really, Switzerland? a rant on a variety of topics.

Dear reader,

I apologize: I promised you Barcelona, and instead you get my angry ramblings about things that set me off today. Barcelona is next, this I promise. But first: rantings!

1) I woke up with a lovely little tune in my head this morning, and I should have written it down because now it's gone. Argh.

2) AHHHHHH, it is so bloody cold in this country! Anything that stands still long enough is more than likely to freeze, because our temperatures haven't been over freezing in almost THREE WEEKS. This is not fun for me. I am now being forced to exercise in doors, which is trickier here than it was in Denver because A, we have no space for an elliptical trainer here (oh, how I miss my elliptical machine!!), and B, see no. 3 below.

2a) Also, I was so cold outside today, as I was waiting three minutes for a tram, that I was compelled to spend FIVE FRANCS on glühwein, on which I promptly burned my tongue. Ugh.

2b) And also, in yet another drawback to winter, for some reason, the trams rumbling past our apartment are much louder in the cold weather. Science geeks, discuss.

3) And finally. Really, Switzerland, why with the maintaining of your hallowed, heavily (one might even say, militantly) guarded neutrality? I realize there exists the perception that this is somehow a great commodity for you, and in this day and age of the flailing Euro, I get it, at least from a financial perspective. But on other fronts? It ain't the 1800s (or the 1910s, or the 1940s, or any other major European wartime decade) anymore, kids. Also, I fully appreciate the benefits of the Schengen (or as I like to call it, the Schinken) Agreement, but seriously: WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST BE MAIL-ORDER AND ONLINE-SHOPPING FRIENDS? WHY IS IT SO HARD, AND SO EXPENSIVE, TO ORDER ITEMS OF A PERFECTLY INNOCENT AND BENEFICIAL NATURE FROM OUTSIDE OF THIS COUNTRY? Even the various Amazon websites and their associated merchants around Europe (of course, there's no Amazon.ch...!) largely refuse to ship here. It's not like I want to import illegal drugs or murderers or inferior dairy products: I just want a Bosu ball and some acai supplements. And maybe some contact juice for my husband, because IN SWITZERLAND IT COSTS 5 TIMES WHAT IT COSTS IN THE U.S. And because you keep your import duties and tariffs and taxes so ridiculously high, it's hard to find a vendor of anything who is willing to ship here. And when I can, the cost of whatever I'm ordering is usually, at minimum, doubled due to said duties/tariffs/taxes and the sheer amount of paperwork and bureaucratic crap said vendor has to wade through in order to ship here. Sometimes I'd be happy to spend extra amounts of money to shop within Switzerland, but generally, I'M TRYING TO BUY THESE THINGS FROM AN EXTERNAL VENDOR BECAUSE WHATEVER I'M LOOKING FOR DOESN'T EXIST HERE, or is completely impossible to find. Maybe the Swiss are just completely contented with the safe, prosperous, meh food, beautiful-countryside lives that it's possible to live here, but honestly, there really are awesome things (like Bosu balls! and Asian food!) that come from places that aren't Switzerland. Reach out and touch someone, Switzerland, and make some new neighboring-European-countries'-post-office friends, or at least act like you're located on the  European continent (SMACK...IN...THE...MIDDLE, as a matter of fact) and surrender the weird, inwardly-focused, isolationist, lone-wolf tendencies. At least as pertains to shipping and shopping. That is all.

In conclusion, because my knees and core workouts need it, I will most likely eventually end up spending 230 francs ($250!!) for a stupid Bosu ball (which, if you did not click on the link above, costs around $110 in the bloody U.S.). Which I will have to order online from the single and only Swiss vendor I could find selling these things. Ugh, again.


(Excuse me, miss, but I think your frustration is showing.)

felice anno nuovo, amici.

