The Ballad of Lori and Marc

There's No Day Like a Snow Day

2012-01-28T13:17:00.002+01:00

In an effort to keep this blog alive I thought I'd put up a couple highlights over the last weeks.

Last ski season, Switzerland ski resorts suffered from the small amounts of snow that hit the alps. This year, the snow has been great but the number of skiers is still low. The cost of the franc, not the conditions, is the reason many tourists are staying away from Swiss slopes. The alps have been blasted with snow since September and last weekend Lori and I finally took advantage of the small crowds and big powder in the relatively unknown slopes of Bettmeralp.

Bettmeralp is actually the middle of three mountain resorts, flanked by Riederalp and Fiescheralp and the Unesco-protected Aletsch glacier directly behind it. Like basically every other place in the country, Bettmeralp is about 3 hours from our doorstep via train.

Lori and I skied both Saturday and Sunday with our friend Mary. Weather and snow was perfect, however visibility was unfortunately poor. We managed to find some runs in the sun on Sunday, but there were moments where you couldn't see more than 10m ahead of you due to the cloud. That level of visibility makes skiing difficult if not impossible, and not to mention dangerous, so we took our time getting around. But the eeriness of phantom skiers disappearing in and out of the fog is an experience to remember.

Some photos:

Lori and Mary providing perspective on the snow fall

Late Saturday in Bettmeralp village when the sun started to break through

Resolutions

2012-01-03T14:53:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Lori and I have our life back to normal after arriving this morning from a whirlwind tour of North America with stops in Winnipeg, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, and Green Bay (Go Pack!). It's good to be home. The weather here in Switzerland could not be nicer with temps around 7C/45F degrees with the sun shining on beautiful snow-capped mountains. The holidays were fun but hectic and it was great seeing family, friends and another epic victory at Lambeau.

2012 is now here and so is the time for resolutions. I have never made a New Years resolution in the past, and I don't plan on starting now, but do want to share with you what I now claim to have been my resolution for last year.

Growing up I had never been that big of a reader. I have always had a book by my nightstand but before moving to Argentina I doubt I ever read more than a book a month. Over the last few years my book intake has risen substantially. I originally thought that maybe it was due to the number of queues I would find myself waiting in during our time in Argentina. However I have found that my reading has actually increased here in the punctual country of Switzerland. In fact, halfway through 2011 I made an interesting discovery: I was on track to read a book a week. Seeing as I already had a head start, the goal of 52 books in 52 weeks immediately became my resolution. And I'm proud to say that on Dec 29th, I achieved that goal by finishing Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Some fun stats:

Total Books

Total Pages

Average number of pages: 339

Average number of pages per day: 48.3

Longest book: 1072 pages (Under the Dome - Stephen King)

Shortest book: 127 pages (UR - Stephen King)

My favorite reads of the year: The Corrections (J Franzen) and Cloud Atlas (D Mitchell)

Number of books read on the Kindle: 51 (only Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises was read the old-fashioned way)

Check out the bookshelf widget on the left side of this page to see the most recent books read. Or view my profile on Good Reads* to see all activity.

So far for 2012 I have set no goals, no resolutions. However, if I'm close to something worth shooting for towards the other half of the year, I'll let you know how I did in 2013.

* Plug: I'm a big fan of GoodReads.com - it's a great way to not only track your reading but get recommendations based on your preferences.

Birthday Shinanigans in Strasbourg

2011-11-28T23:27:00.001+01:00

Marc's Birthday Restaurant

Strasbourg usually isn’t on the top of people’s list as a party destination but I think it should be. For Marc’s birthday weekend we hopped on the train and in 2 ½ hours we found ourselves in the Alsace region of France. We were not familiar with the Alsatian region and all that it had to offer but this is where Marc wanted to go and as everyone knows, birthday boys get first choice.

One of the only things I knew about this region was that at one time, the women wore crazy big black ribbons in their hair. We didn’t see any more of the headpieces (except on postcards), but we did see plenty of other traditions that are still alive and well.

Strasbourg is interesting because it feels like two countries (Germany and France) merged into one and visitors today can experience the best of both worlds. Claims to Strasbourg have gone back and forth between Germany and France for hundreds of years and even as recently as 1940’s, when it switched back to France.

The weekend we were there, the city was busy preparing for their upcoming Christmas market which was starting the following weekend. The Strasbourg market is the oldest Christmas market in France and it looked like it was going to be amazing. A few vendors were setting up early so we sampled some of the goodies and we think that this market just may offer the best glühwein we have ever had.

For Marc’s birthday dinner, we sought out a traditional Alsatian meal and we ended up at Au Vieux Strasbourg Bierstub Winstub, a place which served charcuterie, which is basically a huge mound of meats and sauerkraut. The restaurant we went to also served a meat-less version if you can believe it so I enjoyed a nice fish meal on top of a heaping mound of sauerkraut while Marc enjoyed the more traditional version.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg

Strasbourg is also home to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg, a cathedral that for over 200 year could boast it was the highest building in the world and it happens to have one the world’s largest astronomical clocks.

To end our visit, we went to the Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and toured a fascinating show “Europe and the spirit world or fascination with the occult, 1750-1950.” This show was one of the first shows where I have seen works by many of the famous artists we all know but in a new context amongst their contemporaries including many writers who were exploring the darker sides of life, the supernatural and the occult.

What more could you ask for in a birthday weekend? Glühwein, Charcuterie and the supernatural – it will be a tough one to beat next year.

Better Than Topo Gigio

2011-09-18T23:38:00.002+02:00

Lori, Markian, Marusia and I spent the weekend at Lake Como in Northern Italy. The weather held out just enough for us to ride the ferries, explorer a couple of quaint sea-side villages, do a little market shopping, and over indulge in some amazing Italian food. One highlight I had to share was an amazing puppet show we stumbled upon in the town of Tremezzo. We were all completely taken by the performance. I could have watched it for hours. We never got the name of the performer, but she was truly an artist and visibly loved what she did. The kids and adults were all equally mesmerized. Here's a short clip:

London Calling

2011-09-08T12:08:00.000+02:00

I just came back from another weekend in London, the second in less than three months. This most recent trip did have a special reason for my visit, but as always, the biggest highlight is hanging out with Chris and Jamey and getting an insight into their version of London. In both cases Lori was not able to join me, though the first time she was actually in London the same time as me but on a different itinerary. With that in mind, I present you with a few of the highlights of my last two trips.

London is well known for its grand museums: the British Museum, the Tate, the National Gallery, Natural History, Science. I haven't seen any of those. I did however check out the Museum of Broken Relationships which "offers a chance to overcome an emotional collapse through creation: by contributing to the Museum's collection". Basically the collection contains of people's memories of the pain of heartbreak like a garden gnome hurled through a car windshield to a Champagne cork used for celebrating the dumping of a cheating spouse. All items appeared with an accompanying story. I also hung out for hours at Forbidden Planet, the greatest museum on earth for comic book geeks and toy collectors. It's a place where the visitors borderline on fine art themselves.

London is also know for afternoon tea, a light snack between 2-5 pm. You can't go to London and not do an afternoon tea. So off we went to The Cellar Door, an underground cabaret club with afternoon burlesque shows which formally existed as a Victorian public toilet. Not sure about the English Breakfast but the absinthe kick-started a crazy evening.

London is also known for its festivals. You name it and there's a festival for it. Coincidentally enough, there happened to be a festival celebrating one of my favorite things in the world: Top Gun. Oh yeah! Me, Chris and about 4000 Brits hooked up on a harbour disguised as 80's Los Angeles for a viewing of one of the most quotable films ever made. The majority of the guests came dressed in their flight gear or as their favorite character to drink beer, play beach volleyball and watch a high quality print of Top Gun on a chilly London night.

My pick for best costume: Goose and Carole

And finally London is known for live performances, theatre and music, which was my primary reason for making the trip. My good friend (we've never met) Amanda Palmer was doing two shows. One show was a typical bar venue show with plenty of fans and just as many "friends" joining Amanda on stage. The second was held at the British Library (for those who think I lack culture) and was an intimate performance with just Amanda, her ukulele and 200 guests. Amanda is married to Londoner, author, poet, and comic geek icon Neil Gaiman and he happened to join her on stage acting as a teleprompter, assisting Amanda towards various stages of undress, and strangest of all: singing 3 songs with her.

The following video is straight from the second performance and includes two of my favourite moments: 1) the repeated use of profanity in the British Library, 2) Amanda forgetting the words to her song and "super fan" in the second row reminding her of the lyric.

Randy Roy

2011-08-17T21:15:00.002+02:00

While in Amsterdam, Lori and I decided to join Randy Roy's Redlight Tours for an insightful tour of the seedier parts of the city. You know it's going to be an interesting experience when after providing introductions, our guide (Kimberly) turned to Lori and I and whispered: "Do you think the others realize I've had too much to drink? Am I slurring too much?"

Another highlight was how she loved to tease the crack dealers outside the swank hotel where she meets her customers with questions like "Are you here to join the tour?" As promised, she did get into the swing of things 30 minutes after regular bouts of "forgetting the point." Kim was classic - knowledgeable, completely unpolished, slightly tipsy but a whole lot of fun. She sent us on our way with a "free" beer and a few souvenirs you wouldn't get from a cathedral tour.

Good Eats: Amsterdam

2011-08-16T21:41:00.002+02:00

Lori and I arrived home this morning from a long weekend in Amsterdam. Lori promised to blog a little about our trip in a future post, but first we'll focus on what's really important: food.

Fries with Mayo

It seems like the silliest thing to blog about, so I'll keep it short, but its true: in Amsterdam they put mayonnaise on their french fries. I've seen them do it. They drown 'em in that shit. So we had to do it. Nothing special about the "state fair" quality of the fries, but the mayo is much tastier and creamier than what we are used to and I actually enjoyed the combo. I can't imagine doing the same with any store bought mayo I grew up on.

Herring

As a Ukrainian, I'm quite familiar with herring, but the only way I have ever eaten it is in its pickled form. In Amsterdam, the herring is available from street cart, prepared soused and served either a) straight up (grab the fish by its tail, tilt your head back, down it in one mouthful) or b) on a bun with a little onion and gerkin condiments. We went for the bun method for easy shareability. It was amazing from a taste, texture and even temperature perspective. Cold, raw fish without that fishy flavor and a texture like mackerel sashimi. Who needs street meat when street herring is so damn good?

Rijsttafel (Rice Table)

It's strange. I honestly don't think I've ever eaten at an Indonesian restaurant before. I've had satay and sambal, but usually at one of those fusion joints, never from a pure Indonesian kitchen. Since today's Indonesia once was once a Dutch colony for overy 300, Amsterdam is littered with spots for a spicy asian fix. Here, the most popular dish is rijsttafe, the rice table. It's the perfect meal for those who want to try everything on the menu.

The rijsttagel is essentially a selection of small Indonesian dishes served at once and shared at a single table like Asian tapas. Fortunately our restaurant, Long Pura, had a great vegetarian rice table which we overfed ourselves on that included 12 plates. Highlights included an amazing curried egg, tofu satay, and deep-fried fish in a spicy soy sauce.

Zermatt

2011-08-01T20:05:00.001+02:00

Happy Swiss National Day Everyone!

Lori and I just got home from lovely long-weekend in Zermatt and are looking forward to the fireworks planned over lake Zug tonight in celebration of Swiss National Day. Even Google had a special doodle to in honor of today.

But back to Zermatt, famous for its ski runs, hiking trails, and most importantly it's view of one of the most beautiful mountains in the world, the Matterhorn. So beautiful, in fact, the Swiss outlawed gas-powered vehicles in the town in efforts to protect the view of the Matterhorn from air pollutants. Buses and taxis are all electric making Zermatt also one of the quieter places you could visit. You never hear them about to hit you.

A perfect view from our hotel room

In an effort to keep things chill, we stuck around town quite a bit - checking out the mountaineering gear shops, eating spicy ethnic food one can only get in the more touristy cities of Switzerland, and even taking in a movie. We did sneak out on a couple of excursions, both very rewarding.

The first was a rock climb of Riffelhorn, the only sport climbing area in the close vicinity of Zermatt. A few weeks ago, I blogged about my first multi-pitch accent. Well this one turned out to be Lori's first and she handled the whole experience like a pro. 7 simple pitches in all, but exposure that made you quadruple-check your knots and protection with every meter of vertical gained.

Lori on the Riffelhorn

The second was a nice uphill walk up to the Hörnlihütte - base camp to the Matterhorn. The Hörnlihütte is your overnight stay before you embark at 4:20am to begin a 6-7 hour summit to the peak at 4478m. The hike up was dramatic and exciting and gives you an up-close view of the beast I hope to one day attempt.

Taking a break heading to Hörnlihütte

We had amazing weather for both our climb and hike and got lucky with some great views of all the peaks that surround Zermatt. Next time we visit, though, will be a winter getaway to see if the snow can match the vistas.

Wolli, Zermatt's mascot, handing out gifts in celebration of Swiss National Day

The Swiss Way: Mountain Huts

2011-07-26T19:01:00.001+02:00

When you have a country that is perfect for outdoor adventure and a population that fervently embraces an active lifestyle, it's no wonder why one of the bigger surprises that we have had since moving to Switzerland is that the Swiss don't camp.

Yes, the Swiss have campgrounds where you can pull up your car, set up a tent on private ground with hot showers and supplies within walking distance. This kind of camping they have. But the kind where you schlep your pack full of all the gear to get by for a week without contact with civilization: that does not exist. There are no areas where people go and set up camp next to a lake or stream, cook by campfire or stove, to sleep under the stars without 60 neighbors within a stone's throw. This kind of camping does not exist. What they do have however are mountain huts.

The mountain huts of Switzerland vary in many different ways, but at their core they are dorm-style sleeping quarters where wilderness explorers can crash for the night. Huts range from rustic cabin to high-end hostel and if you are doing an overnight in the mountains, they are the only place you stay. The Swiss Alpine Club, or SAC, established a network of huts through the years, and though they aren't the only ones providing this type of shelter, they certainly set the standard operating 153 huts and 9300 beds throughout the Alps.

This weekend Lori and I had our first experience in a Swiss mountain hut. We stayed in Campanna Campo Tencia in the Italian Tocino canton in Southern Switzerland. A three hour hike from the closest town with transportation, Campo Tencia, like most SAC huts, is a little oasis in the middle of the mountains.

When you first arrive at a hut like Campo Tencia, there's always an immediate awe in the fact that a structure like this was built in such an isolated location. Some huts are nothing more than a room with a bunch of mattresses on the floor with an attached kitchen/dining area and an outdoor loo. Campo Tencia had it all: indoor bathrooms, hot showers, library, a well-stocked bar, plenty of beds (mattresses, duvets, and pillows), a thorough menu, and a guitar on the wall for visiting musicians. It also had a great outdoor patio with picnic tables, maps and all kinds of information about hiking or climbing in the area.

Huts always have a guardian responsible for the maintenance of the building and its grounds. Guardians also employ staff to assist with cooking and cleaning. Huts also maintain a strict ethical code of honor and the rules are posted on the wall when you arrive. Most huts require you to check in with the guardian upon your arrival, to leave your boots at the door (they supply you with house slippers), to clean up after yourself (beds made, tables cleaned), and to adhere to the strict lights-out policy (generally 22:00).

