and now for a little ketchup.

Er, catching-up, I mean. I detest ketchup in any form other than barbecue sauce.

Hello again, faithful readers! However many of you are left, anyway. I apologize, as always, for my tardiness in posting interesting events reasonably quickly after they happen, but obviously, I am incapable of pulling that off. So. Here we find ourselves again, me recollecting things hazily, and you along for a shabbily-written ride into the recent past. Yahoo for time travel!

And with that, we're off. Back in April, our dear friend Kyle came to Europe for a couple of weeks, spending roughly one of those at our house. As Mike has me (his trophy wife) to support, I got to do a little errand-running (buying stuff for Mike's birthday!) and day-tripping to Lucerne with Kyle. It was fun. Lucerne is gorgeous. Kyle is a nutter.

Chapel Bridge.

Kyle contemplating Chapel Bridge.

Chapel Bridge with the mountains and the Jesuit church. (Lucerne is kinda pretty.)

Lake Lucerne.

Lion Monument (carved in 1820), commemorating the Swiss Guards who were killed guarding the Tuileries palace during the French Revolution in 1792.

Then, it was a brief trip to Bern (the Swiss capitol) with Kyle and our friends Nanda and René for a little sightseeing and beer tasting (well, for the menfolk, anyway). I really, truly liked Bern...a beautiful little city with nice people, an excellent coffee shop (Adriano's...their iced coffee was FANTASTIC), a UNESCO-listed old town, and a Saturday market full of amazing-sounding street food (tortas! hamburgers! fried rice! and other delicacies you don't find here that often!). But mainly, it's just a lovely place to visit.

Marktgasse.

Swiss Parliament. 

Kramgasse, with buildings and arcades dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries and tons of statue-laden fountains.

Arcades.

Shops at street level and underneath.

Bears (you know, like in the city's name) in the Bärengraben.

View from the Bärengraben.

View from Nydegg bridge.

Bern has a 15th-century cathedral, but most of it was covered in scaffolding, so here's the inside:

Fancy ceiling!

Fancy pipe organ!

...and the view from the cathedral tower.

LOOK HOW PRETTY. I really, really liked this city.

Next amongst our travels was one of our big semi-annual trips back to the U.S., and this time for my sister's wedding, no less! It's always fantastic to go back and catch up with friends and family (and to catch up on eating New Mexican food...!), but the wedding made this particular visit that much more special.  I feel a little weird about writing too much here about the wedding itself, and about posting too many photos, since it was my sister's day and she's the star of the show, so suffice it to say that my sister looked ridiculously gorgeous and her groom, Scotty, was adorable and spiffy; the ceremony was lovely; the food delicious (smoked salmon and prime rib! three flavors of cake, all of which I managed to taste, thank you very much!); and the flowers and decorations just lovely. For your consideration:

Look at my super gorgeous sister!

Joy 'n Scotty cutting their adorable cake. Awwww.

Love. These. Flowers.

Naturally the tertiary goal of the trip for us (after seeing family and attending the wedding, of course) was cramming in as much New Mexican food as we could handle. The highlights: breakfast burritos and enchiladas rancheros (WOOOO!) from Twister's; fantastic salsa and pork carnitas at Casa Vallarta; green chile bacon cheeseburgers, tots, and cherry limeades from Sonic (yes, this absolutely makes the list, deal with it); breakfast burritos laden with the best green chile ever from Chile Works; yet more green chile on an actual perfect bean burrito (and, let's face it, anything on the menu) at Tesuque Cafe; enchiladas and combo plates at Rancho de Chimayo for my sister's rehearsal dinner (such awesome food! such a gorgeous location!); guacamole at Gabriel's; and combination plates, wicked good salsa with blue corn chips, and fancy-schmance margaritas at Tomasita's. Ahhh, New Mexico, how we miss your cuisine when we are away.

