Cibo

Shredded cheese for our Swiss Mac n' Cheese

Cibo = Food in Italian

...and boy, do I love food.

I am going to dedicate this entry to the food of southern Switzerland, specifically the region of Ticino, which is where Lugano is located. Before I came on this trip, I researched the native food of every country we were going to visit and packaged all of this information into a folder. Sadly, this folder was abandoned somewhere in London.

Needless to say, I am starting my food adventure from scraps. Other than the popular Swiss cheeses and chocolates, I have learned that fondue is a cultural staple around here (I must have missed this somewhere in my research, but it makes sense). The fondue of the Alps and the fondue of the U.S. are quite different. Don't imagine the extremely cheesy concoctions we have. The fondue here, in my opinion, tasted more like 80% wine and 20% cheese. Sadly, I wasn't a fan. But, I'm going to give it another whirl this Friday night when Sondra and I join a local student I met to a restaurant that is off the beaten path and serves up traditional Swiss cuisine.

Tocino's region is sometimes referred to as Switaly. This term is very representative of the restaurants and food that is available here - a half and half mixture of Swiss meats and cheeses and Italian pastas and polenta...and gelato! Polenta is a very popular dish in Ticino. It is also on our grocery list for next week. I am quite familiar with Fried Mush, a form of polenta, but I have never prepared it any other way (salty, etc.).

It is very expensive to live in Switzerland. We are learning how to really stretch our budget and menu as long as we can. However, I am trying to make sure we don't eat spaghetti every day and are able to sample local favorites (dishes, veggies, fruits, etc.) With this week's grocery visit we brought home a fresh fig, two types of cheeses, and sausages (the only meat we can afford- I looked at Sondra and said, "pick out your one meat for the week").

I am looking forward to seeing what food Poland, Germany, and Austria have in store for us in the upcoming months.

Side note: There is an amazing international food conference through SlowFood in Torino, Italy in October that I am trying to weasel my way into. It's only 3 hours from here and I would realllly like to go the workshops. Wish me luck!

The tail end of backpacking

Our first two stops on our backpacking journey were a blurrr to say the least. Due to exhaustion, jet lag, an unfortunate hostel stay, and homesickness

we were not able to give Ireland and London our 100% attention (I suppose they'll need a second visit...). However, we learned to give our next stops more time and adjusted our itinerary so this would be possible (sadly, we had to eliminate Barcelona and Amsterdam - but we added, Zermatt, Switzerland). Brugges, Belgium was a success. The pedestrian-friendly streets

and city walls reminded me of Jo and I's time in Dubrovnik. Out of pure luck we stumbled upon Brugge's twice-weekly open-air market in the city square. Every inch of this space was filled with cheese, sausages, chocolate and most of all, flowers. Northern Dutch country is the world's number one source of flowers - so, you can imagine how beautiful and plentiful the

flowers were at this market. From Brugges, we had a 4-hour layover in Paris - quickly visited the Eiffel tower and hopped back on the train to some random town we picked to stay in for a night in France (Limonges). The next day was followed with extreme efforts

to get out of France and into Switzerland. We were ready to finally see those Alps! (although we were extremely not prepared for the cold weather in Zermatt). We stayed 3 nights in Zermatt, a tiny, carless village tucked at the bottom of the famous Matterhorn (think Grinch's mountain - it's based on the Matterhorn). This town was breath of fresh air that Sondra and

I needed. We rested up and had enough time to truly enjoy where we were. Sandals are not made for hiking nor snow, so we rented coats and boots and took a train up into the snow-topped mountains. We packed a picnic and ate our meal in the snow by a lake. It was one of the most succesful days of our backpacking adventure. It was officially my first time hiking too-

something I look forward to trying again. After this period of R&R/hiking we made one last train ride to our final destination: Lugano, Switzerland.

Ireland and London

We did it! We've survived our first two stops. I have to admit the first four days were miserable - between the time change and hostel arrangement (sleep-non existent). It seems like we are starting to get into the swing of things though. If I could do Ireland all over again, I would skip Dublin and head to the west coast (Galway/Cliffs of Moher) where all of the classic Irish countryside and carless towns are. (Even the Irish say that is the best place to go) One day...Today Weez and I tackled Westminster Abbey, the London Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Big Ben, The London Eye, and The Tate Museum of Modern Art. London reminds me of Chicago a lot with its set up with the Thames River and bridges. Tomorrow we head to Brugges, Belguim. We plan to rent bikes and ride to the countryside and Belgian coast. (waffles, pommes frites, chocolate, and beer are on our dining agenda). Our chins are up and the homesickness will slowly drift away (fingers crossed). --this is odd, I've never been homesick. It's no fun when you have five months ahead of you. Ta-ta -running out of internet minutes!!