SAC huts run 365 days a year, so even during the blustery months of winter there is always a warm place to go to in the middle of nowhere. At this time, though most of the facilities are shut down for the season, winter rooms are left open to the public and small sleeping area and stove are provided for heat and shelter. You can pay for your stay in these situations through the honor system by leaving money in a tin box.

All in all, the hut system is executed extremely well. I am convinced that we will be taking advantage of the huts as much as possible during our time here. However, when you consider that Lori and I shared a dorm with 16 others this past weekend (and were fortunate that only 2 of the 16 were snorers), the huts just don't match the freedom of true outdoor camping.

Zug Cherry Day

2011-07-09T20:58:00.004+02:00

Yes indeedy... We are right in the thick of it. One the best times of the year for yours truly: Cherry Season. And there aren't too many places better in the world to be than our neighboring town of Zug. Zug is famous for its cherries. It's a town symbol and covers billboards and welcome signs into the city. Cherry trees surround the area, most privately raised but many along walking paths whose lower branches are free for the taking (upper branches too, if you have a ladder handy).

So it makes sense that Zug would have a festival to celebrate the season. It's more of a month-long celebration of all things cherry good. June 20th kicked off the festivities with the Chriessturm, literally "cherry storm", where waves of kids and adults run through the town of Zug with ladders and buckets. And open stalls of cherry venders can be found in every nook of the canton.

Today is the official Cherry day, so Lori and I headed into old city Zug to stroll through a small market where the wares are dedicated almost in whole to the Zug-ian fruit icon. In proper Swiss fashion, a small Swiss band played clarinet, accordion and bass, while a group of alpinehornists tooted in the opposite corner. The highlight of the festivities was a pit spitting contest held for men, women and children. The leading spit by the time we left was a whopping 14m!

In proper reverence to this important day, Lori and I loaded up our market bag (yes, we don't go anywhere anymore without shoulder bag for a market nowadays) with cherry goods. And no cherry day would complete without a meal dedicated entirely to cherries.

Therefore this evening, our menu consisted of nothing but cherry. The grilled chriesiwurst (cherry sausage) for me, grilled cherry-mustard-rubbed salmon for Lori, a side of buttered cherry noodles, and a fizzy cherry-apple drink. For dessert, a plate of 5 cherry varieties - the market sold over 15 types, all with distinct sizes colors and flavors. And to finish the meal, a shot of kirsch, distilled cherry liquor, i.e. cherry-based home brew. Strong, but very smooth, from our friends Thomas and Cordula at Heiner's Distillery.

Jägihorn

2011-07-03T21:49:00.000+02:00

This weekend I got a chance to escape for a couple of days to do some climbing. I was invited to attempt my first multi-pitch route. A group of climbers from our gym were heading to summit Jägihorn and I decided to join them.

Jägihorn, 3206m

Jägihorn is a well-known summit in the Valais region of Switzerland. Some believe it has one of the best kletterstiegs in Switzerland. There are three sport routes up Jägihorn, and for our climb, we chose 'Panarama', the more difficult of the three, though technically, not terribly challenging maxing out a French 5b. What was challenging, however, was the 10-13 pitches necessary for making the summit. I say 10-13 because I honestly lost count plus feel that there were a couple of short traversal pitches that probably shouldn't count anyway.

It ended up taking almost 5 and a half hours to complete the summit at our leisurely pace. We didn't stop, but we didn't rush it either. The last 3 pitches really tested my stamina and mental capacity after spending 10 minutes or so trying to locate the route I was suppose to lead.

View from the summit

I learned a lot about climbing with some very talented folks and am excited to get out and do more multi-pitch stuff in the future. Next time Lori will join me, but maybe we'll start with 3 or 4 pitches instead.

Good Eats: The Markets of Provence

2011-07-01T14:35:00.000+02:00

Happy Canada Day everyone!

I wanted to get a post out before the weekend and since I'm throwing this blog together during my lunch break, I'll keep it short.

Lori, My Friend Lisa, and I spent last weekend in beautiful Provence, France. Though we had a great time touring the country-side, enjoying the vistas of rolling hills, castles, and fields of lavender, the highlight of the trip (like most) was the food.

The markets of France are known as being some of the best of the world. Heck, it's the primary reason Julia Childs fell in love. Provence is insane about their open-air markets, where every town, regardless of size, has their day in the weekly spotlight. We stayed in an apartment in the perfect little village of Lourmarin, who host market Friday mornings. Here are some highlights:

And you can't visit a French market without laying down a little cash. We ended up picking up an impressive array of fresh food which served as our lunch for the next couple days.

From left to right: figs, peaches, nectarines, duck and bull sausage, anchovies, tapenade, cashews, local red wine, olives, cheeses, baguette, and fresh macarons for desert. Amazing!

A few days later, inspired by the food of markets, Lori and My Friend Lisa took it upon themselves to attempt to best the delectables sampled in France. They came up with this plate of goodness.

Enjoy!

The Swiss Way: Rega

2011-06-22T20:00:00.005+02:00

There are certain things that are part of typical life here in Switzerland that are just way to cool for me not to ~~blog~~ brag about, but first, let me provide you with a scenario:

Pretend you are not in Switzerland. And let's just say you are hiking through the mountains or woods. You are a few km from civilization. And let's pretend something bad happens: a broken leg or a sprained ankle, your alive but seriously screwed. What do you do?

Here in Switzerland, you call Rega.

Rega is Switzerland's Air-Rescue Service and owning Air-Rescue Insurance is almost as cool as owning a Swiss Bank Account. It's totally bad-ass, right? I mean who else has Air-Rescue Insurance? At any time, I can pick up a phone and call my Swiss Air-Rescue Service and they will send a chopper wherever I've fallen and can't get up.

However, here it's just not that big of a deal. Everyone that spends time outside (and every Swiss does) in a Rega patron. The most important number you know is 1414, way hipper than 911. Nationwide mobile coverage is part of what makes it possible as well.

Officially, it's not really insurance. It's a privately-funded, non-profit, that supports itself through annual fees. As a patron, contributing 60CHF (cheap!) per family per year will provide coverage where all costs of getting you out of a bad situation are waived.

And in true Swiss excellence, people aren't the only ones available for Air-Rescue. Rega also has policies for cattle. Yes, if your cow happens to get into a mountain predicament, Nessie's free helicopter ride is one phone call away. Now this is insurance worth the price.

Good Eats: Alpen Macaroni

2011-06-03T20:00:00.014+02:00

Hiking through the Swiss mountains, though physically challenging, is logistically the easiest thing in the world. Like we've mentioned before, the routes are all clearly marked, there is a town 5 km away in any direction, and over every mountain pass is a hotel, mountain hut, or restaurant.

Alp Vorsiez

It's still strange to us that you could be hiking at some serious elevation when around a bend you come across a wooden lodge with its flag raised signifying that meals are being served. Growing up in Canada and the Northern US, you get used to landscapes where you can camp and hike and never see civilization for weeks. Though you can easily find privacy in the Swiss alps, the alpine restaurants scattered all over the country are remote meeting spots where you can get a good meal and chat it up with the locals.

Alpen Macaroni is probably the quintessential meal of the alpine restaurant. Good during the ski season or the summer, its a boat load of carbs and warmth that can keep you going the rest of the afternoon. Like all Swiss foods, it's very simple, very hardy. Macaroni and Emmentaler cheese with bacon, cubed potato, fried onion and the secret ingredient that makes it the best bowl of Kraft Dinner one could eat: Apple Sauce.

Almost all places will serve Alpen Macaroni without bacon for the vegetarians amongst us. But the restaurant/dairy/b&b we stopped by, Alp Siez, threw on a locally-made farmer's sausage on my plate to boot.

Congratulations Winnipeg

2011-05-31T19:59:00.000+02:00

It's a happy day in my home town of Winnipeg today. After 15 years, the NHL is coming back where it belongs.

Bella Notte -- The Magic Spell of La Passeggiata

2011-05-26T12:52:00.000+02:00

One of the greatest memories Marc and I have from our recent trip to Italy is participating in the custom of the passeggiata, an evening stroll through town.

Each evening as the sun starts setting, the local town people would come out for a walk through the streets with their families, friends or a special loved one. Walking arm and arm, people meander through the town until late in the evening stopping along the way to say hello to an acquaintance. It was so endearing to see friends greet each other with a kiss on the cheek and stop for a few moments to say hello.

This is the absolutely the best time to people watch and captures the essence of what I imagined Italy to be like. Older women had their hair done, men put on cologne and children chased each other through the streets. This is also the time when you would see the fashionistas sporting the latest designer Italian-made shoes.

Windy cobblestone streets with alluring passageways to nooks and enchanting places to have a glass of wine or cannolo only added to the charm of the passeggiata and made these walks extra memorable.

Before we went to Italy I had envisioned romantic evenings with accordian music, delicious wines, gelato, beautiful scenery and pasta dinners much like the spaghetti scene in the Lady and the Tramp.

The passeggiata is the actualization of my romanticized Italy and one of my favorite memories that will always make me happy when I think of it.

Good Eats: Sicily

2011-05-15T20:34:00.000+02:00

Ok, finally an official post from our recent tour of Sicily.

Italian cuisine is probably the most successful international food in the world. There isn't a country that I have been to where you cannot get pizza or pasta. Yet, all regions of Italy have their own definitive mouthfuls that speak of the history and culture specific to said region. Sicily has perhaps the most complex of histories of any region of the country. Conquered through the centuries by dozens of nations, empires and kings, Sicily has the battle and gastronomical scars to prove it. Here's a sampling of our sampling of Sicilian cuisine.

We'll start with a classic: Pasta con Sarde - Sardine Pasta. Cooked with fennel, pine nuts and raisins. Through the years I've started really enjoying little fish, and Sicily is home to two of the most popular, the sardine and anchovy. One in every fourth meal we ate had one of the two. This classic dish is a common primo, first course, that preceded a protein-based secondo. Other popular primos made classic in Sicily are Pasta alla Norma (tomato, eggplant, basil, and ricotta) and Caponata (tomato, eggplant, celery, capers, olives and onions).

After living in Argentina for almost 2 years and now here in Switzerland, Lori and I don't get to eat fish anywhere near as often as we'd like. One could say we pigged out on fish during our trip, but I'd say we were only taking advantage of the situation. If we ate a secondo, it was fish. Whole fried fish is really the only way to serve it, in my humble opinion. Here we have the dorado, one of many Mediterranean species we tried. We also tried pesce spada or swordfish (another very Sicilian ingredient), mussels, cuttlefish, and other frutti di mare.

One cannot go to Sicily without indulging in the holiest of holy dulce: the cannoli, or cannolo as it's called there. I've had cannoli in the past, I've even had it one of the best patisseries in Manhattan, but have never been a huge fan. Too sweet, too rich. With Sicilian cannolos, it's a different story: the shell crunchy and light and the ricotta filling fluffy and yum.

Also note the pistachio dusting on that bad boy. Our intake of pistachio probably quadrupled our intake over the last 10 years. There is fresh Bronte pistachio in, on, over, and under everything. Take this granita, a tasty iced drink you can get from any cafe on the island. A pistachio-flavored Slurpee may not sound that great, but it really was amazing. Lori's, made from fresh Interdonato lemons, was great too.

Finally, we get to the street food, where easily the most famous is the Arancine: the Arab-inspired rice ball, stuffed with meat and cheese, breadcrumbed and fried.

Other food highlights, whose photo we never snapped, but we are absolutely adored are: blood orange and fennel salad, sea-urchin pasta, and a pasta with olive oil and crushed Noto almonds.

It's easy to gush about the quality of Sicilian cuisine, but after almost 3 weeks of constant eating out, you are bound to hit some low-lights. One disappointment for me was the pizza.

It's not fair to compare pizza from Italy to any other country but I've had pizza in Italy before and have been mesmerized by it so I think the judgement here is fair. We ate a lot of pizza. After blasting through the majority of our food budget early in the trip, we were forced to transition to quite a few pizza and salad dinners than we had planned. And we tried a large number of varying types and toppings, always asking for recommendations from a local as opposed to the guide. Nevertheless, our pizzas always turned out a little off. Good but never great.

And finally, there was one dish that forced us to leave the table in order to go for a walk so I could discretely discard of the beast and rinse out my mouth with water. The Milza! This baby is a famous street food favorite made of cow spleen, lard and stink cheese on a bun. It's sounds like the perfect snack. Tony Bourdain loved it. I did not.

Good Climbs: Klettersteig Fuerenwand

2011-05-14T17:17:00.000+02:00

Lori and I spent this morning climbing, or rather klettersteig'ing, in the Engelberg region of central Switzerland, just barely beating out the rain that was scheduled to impact all outdoor activities this weekend. Before I go too far with our adventures let me first describe klettersteig.

The face of Fuerenwand

Klettersteig is the sport of rock climbing with a fixed cable that runs along the route, ensuring that you can be anchored to mountain at all times. It also includes bolted assistance, such as ladders, loops or other steel footings or hand-holds. It's Italian name (country of origin), Via Ferrata, literally means "road with irons".

With all the assistance, klettersteig makes long-distance climbs much more accessible for intermediate climbers (like us). The gear is simplified and lot of the skills required when doing traditional or sport climbing with safety, knots, anchors, protection, etc are not necessary. Klettersteig can be generally accomplished by anyone with a good fitness level, common sense, and no issues with vertigo.

Swiss Klettersteig's grading system range range from 1A to 5C. Grades are calculated by distance, altitude, and difficulty.

Fuerenwand, a 4C climb, was our first attempt at klettersteig. Having plenty of experience climbing indoors and out, we felt that this would be a good grade for us to get introduced to the sport.

A coworker of mine and outdoors enthusiast, Bob, led the climb for us, providing tips and keeping a nice pace. This was Bob's fifth ascent of Fuerenwand, so we knew we were in good hands.

The exposure was similar to only one other experience we have had before, when we summitted the Grand Teton in 2008. In total, we climbed approximately 800m, which took us approximately 3 hours. At the top, like any proper Swiss summit, was a restaurant and gondola, so getting back down was a breeze.

I really enjoyed our first experience on the via ferrata. Though you use little technical skills of climbing, you do get to experience what it feels like to be attached to a rock face almost a kilometer off the ground, not too mention a decent upper-body workout.

This video was taken about 200 ft from the top.

Take the Cannoli

2011-05-09T23:12:00.000+02:00

Lori and I just returned from a 2.5 week tour of the island of Sicily, hence the silence on The Ballad. We hope to share some of our experiences with you over the next couple of days.

In the meantime, I thought we would show the route we took over our trip. We'll touch on some of the highlights and lowlights in the posts to come.

View Sicily Trip in a larger map

Introducing:The Swiss Machine

2011-04-20T09:51:00.000+02:00

Last week I checked out the Banff Mountain Film Festival that is touring Europe right now. For those that are unfamiliar with it, the BMFF is an annual documentary film festival that showcases films about mountain culture, sport, and the environment.

The touring version of the festival is not the full thing, but a condensed version of a selection of films into one two-hour compilation. And within it, they had a 20-minute segment on a Swiss dude named Ueli Steck that caught my attention. So I thought I'd share.