After procrastinating and delaying and putting things off a little more, the blog is back. And I have lots to catch up on, starting with the Christmas lights in Zürich. The Swiss do not mess around when it comes to Christmas decorating: basically every shop, and many homes, has some form of lights or tree or bows or tinsel or something going on. My pitiful photos cannot possibly do justice to the major decorations (Bahnhofstrasse! old town!), but trust me when I say it was a teensy bit magical, especially in combination with the wee Christmas markets (and I mean wee) that made their appearances around town. Let's get one thing straight, here: I don't care so much about the goods hawked at these little markets as I do the food, which is glorious: raclette, fondue-to-go, hot chocolate, pretzels, glühwein, various punsches and tees, various ethnic delights (a whole Indian food booth! risotto! "American-style" donuts!) and--naturally--bratwurst. Swiss cold-weather street food rules, and I feel like I simply did not eat enough of it this year. I am already preparing mentally for next year. But anyway...Christmas decorations.

The airport. SO many lights. They even had little Swarovski chandeliers all over the train station.

Credit Suisse style.

They actually wrap buildings in lights near Bahnhofstrasse.

The tiny Christmas market near Bahnhofstrasse.

B-hofstrasse itself, with a grid of zillions of little multicolored lights suspended over it. MAGIC.

Hotel lights, big trees, actual trees made of lights along the river, and Grossmünster in the background.

I saw a guy carrying one of these to install it, and it's at least 3 feet across. Whole streets lined with them. Awesome.

Last, but certainly not least, the 30-foot tree at the main train station, covered head-to-toe in Swarovski crystal, which I have no use for. HOWEVER. This is by far the best use of them I've ever seen: this thing was soooooo sparkly.

Seriously, this is just a handful of the Christmas craziness around the city. Which I loved every minute of. The lights and the food and the glühwein certainly make the cold and dreariness bearable...too bad they don't keep it all up until March.  

Next up: the trip back to Denver and Los Alamos. Since most of you, dear readers, were involved in said trip, I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that we had a fantastic time, got to spend quality time with both of our families and a few good friends, and ate actual tons of Mexican food. (Twisters! Senor Ric's! Illegal Pete's! Jack n Grill! Tomasita's! Chile Works! You are a delight, and I cherish our times together.)

Mike's brother and sister-in-law flew back with us after Christmas, so we got to celebrate the New Year with them and a handful of other expats in Zürich. They did a little city touring, and everyone (except me...I couldn't stop coughing my fool head off, in my fifth cold of the last five months) went sledding up in the Alps, which I hear was brutally cold, but also tremendously fun. We had a delicious fondue dinner at Chäsalp consisting of all-we-could-eat fondue served with cubed bread, potatoes, ham, and veggies...and we tried at least six different types of fondue (spicy, herb-y, the house fondue, bacon, ham-and-pepper, tomatoes...I think that was it). IT. WAS. AMAZING. I heart fondue, and especially the ones with stuff in them. Our New Year's celebration was a fancy schmancy multi-course meal at Seerose, a lovely little restaurant a ways down the western side of the lake (and right on it). The food was good, but let's be honest: I was chatting away with our friend Nathalie, and I don't remember much of what we ate.* Post-dinner was a champagne toast and watching fireworks out on the lakeside terrace, which would have been awesome, except that it was raining and we were a million miles away from said fireworks. (I am obsessed with giant fancy firework displays, mainly because I have this curse prevents me from ever getting to see them. Which explains my utter bitterness and hearbreak on New Year's.  I want to be directly underneath, essentially in harm's way, feeling the concussion in my chest and being required to wear earplugs and crane my head back to take it all in. The show was long, but this particular experience, to say the least, was a huge opportunity for me, and ended in giant disappointment. I will confess to actually weeping at how far away the fireworks were from us.) Post-fireworks we tried to go partake of the festivities at Bürkliplatz, which were a bunch of music tents and food-and-drink booths (where I would have preferred to spend the entire evening--street food and giant fireworks!!! is there anything better?), but everything was crowded, so we just sorta meandered home. 

At least the following days were fantastic. Mike rented us an SUV and he and I and Bobby and Anastasiya piled in for a little road trip down to Italy. We started in Milan, which isn't the most interesting or the most foody Italian city, but does have a tremendous cathedral. 

Fourth largest cathedral in the world, started in 1386 and finished officially in 1965.

Cathedral square with Christmas tree and shopping arcade.

Cathedral interior.

Super high-end shopping arcade, all lit up for Christmas.

Next up: a brief trip to the Ferrari Gallery in Maranello on our way to Bologna.

Mike likes this one.