What I'm reading: finally, finally finished The Nelson Touch, which was a bit lengthy and dry, even by my standards. Conclusions drawn: Nelson was a vain, silly, self-important, selfish man, and was not lacking in nerve when it came to seeking advancement or promoting his own self interests. He clearly had no small amount of courage, and exhibited occasional touches of maritime military brilliance, but it sounds, frankly, as though he was intolerable in both his professional and personal lives. Now I'm on to another mammoth read, but a work of fiction that I am truly excited about: The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. It is quite rare that I re-read a book, but I've read this one before, know how it ends, and it is still a true pleasure to be back in it again. It's tremendously creepy, and seriously well written; if you enjoy history, mystery, a creative and complex story, and lush, evocative prose, this one is for you. LOVE IT.

My favorite things: shallots. Like onions, only better. 'Nuff said.

Next up: a lovely anniversary and a trip to Bellinzona, with its THREE CASTLES. Sweet.

blogging at the speed of light.

Let's face it...I've been truly, truly slacking off on this blogging thing. Much has transpired over the last few weeks...most of it relatively unimportant, but fun and interesting nonetheless. Here's the important bit: our friend Nanda had her baby two days ago, and I got to go visit them today. Little Finn is by far the newest baby I've ever seen, but super tiny and cute and--despite his parents' protestations--quite entertaining. How can he make so many faces in such a short amount of time? How can his tiny wrinkle-y fingers be so tiny? And can he possibly love the little green monster that I made for him as much as I (and pretty much all adults, apparently) love it?

This may be my finest work yet. Along with the wiener dog, the turtle, and the plesiosaur. And all hippos and octopi out there. Plus a few blankies and hats. And a teddy bear here and there. Ok...so I love them all.

In other news, we've been doing a little short-range traveling, and it's been a good time. But first, there was Sechseläuten on April 16. You remember...the exploding snowman holiday. One of my favorites. As you may (or may not, whatever) remember, the snowman is Zürich's rough equivalent to the groundhog: the faster his head explodes, the longer and nicer summer will be. Despite the rain and wretchedly cold temperatures, he went up four minutes faster than last year...and, perhaps coincidentally, one could actually smell the accelerant they'd thrown on it earlier (many, many buckets of which, or so I'm told). I was supposed to meet up with Mike, but couldn't get across the parade route, so his view of all of this was way better than mine. Hence, his video here.

Sigh. At least the crappy weather meant that we got to have raclette and glühwein on the way to a barbecue at Dave's apartment. (No grilling sausages over the sacred flame for us, this year. TOO COLD AND RAINY. Bah, humbug.) 

We spent the next weekend in Munich with Dave and Jen, but not for any museum/church/art/cultural purposes: it was solely a lederhosen-shopping, meat-eating, and beer-tent-visiting weekend, make no mistake. It was actually kinda fun having no "we have to see this thing!" agenda...we were really just trying to find Mike a pair of lederhosen. And to dine on Munich's finest sausages and pork products. Mission accomplished.

But first, Munich itself. I really like it: it has some old, pretty buildings, mixed into what feels like a warm, modern, liveable city, replete with fancy markets, interesting little shops, and lots of good food.

Palace of Justice.

Karlstor (city gate from the 18th century).

Marienplatz (town hall on left).

Detail of glockenspiel on the town hall.

Lions on Odeonsplatz.

Michael Jackson memorial...??

Wittelsbach fountain.

Isartor city gate, dating to the 14th century and restored in the 19th.

And then there was the food...

Possible tons of Nuremberg-style sausages and pork steaks, marinated, not-marinated, grilled, with mustard, etc. And sauerbraten, cheese spätzle topped with fried onions (SO tasty), and German potato salad at Bratwurst Herzl. Yes, please.

Mike's giant stack o' meats at Wirtshaus Ayingers.

My Bavarian breakfast at Wirtshaus in der Au. Look at those meats and cheeses and scrambled eggs positively stuffed with bacon and the tart-berries-and-yogurt and homemade jams. Seriously loved this place, and I didn't even have the knödel. (Although Mike's were delicious.)