There is no doubt about it, Ueli is a serious athlete, a machine. What this guy has accomplished is pretty extraordinary.

The Swiss Way: Vitaparcours

2011-04-13T13:42:00.000+02:00

Lori and I have marveled about the Swiss dedication to health and physical fitness in the past and as just another reminder, this weekend while hiking in Canton Zurich, I came across the Vitaparcours program.

Vitaparcours are essentially fitness trails approximately 3 km in length, peppered with exercise stations along the way. Generally one can find 15 stations on each vitaparcour route. The idea being, after a good stretch session at the first station, to jog from one station to the next, stopping to partake in a specific exercise found at each station.

Examples of exercises are step-ups, rings and chin-up/pull-ups. All stations are built into their surroundings and take advantage of the natural elements as obstacles. Trees, stumps, rocks, and simply the grade of the path enter into many of the exercises and dictate the difficulty of the course.

The trails are located in a forest growth so one can be as close to nature as possible, but are always nearby your local town. And as you can see by the map below, there are literally hundreds of them scattered throughout the country. Click on the map for exact details.

Further Information:
A complete list of vitaparcours
A 1972 article in Time Magazine - note that back then there were 180 courses, today over 500. Plus the 700 CHF price tag on the construction of a course had me chuckling.

We’ll Always have Paris

2011-04-08T14:40:00.000+02:00

Well it took us almost 10 years to finally make it, but last weekend Lori and I spent a lovely 3 days in what I like to call “the Paris of Europe”: Paris, France.

Our visit typified what most first-time visitors would do when coming to this city. We saw the major sights: The Notre Dame. The Champs-Élysées. The Arc de Triomphe. The Louvre. And of course, the Eiffel Tower. But these sights, as impressive as they were, are only such a small part of the city.

Because there is so much to do see, we decided to take it rather slow, recognizing that from time to time friends and family that visit will have Paris as a planned destination thus bringing us back (hopefully) many times in the future. As a result, we did a lot of hanging out. Drinking wine. Sipping coffee. Spying on Parisian life from a park bench.

Overall, we were super impressed with Paris, beyond our expectations really. The city is clean, friendly, and easily navigable even with our simplistic grasp of the language. The nightlife is active – cafes and restaurants are jam-packed come evening – but starts dying off by midnight, unlike Madrid or Buenos Aires where the night really begins at 11pm.

The food was fantastic too. We had many great meals and tried a few French morsels: canard (rare, of course), oysters, sea urchin (even Lori loved them), foie gras, and plenty of cheeses. We even bought large French bread that would stick out of our bags as we walked around in attempt to be one with the city.
From our standpoint, and from what you can honestly glean from a 3 day stay anywhere, Paris is truly spectacular and one of the best cities in the world.

An empty Louvre

A hint: Paris famously offers free entrance to their museums on the first Sunday of every month. We highly recommend taking advantage of this offer if you enjoy standing in endless queues and blocking/tackling for a glimpse of a prized piece of art. HOWEVER, although skipping the free Sunday is recommended, the following Monday is *the* time to go. Most visitors are exhausted from the previous day’s craziness, many believe museums are closed Mondays (they are in most cities, but not Paris), and week-long and weekend visitors tend to be leaving or just arriving on Mondays. Lori and I shared the Mona Lisa room at the Louvre with no more than 8 people – something unheard of 99.9% of the time. And for the cost of 10 Euros, a beer here in Switzerland, it's well worth the price.

An empty Louvre

Tax Haven, Sweet Tax Haven

2011-03-29T14:57:00.000+02:00

Our home town of Zug was featured prominently this weekend on CBS's 60 Minutes and got the whole office talking.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7360932n

The Swiss Way: Recycling

2011-03-18T15:15:00.000+01:00

There are some pretty amazing things about Switzerland - the public transport, the food, the timeliness and precision, the mountains - but one thing that probably shouldn't have not surprised me but did, was the amazing dedication the Swiss have to recycling.

Zug Ökibus

Switzerland has thought of it all when it comes to recycling. They have recycling stations for aluminum, tin and glass in community spaces; they have recycling centers where you can bring batteries, cork, CDs, glass, cardboard, papers, etc. There's even a special recycling bin for disposable Nescafe coffee cartridges. They also have recycling buses Ökibus (Eco-bus) that make a stop in your neighborhood once a week where you can board and sort all of your recyclables.
Composting is also expected -- you're asked to set aside your greens into your own personal compost container and then empty that into the green trash bin by your regular neighborhood garbage collection area.

For regular garbage, each community has special designated garbage bags that you must use to throw out your non-recyclable trash. These bags are coded and in our canton cost roughly CHF $25 for 10 bags - i.e. you're paying the rubbish tax every time you buy the bag. The high cost is meant to curb people's laziness for throwing things away that should be recycled. If you use the wrong bag, your garbage will be gone through by the garbage police (the lowest chain on the force, I imagine) and if they can link the bag back to you, you will be fined. Fines for not paying the disposal fee can now be up to CHF $10'000 in some municipalities.

Improperly sorting your recyclables can bring fines up to $500. Seriously, no lie. Do not mix magazines with newspapers. When Marc and I first went to the recycling center together we had one item we weren't sure where it should go so we asked the man who was working. Its carton, he said as though we were insane.

There are tons of conversations about how/what/where/where to recycle. You will be yelled at if you mix a non-recyclable plastic with the clear plastic. A co-worker's wife threw an opaque plastic container into the clear plastic container and not one, but two women made sure she never did it again.

The one thing you can't do is recycle in the community areas on a Sunday, or one minute before or after posted recycling times. This can bring you a fine of $150. Even the Swiss had to draw the line somewhere - there will be no recycling before it's time.

Good Eats: Currywurst

2011-03-11T15:45:00.000+01:00

Sausage, a secret red sauce, and sprinkle of curry powder. It's simple, tasty, and everywhere you look in the streets of Berlin. The first food stand we came across in the airport: Currywurst. The first food stand we saw upon arriving to the town center: Currywurst. Underground in the subway: all they sell is Currywurst. It's manic. Berliners love their Currywurst.

Here's the street stall equivalent. Chunks of wurst with sloppy sauce served on a paper plate that can barely hold everything together. A side of bread is common.

And the fancier dinner option with pommes frites with a glass of Becks.

Over the years, Berlin and Hamburg have been duking it out over who is the king of the Currywurst. Tensions have been high.

In 1993 the German author Uwe Timm published the novel Die Entdeckung der Currywurst (translation: The Discovery of the Currywurst) in which the fictional character Lena Brücker accidentally invents the currywurst in Hamburg (Germany's second largest city after Berlin). It's reported that a decade or so ago, the citizens of Hamburg put up a commemorative plate dedicated to Frau Lena Brücker's invention of the currywurst. Now many believe Hamburg is the true birthplace of the famed dish.

But legend has it that on September 4, 1949, at the corner of the then red light district of Kant-/Kaiser-Friedrich-Strasse, Frau Herta Heuwer (1913-1999) served a pork sausage with gut, while adding a sauce made of tomato paste and curry powder, which she subsequently patented "Chillup" sauce. And yes, at the exact spot there's a plate commemorating this groundbreaking event.
- Steen Bjørn Hanssen

Of course, I will have to be the true judge of this controversial match-up when we visit Hamburg, but in the meantime, Berlin has really impressed me with it's love for this dish. I wonder if Hamburg will have a museum complete with sausage furnishings?

Photo from Flickr by Inseläffle

…Then We’ll Take Berlin

2011-03-09T12:45:00.003+01:00

Lori and I just returned from a long-weekend in Berlin and lets start with saying that 3 nights in Berlin is not nearly enough time to check out this amazing city.

The trip was timed to the fact that my old Spanish teacher was finishing off a 6-month semester in a neighboring town so we thought it would be a great idea to see a familiar face and visit a city we knew very little about.

The city is big, but not overbearing, topping at about 3.4 Million people. The nightlife, arts, culture, and history are predominate here. The prices are extraordinarily cheap. Cheap as in Argentina-cheap, not Europe-cheap, and folks we talked to were proud to brag about this fact. It’s been a long time since we have been able to have lunch with beer under $10 USD for two people.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about visiting Berlin was how cosmopolitan the city is. As evidence by the faces and languages and most importantly restaurants, Berlin is a melting pot of cultures. It took us until our last day before we actually had a true German meal.

The evidence of the changes Berlin has gone through in the last 100 years was remarkable as well. You had the 500+ year old buildings (rebuilt in many cases after the war):

The socialist structures erected between 1950 and 1960 during the days of the wall:

And of course the post-wall rebuilding, such as that of Potsdamer Platz which was leveled during WWII, left desolate during the Cold War, and now is completely restructured to include modern monstrosities such as the Sony Center:

We did spend Sunday night at the Sony Center to see the movie Unknown starring Liam Neeson. We thought it appropriate given the entire film was shot in Berlin and stars German actors Diane Kruger, Sebastian Koch, and Bruno Ganz (who got a number of giggles every time he appeared on screen as he is best known for a very famous German performances turned internet meme).

Happy Fasnacht!

2011-03-05T09:30:00.000+01:00

Every year, on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, the city of Luzern hosts a mad party to kick off the Lenten season called Fasnacht. The party starts at 5am and goes until 5am 24 hours later. Lori and I had full intentions to catch the 3:55am train, but chose sleep instead arriving for the evening festivities this past Thursday night. Fasnacht is the Swiss Carnival and few towns celebrate like Luzern.

Fasnacht is like a cross between Halloween and Carnival/Marti Gras, a drunken street party mainly geared for the adults but brings out plenty of families. Everyone that attends dresses in elaborate costumes and when a group goes together they pick a theme. We saw groups of everything imaginable from pirates, to penguins, to Alice in Wonderland characters. There were very few bad costumes and the majority were clearly home-made.

Luzern's old town is made of narrow alleys, twists and hidden corners, and a band or parade seemed to be streaming out of every one of them. Street food and beer stands, massive amounts of confetti, swayers and staggerers: Fasnacht has it. Thought the Swiss are generally known for being reserved but Fasnacht is definitely the one time where people showcase their creativity, don a costume, and have a little bit of crazy fun.

Links:
Click here for other costumes from the 2009 Celebration

Marc's Favorite Films of 2010

2011-02-23T00:01:00.001+01:00

Those who have been following this blog for a while know that Oscars time means Marc's Top Ten time. It's hard to believe a year has already gone by.

Lori and I ended up having a decent year for movie viewing. We ended up covering almost all nominated films across the primary categories of directing, writing and acting. The three we missed - Rabbit Hole, Biutful, and Another Year - will certainly not appear on this list, and the others just weren't up to snuff.

10. Splice

9. Shutter Island

8. True Grit

7. Winter's Bone

6. Scott Pilgrim vs The World

5. Blue Valentine

4. The King's Speech

3. Black Swan

2. Exit Through the Gift Shop

1. Toy Story 3

Finally, I have no specific plea to the Academy this year, so instead I thought I'd go old-school and play a little "If Marc Picked the Winners". And for those using this as a guide for Oscar-night wagering, keep in mind that this is who I think should win, not who I think is going to win.

Picture: Toy Story 3
Actor: Colin Firth (where was Ryan Gosling?)
Actress: Michelle Williams
Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush
Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Original Writing: The King's Speech
Adapted Writing: The Social Network
Cinematography: Black Swan
And all technical awards should go to Inception.

Happy Oscars everyone!

From the Archives:
Marc's Favorite Films of the Decade (2000's)
Marc's Favorite Films of 2009
Marc's Favorite Films of 2008

Good Hikes: Rigi-Hochflue

2011-02-19T12:50:00.000+01:00

As we mentioned in our last post. The weather here has been absolutely fabulous with temps hitting 14C and rarely dipping below 5. Skiing has taken a back seat to hiking for the time-being which is all well and good as the country is rotating Ski Weeks at this moment - the equivalent to a North American Spring Break - so the meager slopes are packed with families who have the time off.

Last weekend, Lori and I headed to Rigi-Hochflue, a 30-minute train ride from our home for a day of hiking. Though we ran out of daylight to get to the top, we did put in a 5-hour slog and had a great mountain picnic.

A view of Brunnen and Lake Lucern from the hill side, on route to Rigi-Hochflue.

As mentioned in a past post, trails marked with the red and white stripes signify a hiking trail as opposed to a walking path. Blue and White trails generally mean there is some scrambling or a light technical challenge.

You can't beat a mountain picnic.

Alpine huts are scattered throughout most Swiss hilltops, this one was named Alp Egg. They generally are open April-Oct. Towards the peak of Hochflue (the grey peak shown in the background here) there are bolted sport climbing routes we had hoped to check out.

With its beauty, proximity, and availability of sport climbing, Hochflue is destined to be a regular destination for us. We'll post again next time when we actually make the summit.

Solothurn

2011-02-12T19:44:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since Lori and I posted anything about skiing, simply because the entire country of Switzerland has been experiencing a drought lately. Here in Zug canton alone, it has been almost 3 weeks since the last snow fall. Not to mention temperatures averaging 8C degrees and reaching 14C a couple days ago. Our goals of getting 20 days of skiing in this winter are disappearing quicker than the white stuff.

But it's hard to complain too much when February produces such amazing spring-like weather and to take advantage of it, we have gone out hiking a couple of times and today we spent the afternoon in the city of Solothurn.

The city of Solothurn in the canton of Solothurn doesn't appear at the top of the Swiss destination charts, but we drawn to it from the description of it's old town, which it self-describes as the finest Baroque city in Switzerland. We're not sure if that's 100% accurate, but it was a perfect place to visit on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

An interesting tidbit about Solothurn is its affinity to the number eleven. "The Canton of Solothurn was the eleventh to become part of the Swiss Confederation. There are eleven churches and chapels, as well as eleven historical fountains and eleven towers. The St. Ursus cathedral has eleven altars and eleven bells, and the stairs in front of the cathedral have levels between every eleven steps." Thank-you wikipedia.

Lori and I spent the day walking the cobblestone streets, sipping wine at the shore of the Aare river, and noshing on some amazing palestinian sandwiches at Pittaria in the heart of the old city.

Swiss Cheeseheads

2011-02-07T05:08:00.000+01:00

Lori and I couldn't be more excited. It's 5am here in Switzerland and we just finished watching the Packers pull through to win Super Bowl 45 and are bringing the Lombardi trophey home to Green Bay.

We watched and celebrated the game at Pickwick's Pub in Zug with a number of other expats and some Swiss American Football fans. We're both exhausted, but sleep will be tough at least for one of us.

What a game. What a season. Go Pack!

Hoch-Ybrig

2011-01-24T20:28:00.000+01:00

I'm sure we've been overdoing the ski posts of late, but honestly, after looking at these photos can you blame us?

Lori and I joined our friend Mary skiing at Hoch-Ybrig this past weekend. After a couple straight days of snowfall leading into the weekend, the mountains call your name and there is nothing you can do.

I'm working hard on becoming a good powder skier. Here are the marks I left the first time I took this run. No action shots were taken for the sake of my pride, but let's just say my black gear spend most of the day covered in white.