I dig the older ones...

...but I'd certainly not send this one back if someone were to gift it to me.

Then, Bologna. Lots of graffiti, and a little on the seedy side, but I love Bologna. The Italians call it the stomach of Italy, because it's generally agreed that that's where the best Italian food comes from. (Parmesan cheese, Parma ham/prosciutto, balsamic vinegar, tortellini, Bolognese [i.e., meat spaghetti sauce], mortadella...all extremely good things that come from the Emilia Romagna region.) But also, the city has miles of arcaded walkways and gorgeous old churches and a university and an actual food district...what's not to love? 

Neptune fountain in Piazza Maggiore.

So...much...tortellini...

The meats-n-cheeses counter at the little shop (La Vecchia Malga) where we had lunch, which consisted of more salamis and cheeses than the four of us could ever possibly have finished.

Hallway at the university.

The Teatro Anatomico, where they used to dissect people for scientific purposes (originally built between 1637 and 1645; this is a post-WWII reconstruction).

Basilica di Santo Stefano (4 churches dating back to the 8th through 13th centuries).

View from Torre Asinelli, one of the symbols of the city and one of its few remaining medieval towers. (Original estimates were that there could have been 180; now there are around 20.)

We roamed the streets in search of tourist attractions and Italian shoes (SO...PRETTY...and so very small); ate delicious, fresh sandwiches; drank fantastic espresso; and had dinner at one of the places Mike and I had eaten last time we were in the city, Trattoria le Corte Galluzzi. It's a cute, casual little place in a courtyard just off the main plaza, and the principal draw for me is the tris della casa, which is a sampler plate of three of their homemade pastas (spaghetti bolognese, teensy bowties in a fantastic cream/cheese sauce, and tortellini). But also, the rest of the food there is just terrific.* The next evening Bobby wasn't feeling so well, so we ended up eating very near to our hotel, at Ristorante Posta, which, sadly, served up only "Tuscan" fare, but ended up being quite nice (the stewed rabbit was good, the roasted potatoes were delicious, and I finally tried out bucatini calcio e pepe: their version was long tube-shaped noodles with black pepper, pecorino romano cheese, and bacon...WOW). 

Next up: Florence, which I think is one of my favorite cities now. It is SO picturesque, and the food is SO good, and one can buy very affordable leather goods there, if one is into such things. (I may have come home with a new purse, or two...) After a somewhat terrifying ride into the city--those streets were NOT designed for cars!!--Mike did a fantastic job finding our hotel, and then we managed to fit in a quick visit to see Michelangelo's David and dinner at Acqua al 2, another place Mike and I had eaten before. What I love about this place is that they have the traditional a la carte menu, and then they have the option to order a tasting menu from each section of the menu (first plates, main courses, and desserts).  I had the first-plate sampler, which turned out to be small plates of five different, and all fantastic, pastas, which I could in no way finish. Mike had his own bolognese, and then we split the main-course sampler (filet three ways: balsamic sauce, blueberry sauce, and--my favorite--grilled, sliced, and served on crisp bread with arugula and shaved Parmesan) and the dessert sampler (don't remember specifics, but I can tell you that it was delicious*). 

The historic center of Florence is silly enchanting, even in the cold and the rain (which turned out to be the majority of the weather we had on our little excursion). Still, we managed to fit in a trip to the Uffizi gallery (a whole room of Botticelli!!), the Duomo and baptistery (which I didn't even know was open to the public), and Santa Croce, which we had somehow missed the last time we were there. Appalling, really.

Santa Croce frescoes.

Guess who's buried here! Dante...

Michelangelo...

Galileo...

...and Machiavelli. Amongst others.

13th-century stained glass on display at Santa Croce.

Cimabue's crucifix, dating back to the 1200s. It's old.

The crucifix is in this building, the refectory. The frescoes ain't shabby, either.

Piazza della Signoria at night.

Santa Croce.

Ponte Vecchio, a bridge over the Arno river, lined with goldsmiths and gold sellers.

The baptistery (octagonal, in foreground) and Duomo.

The Duomo.

Baptistery doors...reproductions of the originals, which were cast in bronze in the early 1400s.

Baptistery ceiling: mosaics dating back to the 1200s (and finished in the 1400s).