Dallmayr market (ok, "luxury delicatessen"): LOOK AT THIS CHOCOLATE COUNTER.

AND THIS PASTRY COUNTER. 

Dallmayr, incidentally, also had gorgeous meat and cheese and coffee and fruit and all manner of other gorgeous counters and displays and it seems like it might be an easy place to spend lots of money. As was Manufactum, where we had some truly delicious coffee and small plates. Other notable meals: smoked pork, various delicious cuts of beef, actual fresh vegetables, and HERBED BUTTER at Der Pschorr. And extremely fantastic coffees and fresh breads with frischkäse and chives (or jam, in Mike's case), plus a slice of rhubarb tart at Aran. Sooooooo tasty.

And then...the shopping and the outfits and the beer tents.

Mike in the shorter lederhosen...

...and in the slightly-longer-than-knee-length ones he ended up with.

That's a lot of belts and suspenders.

To the tents, and the carnival...

The spring festival carnival.

The wee, Augustiner-colored lion that Mike and Dave (collectively) won for me at the shooting booth in the carnival. (Jen got one, too.)

The Hippodrome beer tent.

The Augustiner beer tent.

Hofbrauhaus...a Munich institution.

Hofbrahaus interior, complete with oompah band on the right.

I may have been talked into purchasing a quasi-authentic costume (dirndl, to those in the know) myself.

Jen was persuaded, as well, but Dave already owned his ensemble. He's something of a lederhosen enthusiast.

Annnnnd...the full picture. I am very happy that my get-up is green-on-green.

This, people, is what a successful and delightful weekend in Munich looks like. It was so nice to visit a new city and spend time with friends and eat fantastic food and shop for fun outfits and just hang out. Too bad these guys are ditching us for the U.S. in just a couple of months...  :(

What I'm reading: finished Let's Pretend This Never Happened and absolutely loved it. Next up was Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space, by Chris Jones, about the members of Expedition 6 getting stuck on the International Space Station after the Columbia space shuttle disaster.  A completely fascinating and well-written read, and one that may or may not have made me cry. A time or three. Really enjoyed it, although it did make me twinge just a bit re: being an astronaut (which was a dream of mine for a while...and why this was always so funny to me). And now back to my history-nerd fare, with The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson, by Terry Coleman. Thus far, only marginally dry, and it's fun to read something on a subject entirely new to me.

Next up: a brief sojourn to NM for my sister's wedding (WOOOO, CONGRATULATIONS, JOY!!)...and after that, a bit about Bern and Lucerne.

rhymes with "ants in the pants."

Nancy, France, Nancy France, ants in the pants, Nancy, France. Mike had two days off over Easter weekend, so finally made our way there, and to Strasbourg, too. We'd been wanting to go to Strasbourg, 'cause it comes highly recommended as a foodie destination and just a cool town in general, and Nancy 'cause it's an Art Nouveau Mecca for geeks like myself. Strasbourg absolutely lived up to its reputation, and thankfully, Mike is patient with my obsessing (and even has a little interest in the artsy stuff himself) so Nancy was a delight to visit. Plus, we even got to meet up with our friend Jess, who popped over from Paris for a couple of nights.

Strasbourg's Place Kleber, with the cathedral in the background.

Strasbourg cathedral! Built over 300 years, starting in 1176, and the sixth tallest church in existence, and one of the best examples of high Gothic architecture in the world. Pretty spectacular.

Gargoyles! Soooo many on this cathedral, and I did not see two that were the same.

The western facade: decorated with actual thousands of figures.

14th-century stained glass windows. Amazing.

The Pillar of Angels and the giant astronomical clock (19th C.) inside the cathedral. This thing tells the time, the day of the week, month, year, zodiac sign, phase of the moon, positions of the planets, leap years, equinoxes, eclipses, etc., etc. 

Suspended pipe organ from the 14th century.