However, the exact same day we thought we were having a killer day on the slopes, a coworker of mine took this photo out in Engelberg. (Click on the image to truly do it justice)

I'm not complaining, but I think we picked the wrong mountain.

Chamonix

2011-01-18T22:13:00.001+01:00

I just returned from a weekend in Chamonix, France, home of one of the most famous ski resorts in the world. Lori passed on the opportunity to join me, opting out of a weekend with the boys to spend time with her new partner in crime, Simon the Corgi. I met up with Chris from London and Dave from Winnipeg, who was on his way to Egypt, for a quick 2 day ski-o-thon.

The weather in Chamonix was abnormally spring-like for mid January and for all three days we visited, we enjoyed daytime temps of 10 degrees C. Growing up skiing the rockies, this was my first time I had skied without a cap or anything covering my ears.

Chamonix is the primary village surrounded by a glorious mountain range hosted by a number of separate ski resorts. Nestled right in the border of France, Italy and Switzerland, it could technically be possible to ski in all three countries in a single day. However, we opted to stick to Les Grandes Montets for day one, and Brevent on day two.

Les Grandes Montets turned out to the most challenging, most beautiful, and most memorable bit of skiing I have ever accomplished in my life. Brevent was nice too, only that it was north-facing so we had the sun the entire day.

Both days were spectacular: the crowds were sparse, the snow, though it hadn't snowed in 5 days, was still relatively good given the sun was softening it up, and the price at 45 Euro was good given our North American standards of almost $100/day.

The town of Chamonix itself was very nice. Very much what you'd expect for a french ski village in the Alps. Free transportation takes you to any resort you want to ski while restaurants invite you with the heavy smells of Franco-Swiss-inspired cuisine.

All in all, it was a great weekend of skiing, eating, and catching up with a couple of old buddies. We already decided to meet same time, same place next year, but this time for a much longer stay.

Good Eats: Käsefondue

2011-01-05T13:44:00.000+01:00

There is very little I can say about fondue that isn't already household knowledge. Most have had it at least once in their lives usually around the table with a number of guests. But here in Switzerland, it isn't one of those fad dining experiences that died out in the 70's. Fondue here is still very cherished and taken quite seriously.

It may go without saying, but fondue here is a winter meal. No self-serving Swiss would eat fondue without snow on the ground, however, most Swiss restaurants will carry it year-round to cater to the tourists. Chocolate/dessert fondues along with hot-oil fondue (here called fondue chinoise) are less popular but still can also be found.

Lori and I have had fondue here one time before but this past Christmas eve, we decided to make it ourselves - maybe the start a new tradition.

Swiss käsefondue (käse being German for cheese), is generally made up of two or more cheeses, and most traditionally has both Gruyère and Elementaler. Many households have thier own family variations that can mix Appenzeller or Vacherin as well. Nutmeg, salt, pepper and a clove or two of garlic are added along with good-quality white wine. Finally, for a käsefondue to truly be Swiss, one needs to add a couple tablespoons of kirsch - Switzerland's cherry-based home brew.

For dipping, the Swiss generally don't do anything but bread (1-2 days old) and boiled baby potatoes. For variation, we added blanched broccoli (my favorite) and cauliflower with fresh apples.

Finally, it's tradition here that punishment is enforced for the the cost of losing a dipped morsel off your fork into the cheese: a song, a dance, or a shot of something strong. Intentionally or not, Lori was required to have a few more drinks than she would normally pound on this particular evening.

See this article in The Globe and Mail for information about searching for the perfect cheese fondue in Switzerland.

Apocalypse Tomorrow?

2011-01-02T15:06:00.000+01:00

Mother was getting a little sad every time she came to the home page of our blog over the last days, so we decided to kick off 2011 with a touch of levity.

Take a look at the following photo. I took this photo this morning from our storage unit 5 meters from the front door of our apartment. Any ideas on what this could be?

This is our personal nuclear fallout shelter.

It's mandated that every building in Switzerland has one. The law was enacted in 1963 during the start of the cold war, and although the cold war threat has basically been dead for over 20 years, every new household still has to choose whether to build a nuclear shelter in their basement or pay taxes to support the one in the community.

No other country is as ready for a nuclear attack as Switzerland.

"In 2006, there were 300,000 shelters in Swiss dwellings, institutions and hospitals, as well as 5,100 public shelters, providing protection for a total of 8.6 million individuals – a coverage of 114 per cent."
source: swissinfo.ch

Take that Sweden and Finland, whose shelter-to-person ratio falls well behind at 81 and 70 percent respectively.

And it doesn't stop there.

The entire country of Switzerland is full of transportation tunnels, burrowing hundreds of miles through the mountains in every region of the country. It's hard to go anywhere by train or car without having to go through a tunnel at some point in your trip. These tunnels too, are nuclear-ready. Lucerne's 1.5 km Sonnenberg Tunnel contains thousands of bunkbeds, a hospital and jail. It's doors were designed to withstand the blast from a 1 Megaton explosion 1km away (though failed to close in a 1987 test).

Is this paranoia? A touch of crazy? Most Swiss know they will never be attacked. The stance of political neutrality and a banking system that houses the finances of many of the potential perpetrators of a nuclear attack minimize the odds. However, a nuclear cloud going off anywhere else could produce a fallout that only the Swiss would be prepared for. And who better to put order back into a devastated world and re-build civilization?

And guess which two lucky S.O.B's are only 5 meters away from being a part of this utopian future?

Read more:
The Casual Truth
Reuters

Eiffel and Us

2010-12-26T15:34:00.000+01:00

What was supposed to be a fun weekend of our first Christmas together, sans family, turned out to be a very difficult time for both Lori and I. Our baby dog Eiffel past away Christmas eve at 11am.

Eiffel was the first dog I had owned, and as Lori often says, we were a package deal. She was one of two female black labs of a litter of 11 and the runt of the bunch. My very first memory was of another male littermate on his haunches pulling with all his might at the ear of a little black, sad-eyed thing. I knew at that moment she would be my dog.

She was born on Feb 5, 2000 in Luck Wisconsin to Mikeyla (Mike) and Keiana of Chalkaro. Her father was a search and rescue dog working for the Sitka Fire Department in Alaska, where in 1995 he set a record for identifying the body of a missing person 200 ft under salt water (search for 'Deep Sniffing' on this site). Fortunately for us, Eiffel did not seem to possess the qualities saught after to replace her father in Alaska and ended up coming home to Minneapolis on March 25, 2000.

She was a great dog and the three of us had amazing times together. She was the perfect camping companion with our endless trips to the Boundary Waters and the Lake Superior region, "the disappearing no-bake cheesecake incident" notwithstanding.

Her best friend, and life-long snarfing partner, was Cooper. Her toy, stolen from friends in Florida, was "baby" the gingerbread doll she took everywhere with her. She was a sweet and gentle girl with a touch of troublemaker to keep you on your toes.

We wanted to thank all those who helped us raise Eiffel through the years: the Kallas, the Walkers, Rebecca, "My Friend" Lisa and all the other friends and family members that doggie-sat, provided and cared for our dog. Especially to Brutha Dan, who became synonymous with all the good things in doggie life: camping, car rides, long walks in the woods, swimming, bird watching, and cheering on her home-state Packers. Thank you all.

We loved her dearly and are truly going to miss her. To paraphrase my buddy Roger: there will always be a hole in our hearts, exactly the size of that darn black dog.

Climb On!

2010-12-21T19:17:00.000+01:00

Lori and I have been heading to the Pilatus indoor climbing gym from the moment we arrived to canton Zug in Switzerland. In fact, our first train ride was to check out the facilities back in early October. Since then we have become annual members and have a routine that gets us on the walls twice a week.

Though relatively large for my climbing gym standards, Pilatus is a baby in comparison to the granddaddy only 30 kms away, Kletterzentrum Gaswerk, the largest climbing gym in Europe. However, for proximity and plenty of variety in both free climbing and bouldering, Pilatus is for us.

The largest difference between climbing in Switzerland vs the United States, other than getting used to the French grading system, is the lack of policy. Paperwork, policy, and regulations are beginning to be synonymous with our time here in Switzerland thus far, but at Pilatus things are different. To explain:

In the US, before climbing at our previous home gym, one must first sign a waiver which clearly, if not threateningly, illustrates that rock climbing is a dangerous sport, that you can die climbing, that you waive liability, blah, blah, blah. Second is you have to pass a safety class (do you know your knots? are you able to belay? do you know how to fall?). That is only for the top-ropers. If you want to lead climb, a second more extensive class is required, and all lead climbers must wear a wrist band to prove that they have "checked out". No wrist band, no lead climbing.

Contrast that to the Swiss experience: First step, tell the proprietor that you know how to climb. Next step, climb whatever you want. That's it. No waiver, tests, classes, safety/danger speeches, nothing. Pay and you can do any type of climbing you like.

And... and this is the killer... the gym has a bar. Well it's more like a lounge that overlooks the gym where, if you like, you can stop your exercise, have a beer, then get back on the wall. To be fair, we have never seen someone drink and climb and I'm sure it rarely happens. Fraternizing with a cold one happens post-climb where you can sit around and talk about that 6c you just couldn't flash.

I guess the point is that it is so nice to be treated like the adults that we are. To be taken on our word that we have years of experience behind us and not to mention enjoying a brewski amongst your climbing peeps after a few hours of sweating on a wall.

Good Eats: Rösti

2010-12-19T15:25:00.000+01:00

Rösti is a classic swiss dish, found on almost every menu in the country. Many call it Switzerland's national meal. I call it hash browns. I don't want to simplify things, but that's all it really is: grated potatoes, fried on a pan with a little butter, salt and pepper. Some add a little of sprinkling of spice or herb depending on the region where it's served. But the Swiss love it. Grating techniques, together with the types of potato are hotly disputed.

Our first taste of rösti was in the streets of St Gallen in northeastern Switzerland. I had mine together with a bratwurst in a delicious onion gravy. The better rösti is golden and crunchy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside.

This morning, Lori and I decided to make our own rösti. A common breakfast way of serving rösti is with cheese, egg or bacon or sausage. We went with the cheese and egg combo. Not bad for the first try, though not quite as pretty as the Swiss deliver it.

Flumserberg

2010-12-18T19:23:00.000+01:00

The snow has been falling here in Switzerland for the last week, so needless to say we were counting the days to the weekend for the opportunity to hit the slopes. Today we took off to Flumserberg, a relatively popular destination given its proximity to Zurich. Even more convenient for us non-car folks is it's proximity to the rail line: You literally hop off the train and jump on the gondola.

The view from our lift

Flumserberg lies above the shore of lake Walensee and faces the beautiful Churfirsten chain, so there is no shortage of stuff to look at.

We ended up having some great weather, good visibility, lots of fresh snow (especially off piste), and no lift lines, all elements that make for a perfect day.

Good Eats: Chestnuts

2010-12-15T21:03:00.000+01:00

Walk down the streets of virtually any city or town in this country and the one constant smell that penetrates even raclette is that of the chestnut vendors.

This may be old news to many reading, but for me, this winter is the first time in my life I have ever had chestnuts. Roasted. On an open drum. Meaty, nutty goodness. Needless to say, we can't get enough.

The stands are everywhere and the prices are plain silly. The equivalent of $3 for more or less 10 nuts. As a tourist, you can't help but buy a bag from time to time, but as a local, a bag of fresh ones at the grocery store goes for 1/10 the price.

Our recipe, and this comes through a lot of practice: score the nut horizontally and add into a pan for baking. Only put in enough so they all lay flat on the pan. Throw into an oven already firing at 240F and bake for 20-30 minutes. It's ready when the shell darkens and almost bursts open. A good roasted chestnut should not be dry. Some recommend adding a little water to the pan, a technique we have not yet tried... There's always tonight.

First Turns of the Season

2010-12-13T22:26:00.000+01:00

This just in: our internet is finally up and running. We now return you to our regularly scheduled blog.

This, my friends, is just a short train ride away:

Lori and I got our first turns in last weekend at Engelberg Mount Titlis . It was a perfect day with mild temps, great visibility (until 3pm) and fresh snow from the night before. The mountain life is definitely one of the highlights of this country, and I suppose if waiting one month to get internet is the cost to a day like this, then it's a price worth paying.

The Devil Came Down to Whoville

2010-12-07T11:12:00.001+01:00

I know Lori and I have been terrible about blogging lately. There is plenty to say about our time thus far in Switzerland, but I feel I must hold off for some time yet. Much has happened (cities visited, mountains climbed, sausages eaten) but I plan to only write once we finally have internet up and running in our new home. As we live without the web, Switzerland shall be punished with a lack of our insightful and witty commentary about her. Take that.

Therefore, ahem... I returned recently from a 3 day tour of Salzburg, Austria. Yes, "I" returned. No, it does not mean I left Lori behind. Lori did not join me for this little adventure. A bout of the flu or some other such stomach parasite held her back from the fun. Stay back and care for my ailing wife (still sounds weird)? Hell no, those were non-refundable train tickets we're talking about!

I know we haven't been here too long, but from what I can see so far, Europeans know Christmas better than any continent on the planet. And I don't mean that they crank up Bing Crosby to eleven at the local megamall. I mean, they really do it right: parades, festivals, horse-drawn carriages, carolers, ice skating, steaming cups of hot alcoholic street beverages, chestnuts roasting on open fires, Krampus nipping at your nose. Krampus? I'll get to that. But first...

Lori and I have been doing a lot of touring around the-country-that-shall-not-be-mentioned-until-they-get-our-wifi-up-and-running, and every city, town, or village we hit happens to have an advent festival on *that* particular weekend. They are silly for Christmas here and not in the consumerist "Black Friday" way we have become accustomed to. Not only that, but in this pageant, Jesus seems to only play a supporting role. The focus is on winter and spending time with your friends and family outside, freezing your ass off, surrounded by a fairytale wonderland. You know the Whos before the the Grinch ruins the party? Singing, skating, drunk with seasonal cheer? Europe, at least this part of it, is like one big Whoville.

However there is also an awfully weird side to this particular fairy tale.

Keep in mind that the following is only the perspective of an outsider. One who never bothered to do the research, but sorta stumbled upon a strange cult-like event that should only be chalked up to one of those "you just had to be there moments". But I'll try to explain anyway.

It turns out that in Salzburg, and maybe all of Austria, Santa doesn't give coal to children that misbehave. Here, the naughty kids have to deal with this:

and this:

Kinda reminds you of the whole Santa-Satan thing from the Church Lady right?

Yes, this is the Krampus and Perchten run. An annual parade where Santa and his beastie minions take to the street to hand out peanuts to those that are good and publicly humiliate those that were not. And by publicly humiliate I mean that they carry whips and grab kids, pull them into the street and whip them. Seriously:

<insert clever bondage joke> Evidence of children being punished for their bad deeds. And not just kids...

There I was, minding my own business, enjoying the scene and taking photos of the mayhem, when a Treebeard demon grabbed my Domo-issued maple leaf toque off my head and started taunting me with it. I felt, to honour my country and the all the jump-to-the-pumpers out there, that I needed to get my hat back. In doing so, I was grabbed, pulled into the street and whipped. Publicly whipped. Below the ass. It really hurt. It left a mark.

