back to try some of their ravioli with sage and butter. Hard to go wrong with that.

Meal no. 2: quite a different experience. We went down to the Viadukt with our friend Nanda for a little cheese-and-port tasting sponsored by the utterly charming British cheese guy who has a booth there, and decided to stay and try out the restaurant for dinner. (For those of you not as familiar with the Zürich snooty food scene, the Viadukt is this super cool market built under a giant stone train trestle, populated with only the most expensive and luxurious foods/flowers/drinks/etc. available. Zürich's version of Whole Foods, only smaller and waaaay more expensive. They have clothing/furniture/other stores, too, but who cares, when there's food to be had??) Our waiter was extremely pleasant and quite enthusiastic when it came to describing the day's specials to us, and the menu was quite lovely, full of organic/local/other snooty choices, all of which we love. (Obviously.) Nanda went for the gazpacho (too much cheese-n-crackers beforehand, perhaps...?), Mike chose the pork steak, and I selected some sort of freshwater fish. Nanda's soup, which I, sadly, did not sample, arrived in a GIANT serving bowl, and my rather large portion of extremely tender fish arrived ALSO in a giant dish, on top of some sort of "black" (ok, it was purple, but they called it black) risotto, amidst heaps of extremely mild chopped scallions. Mike's steak came with mushroom risotto, and it was ALL pretty tasty, and surprisingly well priced...by Zürich standards, anyway. In all honesty, I can't tell you what wine we had, only that it was red and just fine. Service was a little slow, but we had a lovely meal in a very pleasant atmosphere (cool stone train trestle!), and as an added bonus, we got to chat with the cheese guy for a half-hour or so. What an interesting person. He decided to start selling British cheese to the Swiss--quite an undertaking, that, as the Swiss are extremely proud of their cheese!--after he married a Swiss girl and couldn't find a job in graphic design, which is his background. Figuring that he'd always loved food, and cheese in particular, and didn't want to be a cook, he settled on opening a British cheese shop in the Viadukt, and has quite a busy operation for himself. Plus, his wife raises thoroughbred Arabian horses on a farm up in the mountains, so there's that, too. At any rate, his cheddars are fantastic, and I actually don't hate the Stilton, which is a RINGING ENDORSEMENT from someone--me--who despises most blue cheeses. Anyway. Pretty good meal, not too terribly priced, in a fun atmosphere. We hear the Viadukt does the best espresso in town, too, so we will certainly be returning for that. And probably to buy some other varieties of seriously overpriced food products.

Ahhhh, Zürich. We're number 1! (No, wait. Make that number 6, or possibly 7...)

Up next: Liechtenstein.