Here's how you can tell that this particular geographical area has changed hands a few times: everything is in French and German. (And just about everyone here speaks both languages, too.)

Adorable little platz near the cathedral.

Turns out, Alsatian cheese is really good.

The Petit France area of Strasbourg. (The entire historical center is an island in the Ill River.)

Pont Couverts medieval bridge.

The old-towns in these cities in eastern France are just disgustingly charming. 

In Strasbourg we met up with one of Mike's ex-co-workers from back in his Bentley days, a nice man named Bill who married a Strasbourg native and moved to France four years ago. We had a lovely half-day getting a tour of the city center from him, and then we met up with his wife Isabelle for dinner at their local haunt Scala. Highlights of the meal: the bacon, onion, and cheese flammkuchen (Alsace's thin, smoky, crisp-crust, wood-oven-baked, pizza-like tart) that we all split, and my cordon bleu stuffed with goat cheese and tomatoes. YUMMM. Mike and I spent the next morning/afternoon roaming the city and eating delicious little biscuity cookies, then had lunch at Au Tonnelet, right on a canal in Petit France, where we split a delicious slice of quiche Lorraine (which originated in this area, naturally), a slice of an amazing onion tart, and another bacon/green onion/cheese flammkuchen. Those things are fantastic.

Then, off to Nancy to meet up with Jess and hunt down some Art Nouveau. Turns out that Nancy had its own "school" of fairly prolific Art Nouveau architects, artists, glass makers, printers, furniture makers, etc., etc., many of whose products can be seen in the amazing Ecole de Nancy museum...which we, of course, had to go see, despite its being located far, far away from everything else. But first we traipsed around for a while.

Nancy's cathedral...which adjoined our hotel, incidentally.

The biggest carnival I have ever seen. Just like American ones, only slightly less tacky and everything's in French and the fair food is on a whole different level. They serve crepes, for crying out loud.

Pigs on spits. At the fair. This is their carnival food. (There was even a stand with entire hocks of prosciutto hanging along it...)

The "biker" food booth, painted with Harleys and biker chicks and this. 

Rue Here, just off of Place Stanislas, Nancy's main square.

On Place de la Carriere: one of Nancy's three squares that comprise a Unesco World Heritage site.

Craffe Gate used to be part of the city walls (built in the 14th-15th centuries).

This is what I picture when I think "France."

Mmmm...Art Nouveau...

Villa Majorelle, built in 1901-1902 for eminent French Art Nouveau furniture maker and artist Louis Majorelle. The interior is supposed to be stunning, but it's only open by appointment. So very sad.

Big tall door. Jess is enthusiastic.

Ecole de Nancy museum: the Masson dining room, 1904. Completely, utterly, insanely, over-the-top gorgeous and ornate.

Unbelievable stained glass by Jacques Gruber.

Dawn and Twilight bed by Emile Galle.

I want this. In every place I live from now on.

The glassware in this museum is stunning. Chrysanthemum vase by the Daum brothers, 1897.

The Death of the Swan piano, Louis Majorelle, 1905.

Random pretty building near the museum.

Doesn't this just make you want to eat crepes and wear a beret and spout things like, "Bonjour! Ça va? Souhaitez-vous une baguette de pain?"*

Away from the museum: the doorway of the Biet building at 22 Rue de la Commanderie. WANT.

On a totally different subject: tile graffiti. We've seen it in Paris, too, but usually it's something Space Invader-y or Pac-man related. This one is Charlie Chaplin. 

Gargoyles on the ducal palace.

Basilique St. Epvre.