This nonsense went on for at least an hour tracking well into the old town of Salzburg. Children were startled, adults uncomfortable and little dogs down-right terrified. And here I thought Salzburg was the home of 'The Sound of Music' and Mozart.

Anyway, it's all in fun and if you like your children screaming themselves awake with night terrors, I totally recommend checking this celebration out. It really was one of the most spectacular Christmas events I ever attended. Oh and by the way, if Lori ever mentions anything about an injury I sustained in Salzburg, this is the story I'm sticking with.

Passion and Art in Basel -- Vienna 1900 Exhibition

2010-11-09T11:58:00.000+01:00

Gustav Klimt Judith II (Salome), 1909

It's an exciting time to be exploring Switzerland. On Saturday, Marc and I went to Basel for the day and enjoyed the outdoor street fair and walking along the Rhine River. We went back on Sunday so we could see the Vienna 1900 Exhibition at the Beyeler Fondation, curated by Barbara Steffan.

Many people are familiar with one of the prominant artists in the exhibition, Gustav Klimt and his work such as The Kiss, 1907 - 1908; however, not everyone is aware of what was happening in Vienna at the turn of the Century or have had the opportunity to see so many original works of art from this time and place exhibited together. Freud had just published Die Traumdeutung (The Interpretation of Dreams), 1899; and proper Victorian society was debating/condemning Freud for his thoughts on regression, repression and the Oedipus Complex.

Much of the art in the exhibition can be attributed to individuals who were part of the Vienna Secession group, of which Klimt was president. The Secessionists resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists in 1897 and created their own group because they felt held back and rejected many of their romantic ideals. Together these artists created work that experimented with new styles, techniques and subjects. Much of their focus was on the psychology behind their subjects and they created work that was psychologically intense, direct, often erotic and completely new to the artworld.

As you can guess, many of these artists in the exhibition lived unconventional lives that challenged society's boundaries. There were affairs, scandals, rejections from critics, court cases and intense debates about art. I think some of the popularity of this exhibition and art is because of the passion you see for living and our fascination with these artists and individuals who clearly wanted to reject society's norms; however, the lives of many of these artists weren't easy.

In 1908, Artist Richard Gerstl (25) committed suicide after his lover, Mathilde, wife of composer Arnold Schoenberg goes back to her husband. He hangs himself in front of a mirror and just to be sure he gets the job done, he also stabs himself. Schoenberg was also a painter and goes on to become one of the most influential composers of avante-garde musical thought of our time.

Although shunned by the early critics, Klimt was much sought after by patrons, especially women who wanted their portraits painted by him. When he died, it was discovered in some of his unfinished work that he would often paint his subjects naked and then paint the clothing on them afterwards. He died in early February 1918 from a stroke and pneumonia.

Egon Schiele, a protégé of Klimt was arrested and sentenced to do jail time for showing erotic work. He was literally driven out of two different towns and told never to return. He died in the Fall of 1918 from the Spanish Flu, 3 days after his pregnant wife dies of it like so many others of the time.

Oskar Kokoschka has a stormy affair with Alma Mahler, wife of composer Gustav Mahler and was obsessed with her for much of his life.

It's a great show with a lot of stories and over 200 works of art that it deserves a couple of visits. It runs from Sept. 26, 2010 - January 16, 2011. For directions see: Beyeler Fondation Info.

PS -- Don't forget to grab a coffee and pastry from the Viennese Coffee House in the basement that was installed especially for this exhibition.

Swiss Bank Account

2010-11-05T11:23:00.001+01:00

Today I opened a Swiss Bank Account. How cool is that? From this day forward, no matter how annoying to others it gets I will never say the words “bank account” without the word “Swiss” preceding it.

Some completely false facts about obtaining a Swiss Bank Account:

First the experience is exactly what you expect. You must first pass through a rigorous physical security check, pat-down and x-ray executed by armed guards. Upon passing security we were ushered into a shiny elevator down (what seemed like) ten floors to meet with the bank manager who dressed and smelled like a million bucks. The marble floor was spotless and cameras covered every angle. Drinks were ordered. Though it was morning, I still went with the martini since this was such a ‘James Bond’ moment, Lori had a cappuccino. After going through our personal documents, criminal check and family history, we were taken into a lab where they collected our fingerprints, blood sample and retinal scans – used, of course, for access to our accounts in the future. I brought the requisite 45000 CHF to open the account in cash, which Lori thought was gauche, but I thought better fit the moment we were trying to capture. A light lunch and a couple dozen signatures and we are officially have a safe place to leave our gold.

We are so bad ass.

Good Eats: Raclette

2010-10-31T10:59:00.000+01:00

Switzerland is a land of cheese - with holes and without - so it's fitting that our first Good Eats posting about our new homeland is about it's most famous: the Raclette

Raclette, a semi-firm cheese of cow's milk, is a staple here. So much so that my friend Chris joked about whether your received raclette the moment you stepped off the plane when landing in Switzerland.

Yesterday, Lori and I were wandering the annual Zuger Messe (Zug Trade Fair) when we got a whiff of the foul yet delicious smell that is raclette. I've remarked on my tendency for 'street meat' in the past but 'street cheese' definitely holds a trump card. Therefore before Lori could say "What the hell is that stink?", I almost knocked over a small child, an old woman and rather large gentleman to get in line.

Unless you buy a brick and start eating without knowing anything about it, raclette is always served hot. The traditional street-technique is to apply heat to a portion and gently scrape the gooey melty part off. This technique is where the name comes from: racler - the French "to scrape". Other methods include grilling in a iron skillet above an open flam or with a special table-top hotplate where it is attacked by all at your table fondue-style.

Our raclette came on a piece of fresh homemade bread, sprinkled with seasoning, and a side of gherkins and pickled onions. The beer was extra but made for a perfect accompaniment.

Great Textile Show at the Swiss National Museum - Zurich

2010-10-28T14:21:00.000+02:00

I'll admit it, that even though I'm a granola girl at heart there is still a big part of me that loves the glamour of the fashion world, trying on great shoes and seeing the latest designer fashions.

I also have a bit of a fabric fettish - one of my favorite things to do is to look at fabric and paper so yesterday I visited the Swiss National Museum in Zurich to see the show "Soie Pirate. The Abraham Textile Archive Zurich." It's a fantastic show about Gustav Zumsteg's textile archive that was donated to the museum a couple of years ago. Abraham is the name of Zumsteg's company which was the supplier of some of the world's greatest silk for designers such as Balanchiaga, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and many others.

Part of the exhibition shows the process of how fabrics are made which was fascinating and helps explain some of the exorbitant prices for quality fabrics. The show's curators obviously understood that people who love fabrics won't be satisfied until they can touch the fabrics. Mercifully, towards the end of the exhibit you can touch and learn about Crepe de Chine, Shantung, Jacquard, Single-Sided Silk Satin, Double-Sided Silk Satin and many others. Much of the silk sold by Zumsteg was from Italy and it turns out that he outsourced a lot of the manufacturing (after it was designed) to factories in Italy and other parts of Switzerland.

It's a great show for fabric lovers and it runs through February 13, 2011. The museum is directly across the street from the Zurich train station -- Museumstrasse 2, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland.

A Beautiful Fall Day in Bern

2010-10-24T13:53:00.000+02:00

Where to start? Marc and I went to Bern today sort of as a last minute thing and we just got home. We are keeping our visits short so Eif isn't home by herself all day. It's crazy that we can go to Bern and back in one afternoon.

We had one of those perfect days where everyone walking by seemed to be smiling. You really couldn't help it -- the day was so beautiful, there was nothing that could make you grumpy.

In the Saturday market outside the train station, we walked by some lovely vendor stands that displayed flower arrangements, colorful fruits, piled up cheeses (including Raclette which we haven't tried yet) and piled crates of vegetables. I won't go on gushing about them instead I'll let you see a few of them for yourself. After this, we did the walking tour recommended by the tourism office which we would enjoy doing again.

At the beginning of the tour, you'll see the formality of the government and parliamentary buildings in Bundesplatz completely undermined by a playful public artwork called Platz als Platz. There's a wide open plaza where water unpredictably shoots up from various places catching people by surprise and delight. (We didn't see one person get sprayed with water because everyone stands around staring at seemingly nothing and you wonder what they're look at.) Just when you're ready to look away, fountains of water start shooting up here and there, sometimes in unison, sometimes on their own and everyone giggles.

We continued our walk along the Aare River bluff where you could see the bridge and the trees at peak fall colors. Spectacular. Along the way, you'll encounter a Paul Klee reproduction on display which shows the view Klee must have had on a day exactly like we had today. It's easy to understand where some of his inspiration came from after seeing the view.

Of course we had to walk over the Kirchenfeldbrücke (Kirchenfeld Bridge) to the entrance of the five or six museums on the other side (which we're saving for a return trip on a cold day) but we decided to walk back over the bridge and check out the stained glass and grandness of the architecture of the Bern Münster. We climbed the umpteen stairs to get near the top of the bell tower that overlook the city. The view is definitely worth the climb and the small entrance fee.

View from Bern Münster Bell Tower

As we ventured back to the train station, I made a mental note of all of the charming cafes, cellar stores and cute shops we saw along the way that deserve more time. I know a few other people who would like these places and I'm looking forward to returning with them and Marc soon. (Bibelot anyone?)

Marc will be writing more about Bern so I don't want to steal all of the thunder. Suffice it to say, we both loved it and will be making a return visit in the near future.

Good Hikes: Zugerberg

2010-10-17T23:51:00.000+02:00

The first hike that any new resident of Zug does is the Zugerberg. Zugerberg is a mountain range on the easterly side of Zug and home of a large recreation area/trail network. Elevation starts at about 1100m and takes you up to about 1700m at the highest point of the area. The trail system is relatively vast providing approximately 55 hours of hiking on about 17 different routes during the summer. The trails are also open in the winter months but are restricted to 4 trails making up 6 hours of total hiking time plus a decent number of additional trails for cross-country skiing.

Because the city of Zug is nestled in a valley between Mount Zugerberg and Lake Zug, it can find itself in a fog through much of the year, but above in Zugerberg the weather can be completely different. As a result the local television network broadcasts from the top of Zugerberg so every resident knows whether the mountain is experiencing a clear day when the town is not.

Looking down at Zug from Zugerberg

Getting to Zugerberg is easy - an hour walk uphill from the heart of the town, or take the Schönegg funicular up to the mountain station where the series of hikes begin.

Although we did not happen to get a sunny day, Lori and I took a Sunday afternoon to do our first Swiss hike on the Zugerberg. Being our first hike here, and really out of hiking shape - seven months since our last great hike - we took it easy and kept it to a mostly downhill, three-hour trek.

Hiking in the clouds

The cloudy day made for an eerie experience, but beautiful nevertheless. The trail system goes through a number of farms and as a result the sound of cow and sheep bells rang through the haze hinting at signs of farm life without the visual proof.

Good Hikes: Switzerland

2010-10-17T21:51:00.000+02:00

Switzerland. Yeah, there is hiking here. Thousands and thousands of kilometers of trails.

But what really makes the hiking here so impressive is the organization of the trails and Switzerland Mobility is the organization to thank for it. What started as an idea between a group of biking enthusiasts teaming with the Tourism board in 1993 with bike routes, expanded to include hiking in 1998. Today, the entire country is covered routes for all to walk. Almost 60,000 km of managed hiking trails plot the country.

Head a few minutes in any direction, anywhere in the country, and you are bound to come across a sign like this:

All signage reports on your current location, direction to various points of interest and the amount of time in hours and minutes it takes for an average walker to reach it. Plus the type of terrain is represented by either a yellow point for roadway or white/red/white point for off-road trails.

Lori and I have already taken advantage of these trails, heading out for hikes on our first two weekends here. As a result, we have decided to chronicle our hiking adventures with a new series of "Good Hikes" here on The Ballad.

Zug

2010-10-03T22:13:00.000+02:00

We're finishing up day three here in our new home country of Switzerland. The first days here have been a little slow but very nice. Both Lori and I have been a little under the weather and probably more jet lagged than we'd like to admit, but overall things are going very well. It helps when the weather is absolutely perfect - 20C, no wind, no clouds - and there is nothing but beauty all around.

We are currently residing in the town of Zug, the capital of the canton of Zug just 20 km south of Zurich. We'll be staying here for a short time while we search for a more permanent place to flop - we have a short-term lease to allow us to find a long-term home that suits us. I work in the town of Baar, but there are dozens of towns within 15km of Baar that will make commuting simple. But for now, we will explore Zug as much as possible.

The city of Zug is a nice little place. It hugs the base of Lake Zug and is surrounded by lush, green hills. The city is as clean as any city I have ever visited and is clearly a place for the rich. Standing at the corner, waiting to cross the street, we laughed at the cars going by: Beemer, Porsche, Porsche, Audi, Porsche... The canton of Zug is best known for its low tax rates and therefore high number of companies within. The city of Zug's job positions almost outnumber its entire population. But it also has a great Old Town with cobblestone streets and 600-year old buildings where people (tourists) hang out drinking coffee or wine while watching the world go by.

Lori and I spent the day today walking the Zugerberg, the mountain that sits above the city of Zug. We were very impressed with the infrastructure of biking and hiking paths that line the country-side and charmed by the constant ringing of cow and sheep bells. An almost endless number of trails make up Switzerland and I had to chuckle when at the visitor's center, the only maps available to me where those of the hiking trails and no detailed ones of the city of Zug itself.

Tomorrow I start my first day of my new job. I had the opportunity to meet a couple coworkers already and I couldn't be happier with the impression I have of both the country and my new job thus far.

Pain in the Tax

2010-09-28T18:37:00.000+02:00

Generally there is little that you can complain about when it comes to traveling and living in different counties, however one of the big headaches you must deal with on an annual basis is making sure you are in compliance with local tax laws everywhere you happen to reside or generate income. To prepare, this morning I had a conversation with my tax adviser in order to get a head-start on what tax preparations will look like for 2010.

I've been filing with at least two countries for almost 10 years now but this year will be even more complicated. In 2010, I'll be filing as 1) a US expat Argentinean resident, 2) a US resident in the US, and 3) a Swiss resident in Switzerland. Three different statuses, three different countries, three different tax rules to follow. To complicate matters further, the US taxes all citizens regardless of where they reside. Therefore my Swiss filing just got more confusing because regardless of the amount of your earnings and whether or not you are below foreign earned income exclusionary limits, you still need to communicate everything to Uncle Sam.

Luckily most of the complication is handled by professionals so my knowledge of the systems can remain relatively limited.

Goodbye Stuff

2010-09-23T21:56:00.000+02:00

As we famously scooped in a blog posting a couple weeks back, Lori and I are indeed moving to Switzerland. We've been back in the US for 6 weeks now and, in a way, Argentina feels like years ago. We've been feverishly preparing for our next move and although we thought we had this 'relocation' thing all figured out, it still takes a lot of time to prepare for a change of this size.

This time around we decided to take a few steps that we did not have to take during our time in Argentina. Obviously getting married was the most prominent and necessary step for a Swiss move. Switzerland's tighter visa restrictions for unmarried couples and stricter border rules than Argentina may have slightly nudged us towards our nuptials. That and true love of course.

