Switzerland

Hello from Switzerland!

Its been fun eating my way around the city. I find it amazing that in today's world I can eat so many ethnic cuisines within a 3 mile walking distance. There are so many choices, in fact I haven't even had Swiss food yet....although I must have some fondue before I leave.

So far I have had French, Italian, Thai, Spanish and Indian.

The French was quite good, we went to La Boeuf Rouge http://www.boeufrouge.ch/. I had duck pate, steak with blue cheese sauce and chestnut cake! On another day we went to a different French resturant and I had fresh perch and fries. I am hoping that all this rich food doesn't mean that I gained a bunch of weight, of course I have been walking all over.

On a non-food note, Laura and I watched a film recently about what will happen in the USA when gas reaches $10. It discussed how we will need to change our habits and how things that we are accustom to will change. For instance we probably won't be able to get fresh Asparagus flown in from Chili if gas is $10. So what brought this to mind while in Europe? Well, if you want a glimpse of what $10 gas is like all you need to do is look at Europe TODAY. Gas here is $12 per gallon (diesel is about $7). Everyone has a small car or scooter. No big SUVs !!!! The bus and trams (light rail) are not for the poor or homeless, but are for business people and families. In fact, on Saturday I saw a family bringing home their new 50" Plasma TV on the tram!!!!

Wake up America, high gas prices will happen and its not the end of the world, just change your habits.

Back to food. At the Italian restaurant I had Pizza. It was nice pizza with anchovies. You can't find pizza like this in the US......

The best meal so far was the Spanish food. We returned to a restaurant we found last time called the three kings "cafe trois rois." The best part of the meal was the appetizer. They take shrimp and sauté them with roasted garlic, pepper and salt. The shrimp are great, but mopping up the sauce with bread is the best part. I then had Paella http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella which was far too much to eat, but ooooohhh so good.

Anyhow, great food and company on this trip. More later