Despite the fact that we (sadly!!) did not partake of any of the pork at the carnival, we did manage to squeeze in a few good meals. Our first night we went to Les Petits Gobelins (...the little goblins!) for a snootier-than-expected, but still delightful (and comparably affordable) dinner. The standouts: amuse bouches of red pepper mouse and cauliflower soup with a little breaded bite of beef; langoustines (wee lobsters/crawfish) in a citrus ginger broth; sea bass over rutabaga and turnips; and the petit fours of house-ade marshmallows, gummy candies, and caramelized sunflower seeds. The next evening we had utterly delicious meat-and-cheese plates at this fantastic little wine bar (L'Echanson) that we had noticed the night before, due to the gigantic crowd spilling out from its doors. Our waiter was extremely friendly and recommended a restaurant for dinner (Le Comptoir St. Michel, just so I remember it for next time...!), but it was fully booked, so he managed to sneak us in at a place just around the corner--Chez Henri. The highlights: my nems (essentially, something fried in an egg roll wrapper) stuffed with lamb and goat cheese, and the richest, fluffiest couscous ever; a wee bite of zucchini stuffed with some kind of mild cheese; Mike's shrimp in beet sauce, and lamb tagine with pea/carrot quinoa; my fondant au chocolat (like chocolate lava cake, but so much richer and awesome-er); and the cafe gourmand, which both Jess and Mike got, and which turned out to be an espresso on a plate with like six tiny desserts. Seriously genius. How can you not love the French??

The next day was Easter, and we attended mass (in French, naturally) at the Cathedral de Nancy (Notre Dame de Bonne Nouvelle), which was a lovely experience. The priest greeted us enthusiastically and personably as soon as we walked in, and then specifically welcomed all visitors (by country!) during the service. We all know that I don't speak a lick of French, but it was neat to still be able to recognize pieces of the traditional Easter story...some things just seem to translate. Also, no matter the language, it was clearly a joyous occasion, and it made me glad to be there with Mike.

Before catching our trains back to our respective destinations, the three of us had brunch at Suzette, which was immediately off of Place Stanislas. Despite its tiny size and the sheer numbers of people roaming the streets in clear need of lunch, the place was rather uncrowded and the service fantastic. Once again, we had a delightful waiter who spoke to us in a fun mix of French and English (thankfully, Jess speaks French!), and yet more fantastic food. In several courses. We opened with incredibly fresh and fluffy croissants with jam and wee vanilla pancakes and coffee; then came a giant plate with A) a slice of bacon over a fried egg, B) a green salad with vinegar and cheese, C) a barley salad, and D) a bowl of lamb tagine with apricots and almonds (holy yum). By the end of this, none of us were really hungry enough for the dessert, but Mike got one for us to split, thank goodness: caramel-toffee-peanut panna cotta is no joke. 

All right already, I take back all the mean things I've ever said about France. My first experience there was not a pleasant one, but now that we've been back a couple of times, I like it more and more. The Parisians, not so bad; Paris itself, amazing; the Alsatians/Lorraine-ians, quite lovely...and the bits of the country that I've seen, with its charming little alleys and amazing architecture and delicious food, all stellar. I'm finding more and more that I like about living in Europe...it's just too bad that most of it involves leaving Zürich for places slightly more "real" (i.e., people stay out late! you can find food at midnight! shops are open past 6:00 PM! mass hysteria!) and more affordable (i.e., anywhere).

But anyway. What I'm reading: finished A History of the World in 6 Glasses, which was an interesting premise, but fairly dry reading...and this coming from a history major. The best part is the appendix at the end, which tells you where you can find the most true-to-their-origins versions of various drinks, and describes how different some of them are from their contemporary forms. Pretty interesting stuff. Now I've started something completely different: Let's Pretend this Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson (the Bloggess). It's a her hilarious and horrifying and filthy-languaged memoir, and I would suggest skipping it if you are offended by anything. Anything at all. I, personally, happen to love her extremely twisted (and, yes, expletive-laden) sense of humor, and I really respect the way she's completely laid bare her personal struggle with extreme depression and has started a fairly inspiring women's project.  I can't help it: I like her and I've been waiting for this book for months. There, I said it.

Next up: a quick--but productive--trip to Munich. 

*This is as close as Google Translate can get me to, "Would you like a baguette?"