Another large (one could argue 'larger') change was our decision to unload many of the items we had amassed over the years.

During our time in Argentina we learned about leaving things behind: The story was that although we had originally planned to take some of our belongings with us, due to visa problems only our checked bags actually arrived with us during our entire stay. Essentially, for the last 20 months, Lori and I have been living out of suitcases while everything else sat in boxes. You can imagine how that can change one's perspective on the things they own.

This new opportunity to relocate has again given us a chance to look back at the past experience in order to help us determine what we really need to pack or whether leaving our things behind is the right thing to do or not.

To begin with, there is no doubt that Lori and I are addicted to the lifestyle of working and traveling abroad. Even if the Swiss experience only lasts a couple of years, we highly doubt it will be our last. Months of storage costs can quickly add up but the expense of keeping our things in storage is only one variable. There's also a relief of not having to worry about things we left behind or the burden on others who must watch over our things while was are away. Most importantly, parting ways with our things will allow us even more freedom or flexibility in the future to jump anywhere we want at a moment's notice.

Our two-day garage sale this past weekend weekend was a big success. The weather could not have been more cooperative and the constant stream of people stopping by on Saturday cleaned us out far better than I expected. What didn't sell was less than a car-load we dropped off at Goodwill.

Parting with certain items was a little difficult but overall there was an general catharsis to the whole experience. Our remaining possessions can all fit easily into a closet and should have no problem fitting into our modest air shipment allowance. These items will be packed up next week to our new soon-to-be home in the Zug canton Switzerland.

Our final decision (perhaps out of a regret from our stay in Argentina) is that although we said goodbye to a lot of our things, we are not saying goodbye to our most important possession this relocation. Yes, we are happy to say that The Ballad is going to be slightly re-branded to celebrate the fact that Eiffel will make it a threesome this time around. Living with a pet in a foreign country will make things a little more interesting but much more rewarding for "our family" in the long run. As always, we'll keep you all posted of Eiffel's travel and adjustment in her new home.

Good Eats: 2010 Minnesota State Fair

2010-08-30T05:11:00.000+02:00

Though Lori and I were sad to know that we were leaving Argentina, there was an underlying happiness in the fact that we knew our return to Minnesota was going to correspond with one of our favorite festivals in the world, the Minnesota State Fair.

Unfortunately, due to some health issues in the family, Lori was unable to join me in the venture, but my runner-up state-fair-partner-in-crime Dan came along. We brought along a little bit of Argentina with German, a porteño working with Dan to get a taste of pure Americana.

Generally I go for two primary reasons: to people watch and to eat. It's a perfect combination of activities easily accomplished in tandem. A little advanced research gives us the chance to locate the new items introduced to the fair so our tasting menu tends to include a mix of old favorites plus new arrivals. This year's 24-course meal that spanned 9 hours and consisted of (in order):

Bratwurst with Kraut
Fresh Peaches (new to me)
Raspberry Red Wine Ice Cream (new to me)
Grain Belt Beer
Sweet Potato Tots (new)
Walleye Cakes (new to me)
Salmon on a Stick
Chicken-fried Bacon (new)
Lemonade
Kettle Corn
Pronto Pup (Corn Dog)
Corn on the Cob
1919 Rootbeer
Sweet Martha's Cookies
Amber Bock Beer
Scotch Egg (new to me)
Manny's Torta Cubano Sandwich (new)
Fresh Pineapple (new)
Stuffed French Toast
Chocolate Malt
Chicken Chipotle Pizza on a Stick (new)
Korean BBQ Tacos (new)
Peanut Butter and Banana Hotdog (new to me and an instant addition to the future classic list)
3 or 4 Bottles of Water

Tomorrow I officially begin my diet.

A Couple Minor Updates

2010-08-27T14:35:00.000+02:00

For those of you still following 'The Ballad', we thank you. It's been a couple of slow weeks as we continue to transition back from our time in Argentina.

We do have some news we would love to share with everyone.

First of all, after 8 years together, Lori and I officially tied the knot. On Friday the 13th (yes, we purposely chose that date) we sneaked off to have a super private ceremony then continued on a two-stop "Shock the Parents" tour of South Dakota and Canada. If only we had video of the reaction.

Second is, after much deliberation, we have decided on our next country of residence and are currently packing our bags to prepare to move to Switzerland. This move will continue to give us as much opportunity as possible to explore the globe by putting us in one of the most central locations in Europe. Though focusing on Argentina for the last couple of years, we now hope to now provide updates on our travels around Europe and keep 'The Ballad' as interesting as possible with everything we learn during our time in die Schweiz.

Over the next month, our primary focus will be on all tasks related to relocation - packing our things, selling the stuff we don't pack, moving, and settling in. We’ll continue to occasionally check-in so stay tuned.

Cheers,

Marc and Lori

7 Seconds of Fame

2010-08-22T19:25:00.000+02:00

Approx 10 years ago my buddy James and I took it upon ourselves to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for consecutive movie viewing. The event consisted of 29 movies over the span of around 60 hours. We began on Friday morning at 9am and finished Sunday evening around 9pm.

The last 7 seconds is worth the wait.

For the record, our record was beaten 2 years later and a couple more time since with Netflix sponsored attempts. The 2008 championships destroyed our record with 57 films spanning 123 hours!

Thanks to James for digging this baby up!

What Next?

2010-08-09T22:51:00.000+02:00

The Ballad has been very quiet lately, and for good reason: there is nothing to report and there is nothing more boring than to read nothing about nothing. So I will keep this post very short.

Lori and I are both back in the Twin Cities again after a few weeks apart so it was nice to get back together. Eiffel and I also had a lovely reunion. It was hard to say who missed me more, but my money's on the dog. We spent the weekend catching up with some friends but mainly relaxed and kept cool from the heat.

We are in the process of determining what our follow-up plans will be. Argentina was an epic experience that will be difficult to top, but by all means we hope to do just that. At this time, we have some 'irons in the fire' but nothing definitive to report. As usual, the Ballad will report all the news as it happens so stay tuned.

Goodbye Argentina

2010-06-18T22:15:00.000+02:00

Was it worth it?

Today I am leaving Buenos Aires to head back to Minnesota. My ride to the airport picks me up in four hours and I'm all packed so I have some time to reflect about my time here and think about whether or not it was worth upheaving our lives, saying goodbye family, friends and our dog to see what life for us would be like in another country.

Without hesitation I can easily say it was worth it and I hope to do it again soon. I don't want any of my family or friends to be offended by that statement - they (you) are the most important part of my life and always will be, but it has been extremely valuable to get some perspective on the life Marc and I had before we moved here. We worked a ton, we ran tons of errands, we were on our cell phones all the time, we worried about bills, we often didn't get to spend time together for a few days at a time, we hated the consumerism and the constant drive to make more money, live less.

Finding balance is a huge challenge for everyone and stepping away from the life we had before allowed us a chance to get some perspective and the chance to recreate the life we always wanted to have. Honestly, we could have done a lot of this at home but then we wouldn't get to see what else in the world we're missing out on and I have to say, it was/is a lot.

One of the biggest hassles we continue to have to this day is what to do with our stuff (furniture, books, clothes, things and clutter) -- it truly weighs you down and this is after we got rid of half of it before we left. Honestly, I don't remember most of the stuff I have in storage -- things I worked extra weekends and pulled all nighters to gain. I feel like the joke was on me.

Obviously, no matter where you live there are things we need that are just a part of life -- food, shelter, transportation and communication. These are things that I consider the basics; but, its the price we pay and the way you take care of getting these things that matter. Learning to separate a want from a need is important -- just how much does one person need? What is so interesting to me today is how I justified getting the extras in the past.

I gained:

A new appreciation for family and friends back home
Some great new life-long friends
A better relationship with Marc - we're closer than ever and we talk a lot more about the good stuff
Knowledge about customs and places that we didn't know anything about before
Insight and a new perspective on world politics
Understanding on why more and more people are frustrated with US politics and behaviors

The things I'll miss (beside our new friends):

the Argentine greeting of a kiss on the cheek
malbec
ice cream and ice cream delivery
mate
dulce de leche
the architecture
easy, affordable public transportation
coffee -- no matter which restaurant you are in you always get a small sweet and tiny glass of water with your order
having to make a midnight reservation for supper- the nights have a life of their own
afternoon asados (and I say this as a vegetarian)
all of the sweet dogs

I'm not sure what's next. Marc has some things to wrap up in Argentina and I have some things to wrap-up in the US. No matter what, we are both looking forward to our next adventure.

Mundial Madness Strikes

2010-06-12T18:01:00.000+02:00

Something would really be amiss if we didn't take a moment to write about the craziness that comes to Argentina every 4 years. Lori and I are both sitting in front of the TV listening to the Argentina national anthem being played in South Africa just before the start of Argentina's first World Cup match in 2010 against Nigeria.

This very moment is the most quiet we've ever heard this city. In a generally busy neighborhood in which we live, there are no cars in the streets. Even the buses that whine and squeal every 10 minutes have gone silent. A few people on the sidewalks are running home or to a cafe in order to get in front of a TV.

It feels like a big storm is on its way.

The entire city of Buenos Aires is covered in blue and white. Buildings draped with flags. Everyone in a futbol jersey, even the dogs are wearing baby blue sweaters.

Just over five minutes into the game and our game's first goal. Heinze heads a beauty for Argentina to make it 1-0. Lori and I open the window of our apartment to hear the shouts come from every household in the city. Unseen cars blast their horns simultaneously.

Argentina is one of the favorites this year even after having a lackluster qualifying tournament. But there is a lot of talent on this team, including maybe one of the best in the world in Messi (who happened to have one heck of a game), so expectations are high.

For the most part Argentina outplayed the Nigerians owning statistics in ball control, shots, scoring chances and most importantly goals. Only one was scored but it was all that was needed in a very entertaining game.

In a country where futbol is more important than anything else, an obsession, World Cup madness has struck this household as well. Vamos Argentina!

Good Eats: Mote con Huesillo

2010-06-06T19:07:00.001+02:00

During our recent trip to Santiago de Chile, we came across a street vendor selling "Tea with Wheat Dry Peaches", so of course we had to give it a try. Mote on Huesillo is a traditional summer-time drink often referred to as the official national drink of Chile. It's a cold, sugary tea with boiled husked wheat and big chunks of dry peaches. Slurping up the pellets of wheat reminded me a lot of trying Japanese bubble tea for the first time. It's extremely tasty, the price is right (just over $1 USD for a big cup of the stuff), and a big recommendation from the two of us.

Discovering Rapa Nui

2010-05-28T04:47:00.007+02:00

Marc and I have easily adapted to the island way of life. On our first night here, we listened to the cacophony of barking dogs, rooster crowing, crickets chirping, ocean waves crashing and the occasional sound of a voice drift in from far off. It seemed as if the animals took shifts throughout the night to ensure that the silence was kept at bay. I am usually a heavy sleeper but these sounds kept me blissfully awake on the first night because it is somewhere new and I didn't want to miss anything.

On our first full day here, we walked to many of the sites that are literally just a stone's throw from our place. Awed by these strange stoic heads that are staring off into the distance, we continued our quest to see more of them. They're located throughout the island and the trek to go from one to the next is rewarding and also a good workout if you're doing it on foot or bike. Why are they here you wonder? How were they made? They also make great picnic buddies.

On day two (yesterday) we rented bikes and set out again. The overcast day made it feel even more mysterious and this time we found caves with secret entrances --luckily we brought headlamps so we could explore and make our way.

By the end of our day, our legs were burning and our butts were numb but we were happy. We took our numb butts out for a tasty tuna steak dinner at an ocean-side restaurant where we watched surfers and boogie boarders tackle the waves until the rain rolled in.

Today, we decided to do a walking tour again and set out to visit the crater on the south part of the island. We walked uphill for a good portion of the day but again it was worth it. We found a great restaurant at the end of the day to reward ourselves with fresh juice and sashimi with super spicy wasabi and soy sauce.

This island is full of amazing and rare views - each day it's something incredible and different than the last. I suppose someone could tour many of these sites by car and see most of them in one or two days but I don't think the payoff is anywhere near as satisfying as when you walk or bike there.

A Lori and Marc Kinda Lost

2010-05-24T22:55:00.008+02:00

I'm not sure how many people out there had themselves a little 'Lost' party to celebrate the season finale last night, but Lori and I decided to take our love of the show to an extreme by heading out to our own private island.

We are currently having our siesta time after spending a perfect morning on Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as it is called here. We arrived late last night and got into the car of the first nice lady who quoted us a cabin in our budget range (trip preparation is an airline ticket and hard cash). This morning we spent our time wandering around the Easter Island's only town of Hanga Roa getting the vibe of the place and the people.

We knew nothing about this place before coming here other than the giant heads. And I love giant heads.

Highlights so far:

Asking directions to a guy on a horse
Fresh fruit and fruit juices (Papaya, Guava, Mango, Maracuya)
Fresh fish (the tuna ceviche was still floppin)
Chilled island life
Oh, and giant heads

More to come...

Stay off the giant heads

Pre-Birthday Wishes

2010-05-21T23:00:00.000+02:00

Happy Birthday Argentina! It's a little early, but I hope you don't mind.

On May 25th 2010 Argentina will celebrate the 200 years of the revolution that opened the way to Independence. To celebrate, bicentennial parties are planned everywhere. Music concerts, speeches, futbol matches, protests; they will have it all over the next 5 days.

The Herald summaries all of the festivities.

The highlight is an "unprecedented Superbowl-style show". International music stars Shakira, Ricky Martin and Daddy Yankee will open for Argentina's final World Cup warm-up match before it all kicks off in South Africa in only a couple weeks. The terrifyingly skilled Team Canada comes all the way to River Plate stadium to most definitely ruin the farewell party. I have 2 pesos on this one. Vamos Canada!

And to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime celebration of our beloved host-country's history, Lori and I are getting out of town. Sorry Argentina, but a four-day long weekend is a perfect excuse for a vacation. We'll miss you and the party but it sounds like life will go on just fine without us. Our destination at this time remains a mystery but we will drop a few updates along the way.

More info about the bicentenario here and here.

Brief summary of the May Revolution
The so-called Revolution of May was a historical process that resulted in the breaking of colonial ties with Spain in 1810 and enabled the road to independence, on July 9, 1816. The events of May did not crystallize over a liberating movement that came looking for, since 1806, greater political and economic participation of the Creoles. Thus, May 22, 1810, after he received news of the fall of the Spanish crown in the hands of French, Creole convened an open forum which had to be accepted by the Viceroy Cisneros, representing Spain in the country . After 4 days of debates and uprisings, it was decided to form a Board Creole assuming the national government until the Spanish Crown was liberated from French domination. Thus, the popular government was formed by intellectuals and military Creoles who came many years fighting for independence revolution: Cornelio Saavedra, Juan José Castelli, Manuel Belgrano, Miguel de Azcuénaga Manuel Alberti, Domingo Matheu, Juan Larrea, Juan José Paso and Mariano Moreno. From this fact, the struggle for independence was an inevitable path that led to the Congress of Tucumán of 9 July 1816. (Source)

Dogs 1.1

2010-05-15T17:49:00.003+02:00

As a followup to our previous post about the dogs of Argentina, Brutha Dan unearthed this great photo of me and Lori and a couple of friends in El Calafate. This type of thing is so common there that you feel strange without an escort.