Lunch in Florence, on day 2, was at a random pizzeria near the seedy leather markets by the train station (but nice pizza! and I got to have my white beans with tomato and sage, YUM), and dinner was at the place recommended by the wonderful people at our B&B**, a seemingly locals-only trattoria across the river from the Duomo, Trattoria 4 Leoni. We started with plain bruschetta with olive oil, then Mike and Bobby each had the 3-pasta starter plate (including potato-filled ravioli in meat sauce and this pear-filled tortellini-like pasta in taleggio cheese and asparagus sauce...SPECTACULAR), and I just had the potato ravioli (which Bobby had sampled elsewhere on the trip, and I was jealous, so I went for it). Then Mike and I split a plate of baccala (salted cod, basically) with a side of lemony chickpeas. Really a good, interesting meal, and our waiter was delightful.

Our last day in Italy was quick one, and spent mostly in the car; however, we managed to fit in a side trip to Pisa before having to drop Bobby and Anastasiya off at the airport in Milan. We'd been to Pisa one time before, but it was pouring rain that day and we'd walked into town from the train station, which turned out to be extremely unpleasant, so this time was much better. Cold and windy, but sunny...and we actually got to see the tower this time.

There's actually a baptistery and cathedral there, too, but no one cares...

...'cause there's this. It's quite pretty in person, and surprisingly lean-y, for letting people climb it and all. We were too cheap and time-constrained to climb it, but it neat anyway. And I got to have a mortadella-and-mozzarella sandwich on fresh focaccia. Super delicious.

Ahhh, Italy. Food, history, vino, and maybe the most beautiful language of all time. Too bad their economy is crap and their politicians are corrupt...but at least they have the rest of those other things going for them. This won't prevent us from continuing to visit, however. Rest assured.

What I'm reading: Finished up Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, which remained dry, and moved on to Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives, by David Cordingly. A few interesting anecdotes about female pirates and captains' wives who had to take over their husbands' ships in emergencies, but on the whole, just kind of a goofy book. Didn't love it. Next was Cool, Calm & Contentious, by Merrill Markoe, which was a collection of memoir-essays that were supposed to be hilarious. It had a few funny moments, but turned out to be a little more bitter and sad than I expected (like David Sedaris, for example...everyone loves him but me, although he has his moments, too). Then Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin, which I actually really loved. For an extremely dirty comic who makes most of her living bringing celebrities down a peg or two, I was surprised and delighted at how not-filthy (ok, still extremely crass, but not as bad as I'd expected) and not-bitter and ridiculously hard-working Kathy Griffin actually is. The book was also very honest and open and really pretty hilarious. Then back to the serious side of things with Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, by Leymah Gbowee. Wow. Super powerful story of history and politics in Liberia, and how women's groups brought down Charles Taylor's regime and ended the years-long civil war there. Totally and completely worth reading, if you're looking for a modern-day story of courage and heroism. Next back to the funny, with Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), by Mindy Kaling (who plays Kellie Kapoor on The Office, and is one of the head writers there). It's not the most unified of narratives, but Mindy Kaling is hilarious and I want to be friends with her. Finally, the latest two: Whatever You Do, Don't Run, and Don't Look Behind You!, stories from leading safaris in South Africa and Botswana, by Peter Allison.  This guy is funny and self-deprecating, and his stories are amazing and make me want to go on a safari. And also maybe to hug a cheetah, which is, of course, something he's never done, but he makes them sound so delightful and endearing.

Anyway.

This post has gone on long enough. Thanks for letting me take up so much of your time. I promise, it's mostly out of my system now. 

Next up: Barcelona, woooooo! But just a little, short trip.

   

*And also, I've been just terrible recently about taking notes on, and/or remembering, the sheer amounts of delicious things we've eaten lately. But really, how many food descriptions do you actually want to read...?

**FYI, the next time you're in Florence, STAY AT RESIDENZA GIOTTO. They are the nicest, warmest people, the prices are fair, and the location can't be beat (as in, most of their rooms have a window or balcony view of the Duomo, which is literally right around the corner from the front door). They took extremely good care of our little group, through car troubles (not our fault!) and a terrible case of food poisoning.