Amores Perros

2010-05-09T20:40:00.010+02:00

Monument to man's best friend, Mar Del Plata

Argentinians love dogs and I love the dogs of Argentina. They are everywhere and are as much a part of the culture here as the empanada, futbol or crazy taxi drivers. We have been to towns where the streets are filled with dogs, not strays, but well-loved, well-fed family pets. Towns where it's not strange to let your dog go out and play with others in the neighborhood. Without leash, without tags, without worry.

El Calafate was one such town, where there seemed to be more dogs than people in the streets. You'd walk a block, and more times than not, a buddy would join you and walk you to a certain corner then inexplicably run off only to be replaced by another tour guide half a block later.

The Good

A common site during a typical afternoon in the streets of Buenos Aires is that of the paseodor, or dog walker. During the day, while dog owners are working, the paseodor is responsible for making sure ol' Rex gets some exercise. Typically a paseodor handles more or less eight dogs at a time, but its very common to see one person walking up to twenty dogs! And how do the dogs all get along in this type of a situation? According to one paseodor we spoke to, "they work it out amongst one another".

Image courtesy of vtveen

Lori and I both find the dogs here to be extremely well behaved. In fact most dogs here are walked off-leash. Owners walk at their own pace, and their dogs either follow or lead, waiting at the corners before crossing. It's not uncommon to see dogs enter a store or restaurant. They are never a nuisance, they simply browse like any other person in a big city.

There is also a fantastic Argentinean film 'El Perro' that we highly recommend. It's a simple story of a man and his new best friend, set in the pampas of Patagonia.

The Bad

The following photo was taken in Puerto Madryn where this guy is known throughout the town for being the dude who drives around the city with his dog on the roof. Yes, he's a local eccentric, and the sight is amusing to see, but how safe is it for the dog?

Bariloche is another place that's jammed packed with dogs. This was one city where we felt the dogs were a little out of control. They enjoy chasing cars here, getting dangerously close to the moving tires. On one bus trip into the city our front-row seats gave us a first-hand look at the dangers of dog recklessness. Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

The Ugly

Who you calling 'ugly'?

There have been many stories about a certain situation here in Buenos Aires. One of which Lori and I have not yet talked about. Many people have joked about it, others lamented, but in the end there is no hiding it: Buenos Aires sidewalks are covered with dog poop.

In fact, one tourist I met a while back felt that the poop landmines represented the 'worst of the country'. Really? The worst? Poverty, crime, the out-of-control inflation have nothing on dog poop, eh?

Sure BsAs has dog poop, but it also has beautiful women (and men, according to Lori). I think the dog poop is there more as punishment for staring at the beautiful people and not watching where you are going. (The flag poles at the Metrodome act as a similar deterrent, but that's a different story...)

For sale: one bucket of puppies

Some other friends we have made along the way...

Good Eats: Casa Felix

2010-04-19T15:41:00.008+02:00

Marc has set a very high standard for my birthday celebrations over the past few years and this year he did it again. The last three birthdays we have been on the road - Iguazu, Morocco and Belize, but this year we stayed in town and went to Casa Felix, a closed door restaurant in Palermo that specializes in seafood meals.

We arrived around 9:45 and were very greeted by Chef Diego Felix. He gave us a quick tour of his home where he and his girlfriend Sanra live and told us a bit about his cooking style and dedication to using local foods. I was impressed at how relaxed he was and that he made time to get to know us even though he was about to serve a huge meal to 15 - 20 people. We then stepped out onto the garden patio and met Sanra who was just as welcoming. She served us a delicious homemade lemoncella while we waited for the last guests to arrive.

We were then directed to the dining area and were seated at our own table. Usually we don't mind sharing a table with people we haven't met before, but I think having our own table on that night was best because it was a special occassion, and there happened to be a somewhat obnoxious group of people next to us.

Our meal included:

tasty fresh bread;
a wonderful fish-based locro (stew) with carrots, tamarind and cilantro;
a refreshing granita
I am not sure what you would call the main course but we liked it -- it was a dish of layered calamare and potato with finely diced peppers and onions over top
ricotta cheese cake dessert with mate cocido

Marc and I have been to other closed door restaurants in Buenos Aires, but we thought this experience was the best we've had so far and would highly recommend it. The food was outstanding and Diego, Sanra and the other people helping couldn't have been kinder.

So now I have to start thinking about something great to do for his birthday. Luckily I have a little time to come up with something. Any suggestions?

Love Your Suit

2010-04-17T23:26:00.004+02:00

The following photos were taken in the southernmost city in the world - Ushuaia. While visiting the region last month, we took the time to visit a penguin sanctuary. This region of Argentina, the island of Tierra Del Fuego, hosts two types of penguin: the Magellanic (black beak, black feet) and Gentoo or Papua in Spanish (yellow beak, yellow feet). We managed to get as close as possible without disturbing the little dudes.

Torres Del Paine

2010-03-24T22:23:00.008+01:00

More than a dozen years ago I came across an article describing the greatest hiking trails in the world. One specific trek happened to leave a large imprint on my brain - The Torres Del Paine circuit - and since that day I have been planning a trip to see it for myself. The plan finally came together only a couple weeks ago when Lori and I, together with Brutha Dan, took a vacation down in the very south of Chile to take on the notorious winds and rains of Patagonia.

After attempting to write about our time hiking the circuit I found that a single blog article was near impossible. Therefore, for your viewing and listening pleasure, I present to you the very first vlog in the Ballad's history. Enjoy!

Yeah, it's a little cheesy. ;)

View Larger Map

Yanqui Galletitas (Chocolate Chip Cookies)

2010-03-17T18:22:00.006+01:00

Aquí está la receta para "galletitas con chispas de chocolate" en español. (As requested -- here is the recipe for chocolate chip cookies in Spanish.)

Horno medio (350 F/175 C)

Ingredientes para 5 docenas
480 g de harina
2 cucharaditas de bicarbonato de sodio
1 cucharadita de sal
400 g de manteca (derretida)
1 1/2 tazas de azúcar rubia
½ taza de azúcar negra
1 taza de azúcar blanca
5 huevos
2 cucharaditas de vainilla
100 g de chocolate Águila blanco derretido
150 g de chocolate Águila en trocitos (No sustituye las chispas de chocolate)
2 kg de nueses pecan naturales molidas en trozos

Preparación
1) Se mezcla el harina, el bicarbonato de sodio y la sal. (Se reserva)

2) En un bol grande se mezcla la manteca (derretida) el azúcar rubia, negra y blanca a velocidad media por 5 minutos.

3) Se pone un huevo (por vez) en el bol con manteca y azúcar. Se mezcla bien después de cada huevo y se pone la vainilla y se mezcla por un minuto. Después, se pone el chocolate blanco (derretido) y se pone por un minuto más.

4) Se ponen los ingredients secos en el bol grande con la manteca/azúcar/huevos y se mezclan bien.

5) Se ponen los trocitos de chocolate y nueces y se mezclan bien a mano.

6) Se ponen 2 cucharadas de masa sobre una placa (12 por placa) y se la mete en el horno hasta que las galletitas se doren.

Time Out to Explore the South

2010-02-20T12:00:00.001+01:00

As this entry is being posted to the world, Lori and I, along with brother Dan, are on a plane off to Southern Argentina and Chile to do some exploring. We have several trips in mind but have no itinerary. More than likely, we'll have very little internet access so The Ballad will be a little quiet for a couple weeks. I'm sure we'll have plenty to write about when we return.

In the meantime, I think Lori needs a little encouragement. She's been rather quiet on The Ballad as of late. Please let her know how much you miss hearing from her in the comments section below.

Nos vemos.

Marc's Favorite Films of the Decade

2010-02-20T02:00:00.017+01:00

Our 5th and final posting of our week-long dedication to the movies.

Who needs a top ten list of the year when you can have a top ten list of the decade? If Roger Ebert does it, then I have to. That's always been the rule. In fact 10 years ago at the change of the millennium when Roger had H,oop Dreams (of course) and Marty had Horse Thief (still haven't seen that one, like the rest of the planet) my favorites were Pulp Fiction at 3, JFK at 2, and Miller's Crossing as my favorite films of the 1990's.

But how does one compare something like 'The Incredibles' with 'Let the Right One In'? Well it ain't easy. It's probably not even possible. And I'm not a critic - I know far less about the art of film than I would like. So I gotta go with my gut. It's about longevity. It's about rewatchability. It's that film that you just can't stop thinking about for months after you see it. It's that special tingly feeling in the cockles of your cinematic soul.

First, I think it makes a lot of sense to look back at my top 1's of each of the last 10 years (yeah, I keep track of this stuff):
2000 - Traffic
2001 - Ghost World
2002 - Far From Heaven
2003 - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
2004 - Million Dollar Baby
2005 - Brokeback Mountain
2006 - Children of Men
2007 - Once
2008 - Rachel Getting Married
2009 - The Hurt Locker

Overall, I feel like I can still defend these films as being my favorite at the time though it's also clear that my tastes have changed. Regardless... Enough with the reminiscing. The moment of truth.

Marc's favorite films of the 2000's are:

10. The Hurt Locker (2009)

9. Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) (2001)

8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

7. City of God (Cidade de Deus) (2002)

6. Cache (2005)

5. No Country for Old Men (2007)

4. Memento (2000)

3. Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (2003-2004)

2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

1. Children of Men (2006)

Yes, Children of Men on the top of a relatively masculine list of films now that I look at it.

To me, Children of Men is a perfect movie and I'm hard-pressed to find with it a single flaw. Apocalyptic themes hold a special place in my heart, but never has a film depicting the end of humanity as we know it rendered with such rawness and believability. The beauty lingers in the details - from scene to scene, frame to frame you are overwhelmed with the visceral wonder delivered by the direction of Alfonso Cuarón and camera work of Emmanuel Lubezki. Frantic from exquisite title sequence. I absolutely adore this film.

Reverse Shot's detailed exploration of my fave is worth the time.

Sorry for the self-indulgence with the last two articles. We'll get back to our regular scheduled blog postings shortly.

Past Movie Week Posts:
Part 1 - The Argentine Cinema Experience
Part 2 - Getting the Boot
Part 3 – El Secreto del Oscar
Part 4 – Marc’s Favorite Films of 2009

Marc's Favorite Films of 2009

2010-02-19T00:07:00.000+01:00

Part 4 of our week-long pre-Oscar celebration to film.

Although the Oscars are still a couple weeks away, Lori and I are departing for a little vacation soon and I like to try to get my top ten out prior to the awards. So here you have it:

1. The Hurt Locker
2. El Secreto de Sus Ojos
3. The Informant!
4. Up in the Air
5. A Serious Man
6. Coraline
7. Watchmen
8. Where the Wild Things Are
9. Precious
10. Avatar

Last year, I made a pitch for Sean Penn for Best Actor. This year I'm not terribly passionate about any particular performance however, I must say that I'm cheering against Avatar in the best picture race. Sure, I believe it was a ground-breaking visual experience and for that alone it made my top ten this year. It's the one film released in 2009 that you should only see in a cinema. But it has too many faults in story, dialog, and acting to really classify it as this year's best.

For pure, CGI-free, cinematic excellence, I'm really hoping The Hurt Locker gets victories for best film and direction. In fact, this is the first year where Lori and I both agree on what we think is the best of the year.

This year, my 'No Apologies' award goes to Watchmen. In general, you won't find Watchmen on too many top ten lists and has been shut-out from even technical Oscar nominations but it the only film on my list I have seen 3 times. It's ambitious and boisterous, dark and gutsy. Heavy on style but not lacking in characters or story. Once called "unfilmable", but it's more like "uncommercial", which may have led to its relative lack of success. For me, Watchmen has balls. Giant. Blue. Balls. I only wish every film failed with so much fervor.

Past Movie Week Posts:
Part 1 - The Argentine Cinema Experience
Part 2 - Getting the Boot
Part 3 – El Secreto del Oscar

El Secreto del Oscar

2010-02-18T00:00:00.003+01:00

Part 3 of our pre-Oscar week-long dedication to movies.

A nice bonus for the timing of our stay in Argentina, other than the upcoming world cup win by said country, is that of the success of the film: El Secreto de Sus Ojos.

Lori and I finally had a chance to catch up with this film, reluctantly waiting to see it on DVD in order to get English subtitles as opposed to seeing it in the cinema, where it has become the highest grossing film in Argentina’s history. It was a good thing we did given the heavy use of amazing dialog that loses little in translation from its original Castellano.

There’s a lot of local excitement here for it. Argentina does have many great films, most of which we were introduced to since we arrived, but it’s been almost 10 years since an Argentine film has been nominated for an Oscar. In 2001, El Hijo de la Novia (The Son of the Bride), was the last Argentine film nominated for Best Foreign Film. Coincidentally enough it was directed and stars El Secreto’s Juan Jose Campanella and Ricardo Darin.

El Secreto de Sus Ojos becomes the 6th film in Argentine history to be nominated for Best Foreign Film. Only one of the 5 prior has won the award, that being La Historia Oficial (The Official Story) in 1985 which told the story of the disappearances during Argentina’s Dirty War in the 70’s.

There is so much excitement surrounding the film that although the Oscars are always broadcast on cable’s TNT, local channels are picking up the broadcast so that the entire country will be able to catch a glimpse of the possible victory.

The film is a great murder mystery tale told in 30-year flashbacks, combined with a touch of film noir and comedy, all wrapped around the heart of a completely viable love story. It's subtle, well-written, and contains recurring themes and elements that make subsequent viewing a must.

Both Lori and I believe the movie is quite amazing, and though I haven’t seen any of the other Foreign Films nominated, it certainly is one of the very best that we have seen this year and deserves the nomination. North American and European audiences should seek it out if and when you can. Of course you could always wait for the inevitable Hollywood remake a few years from now.

Interested in reading more? A great review that provides some background on Campanella, Darin and the film itself.

Past Movie Week Posts:
Part 1 - The Argentine Cinema Experience
Part 2 - Getting the Boot

Getting the Boot

2010-02-17T00:40:00.000+01:00

Part 2 in our week-long focus on the movies.

Bootlegging. Pirating. Stealing Movies. It’s alive and well in Argentina. It’s a huge business estimated at 350 million pesos per year, approximately half the price of those sold legally in Argentina annually.

In March 2008, the Argentine Video Editors Union (UAV), together with city officials, carried out "pirated DVD" raids throughout Buenos Aires. They targeted "trucho" DVD stores and kiosks that sell pirated DVDs. In total, they confiscated 6,545 pirated movies recorded on CDs and DVDs.(The Argentine Post)

There may have been one raid at some point but it certainly wasn’t sustained and it definitely hasn’t deterred people from obtaining films illegally. It is so easy to download or buy bootlegs in Argentina, people don’t consider it illegal. There was a look of shock when a fellow coworker found out I had never downloaded a movie from the internet before. He shared a story of fellow Argentine who, while doing a work assignment in Nebraska, had his internet disconnected by his provider within days of activating it due to “typical usage” that included downloading from torrents.

Here there are no laws, at least none that are enforced. People sell movies on the sidewalks or markets. The largest local internet provider actively advertises unlimited downloads strictly for the purpose of illegal acquisition. We once saw a police officer going through a collection of bootlegs but I’m now convinced it was shopping spree in the guise of a crackdown.

Shopping spree or crackdown?

There’s also the issue of the players themselves. Without getting into specifics about DVD zones and why they exist, its sufficient to say that DVDs are meant to only be seen in the region they are sold. This means that DVDs bought in the US can/should only play in a player bought in the US. DVDs purchased legally in the UK or Japan will not play on a typical US DVD player. Technically there is copyright protection embedded into the DVD to restrict this. Though it’s true, zone-free DVD players are becoming more and more popular, it’s still rare for a person in the US to own one. Here in Argentina however, the majority of the DVD players you can buy in any store are dodgy zone-free DVD players. Meaning, they can play any DVD regardless of the zone, including DVDs without zone security at all.

In the US we all know that the price of movie tickets have increased over the years. The average price for a ticket in the US was $5.65 in 2001. Last year it was $7.50; a 33% increase in almost 10 years. However in Argentina, the price of a ticket for a film in Argentina in 2001 was 8 pesos. Today that same ticket is 24 pesos; a 200% increase in the same timeframe. However, the most important number to keep in mind is that the price of the peso was valued 1:1 with the US dollar in 2001. Today, that number is more like 3.85:1. All things considered, this would equate to an increase of a film in the US from $8 to $43.50. And that’s not counting popcorn and a drink.

The price of a bootleg DVD off the street: 1 for 10 pesos or 3 for 25, according to this Peruvian dude who was excited to practice his English. 5 pesos per film if you order them in bulk off the web! Yes, you can order them off the web, where you leave your name, phone number and address. And people do. Without any concern about the potential consequence. Me, I’m too damned paranoid of leaving my name anywhere anymore, never mind with a bootlegger – but that’s what happens after living in the United States for too long. Ahh... cultural differences.

A home trucho business

Lori and I were spoiled back home. We used to live above a local DVD rental store for 3 years (some may compare it to a crack addict sharing a bunk with his dealer) where we’d stop in daily to chat it up with the owners and employees. We’d also go to the cinema at least twice a week, and supplement the low days with a Netflix subscription and streaming with Roku. If the movie existed, we had access to it. And we were always happy to pay for it. I can honestly say that we have never downloaded or purchased an illegal copy of a film in the US. There simply was no need to.

Here in Buenos Aires, Lori and I frequent a local DVD store in our neighborhood. It’s a small, family-owned place. The proprietors are friendly and know us by name. They offer free delivery and pickup so you never have to leave your home. One night rental for a new release goes for 8 pesos. So far so good, right? Well the problem is that we’ve been spoiled. Unlike the past, the films that used to be at my fingertips (popular and obscure) are no longer available. On more than one occasion I was annoyed that the movie I wanted was not stocked at the rental store. I know when a film has been released for rental and if I have to wait an additional month because the store hasn’t ordered it then I start looking elsewhere. And older titles that just aren’t worth stocking for those one or two rents a year, you can’t find them anywhere legitimately.

Finally the most annoying fact for a self-confessed movie fan is that other online methods of purchase such as Netflix or Hulu are not available outside the United States and there is no Argentinean counterpart to replace it. In other words, those who are willing to pay for a service, cannot.

In 2008, Seven out of every 10 DVDs sold in Argentina are pirated, according to the UAV.(The Argentine Post)

A street piratería

Today, the "piraterías" are alive and prospering. Of course they are. Demand to keep up with the US market is huge - Lost is televised here one week after the US gets to see what happened on the island and half of Argentina has already obtained the episode online within hours of the US broadcast. And although admitting that we get to see a good number of the films released in the US here in Argentinean cinemas, there are many that never make it in any form. Yesterday walking through the streets, I stopped to see what bootlegs were selling: The Blind Side, Book of Eli, Crazy Heart, The Edge of Darkness – all films currently not released here. Our friend Mikaela tried tracking down Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, a film every South American film fanatic like Mikaela is required to see, only to come up empty. If you can’t get it the normal routes, you find other methods.

I’m not claiming to support piracy but you got to look at why it exists in the first place. Demand - why do we have to wait a week or a month or a year? Cost - 200% or more inflation. Accessibility - can't find it any other way. In the end, if a Netflix-equivalent, global, zone-free option was available to me no matter where I was in the world, the temptation of obtaining “truchos” would never exist. Until then, yeah, I can’t help but take a peek.

Past Movie Week Posts:
Part 1 - The Argentine Cinema Experience

The Argentinean Cinema Experience

2010-02-16T02:00:00.005+01:00

Movie Week on the Ballad: as a precursor to the Oscars, we decided to dedicate a week of blog writing to the movies. Enjoy!

There were plenty of sacrifices we had to make in order leave our old lives to start new ones in Argentina. Fortunately giving up films was not one of them. Much to our surprise, Buenos Aires has a pretty good film scene. It clearly can’t compare to London or New York, but preparing for the move here, we really believed we’d be missing a lot. It turns out, we did alright.

The majority of foreign (non-Argentinean) films here are screened in their original language with Spanish subtitles. There are occasional films that are dubbed in Spanish, but even they have a subtitled counterpart showing on another screen. Besides, dubbed films tend to only be children's movies (such as Up) or the ultra-large blockbuster (such as Avatar). The biggest problem for us is seeing non-English language in the cinema – those films both spoken and subtitled two different languages we don’t understand. Lori’s Spanish may be good enough, but mine sure isn’t. Luckily, as a remedy, we have the DVD option, which we’ll discuss in our next post.

For the most part we do get to see a large number of internationally-released films. Almost all blockbusters are screened here. Even those that were not originally scheduled to be released do eventually make it if they are reasonably successful in the US – for example ‘The Hangover’ arrived here 6 weeks after the huge opening weeks it had in the US.

Many of the small market films did not make it here; A Single Man or Dr Parnassus, for example. But those in that category that are getting Oscar buzz are now getting a late release here, such as An Education, Precious, or Hurt Locker.

Argentinean cinemas themselves are relatively state of the art. Almost all are have stadium seating, most have a couple digital and/or 3D screens, and there are also a couple Imax screens in town. As well, they have a small-market/independent/foreign chain, Arteplex, which has 4 movie houses throughout the city.

In the snack food category, drinks and popcorn are standards here, with popcorn coming two ways: sweet or salty. Bulk candy is a little more standard here than back home and you can also find pizza, hot dogs, and nachos. There really isn’t anything that different from what you can find in a typical US/Canadian cinema. One snack that we enjoy a lot is a cylinder of Pringles, but alas, you can’t find Milk Duds in Argentina.

Cinemas here have assigned seating, i.e. you choose your seat when you pay for the ticket. There is no way to go in and find that ideal spot on your own. Luckily for us the majority of the people here prefer sitting toward the back of the cinema, while Lori and I prefer relatively close (right where the curtains hit your periphery) so unless the show is packed, we tend not to be surrounded by others.

One thing we have noticed is the general etiquette patrons have in the cinemas here in comparison to those in the US. In every experience we have had, not once have we heard talking or cell phones or annoying popcorn munchers. And all without advertisements prior to the film beginning telling you to behave.

Going out to the movies is more like going to the theatre. Ushers seat you, people dress up more, and the experience is more pleasant as a result.

Outside the mainstream, Buenos Aires also is host to a fantastic (at least in size) film festival held annually. The BAFICI, hosts hundreds of independent films. Queues for attending screenings are monstrous and the films can sometimes be years old and outside the collection that tends to tour North America and Europe. The Borges Cultural Center, however, does a great job highlighting genres, themes and masters on a regular basis. This month they are focused on Japanese Jidaigeki or Chamabara and Samurai films.

Overall, we are relatively pleased that out of the films nominated for Oscars this year we only missed a small number. Though we didn’t keep the same pace we used to have back in the twin cities, we did far better than we imagined.

Super Bowl Asado

2010-02-09T12:35:00.007+01:00

The amalgamation of Super Bowl Sunday and a traditional Argentinian asado.

As mentioned in the past, the asado is the typical way one spends their Sundays in Argentina. It's the equivalent to a family barbecue, but held once, twice, or three times a month. It's not uncommon for families to gather every Sunday of the year to grill meat and enjoy each others company.

We've participated in many asados in the last year, but this Sunday was the first one that we hosted. Our apartment has a little outdoor kitchen (Quincho), complete with parrilla for grilling.

A few friends were invited over: Carlos, Andrea, Micaela, Lucas, and Ana.

Food served: Asado de Tira (beef short ribs), Bife (loin), Corvina (White Sea Bass), Chorizo (sausage) along with a roasted red peppers, corn on the cob (Minnesota-style), and roasted fennel.

For dessert, a selection of masas (little torts, cakes, dainties) and 5 flavors of Freddo ice cream.

And of course, plenty of red wine.

The Super Bowl itself was a lot of fun as well. I spent most of the game explaining the intricacies of the sport and its rules to the gang. And although I owe my father $5 on the game, I'm glad the Lombardi trophy is back in the NFC where it belongs.

Our 10 Year Old

2010-02-05T16:55:00.004+01:00

Though she couldn't come with us to Argentina, we still think of her every day.

Happy Birthday. To the best dog in the world. Hooray. At least I'm still cool to one girl.

Little Eiffel; born Feb 05, 2000

Happy Anniversary

2010-02-01T16:49:00.004+01:00

Happy Anniversary to us! One year living in Argentina. Carlos told me today that if we can survive this, we can survive anything. Honestly, it's been a breeze. Here's proof:

Iguazu Falls

Puerto Madryn

Bariloche

Aconcagua (on my birthday!)

Good Eats: Tereré

2010-01-30T17:38:00.006+01:00

The last week has been stifling hot here in Buenos Aires. The 38C days are only made hotter with the sun reflecting off the concrete buildings and microwavian subte rides. Lately, even the evenings have struggled to get below 30C. I'm not complaining mind you. I still remember -40 wind chills this time of year from my youth.

So you deal with it...

As documented before, mate is widely popular here, being the afternoon drink of choice for those picnicking in the parks or gathering family's backyards. But how do you drink a hot beverage on days like these?

Introducing Tereré. Exactly like the traditional mate, served in a mate gourd full of yerba but instead of hot water, one adds iced herbal water or fruit juice.

My Spanish teacher mentioned this approach to mate to me yesterday. She suggested it's a perfect alternative to mate on days like this. Well it's lunch time here now. For us: avocado sandwiches, a side of carrots, and a mate of cold Tereré - ours with apple juice! It's really delicious.

Truth be told, many Argentine's scoff at this unnatural mutation of their beloved traditional pastime. The Tereré comes from Paraguay, and I'm sure its more a case of descendence and national pride that would cause an Argentine from spitting at the sight of someone mixing something as frivolous as fruit juice with yerba.

Me, on the other hand, I'm sold. I still like my mate the traditional way, but on a hot summer day I could easily replace an iced tea or lemonade with mate and a thermos of ice-cold apple juice.

Che Homero

2010-01-15T13:29:00.008+01:00

Tim sent me an email the other day informing me that during the Simpson's 20th Anniversary special they explicitly referred to Argentina's love of the show and asked if I could confirm this statement. Yes Tim, I do confirm this.

Everywhere you go in this country you see images of Homero, Marge and the kids. Simpsons nicknacks, tshirts, graffiti, billboards... Simpsons everywhere. Even Matt Groening, creator of the show, has gone as far as saying that The Simpsons was more popular in Argentina than anywhere else in the world.

Photo: Allison (Picasa)

In general, you tend to see a lot of infringement of the Simpsons copyright in a lot of foreign countries. I've noticed it throughout the world, but no other place is quite at this level.

Even in the work place, I have found that the show is easy tool to bridge cultural divides by simply referring to a Simpsons' reference. It works the other way too - my team, when struggling for an English word will describe a scene or an episode for me to understand what they are referring to. BTW: the argument about who's voice is better, Argentina Homero vs Dan Castellaneta's Homer, is still raging.

Photo: Homer and Milhouse

Random Argentina-Simpsons connections:

At the time of release, The Simpsons Movie became the highest grossing film in Argentina history (only being surpassed this year by the Argentine film El secreto de sus ojos).

The popular blog Pudrete Flanders (translated to Fuck-you Flanders) reports on Argentina's connection with The Simpsons.

Duff Beer, the brand fictionalized on the show is now bottled and sold here in Argentina (Fox is filing a lawsuit - so drink up your Duff while you can).

The episode where Lenny and Karl describe Argentina's Juan Perón as a dictator was not aired in 2008, only to become one of the most popular downloads in Argentina that year.

My Spanish teacher used a Simpson's family tree to teach me that 'Abraham es el abuelo de Lisa' and 'Homero es el cuñado de Patty y Selma'.

Till Your Ink be Dry

2010-01-10T17:10:00.003+01:00

8 years ago, I got a modest tattoo of a 35mm filmstrip that wraped my right bicep and came down to the elbow. My intention was that this was always going to be the first step towards something grander. For 6 years following my original work I've collected ideas about the final design and scouted for the most talented artist in the Twin Cities area to realize the dream. 2 years ago, I made an appointment with one of the best (what can I say? He had a heck of a waiting list). Of course then I moved to Argentina, but there was no way that was going to change plans. Well finally, over the holidays, I had two 5-hour sessions completed - which was really all my body could phtsically handle. Today I'm all healed up and ready to unveil the work.

Shahn Anderson, the wizard of Electric Dragonland of Hopkins Minnesota.

Before:
After:
7 different classic films are incorporated into this piece. Can you guess which?

#1	#2	#3
#4	#5	#6
	#7

Roger and Me

2010-01-08T15:07:00.006+01:00

One of my favorite human beings on this planet is Roger Ebert. From being a kid and watching 'At the Movies' and vehemently arguing for or against him with Movie-Chris, to religiously following him in his online digital format today.

As a lover of film, the man is a legend to me. His commentary audio tracks on DVDs such as Citizen Kane, Casablanca and Dark City are required viewings for anyone even remotely interested in the art of film; and seeing him introduce 'The Weavers' at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival was one my all-time movie-viewing experiences *.

Most people still remember Mr Ebert in relation to his Saturday television program with Gene Siskel. He's chiefly known to most for being an overweight curmudgeon, for trademarking the thumbs-up/thumbs-down, and turning art criticism into celebrity.

However what most don't know is that though out of the television spotlight for at least 8 years now, Mr Ebert is still very active as a critic of film and couch philosopher. His blog on the Chicago Sun-Times is one of the most popular blogs on the web and has a very active community of commentators.

Even more importantly, what many don't realize is that Mr Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid cancer back in 2002. Since this diagnosis he has had several treatments that first left him with a stroke-like paralysis in his face, to surgery to remove cancer and most of his jaw bone, to a major operation after his carotid artery broke back in July 2006 leaving him "within a breath of death". He famously released a post-op photo in 2007 after his 3rd surgery:

"I ain't a pretty boy no more. Not that I ever was. The original appeal of 'Siskel & Ebert' was that we didn't look like we belonged on TV."

Today, Mr Ebert is unable to talk, eat or drink. He has become 'Nil By Mouth', as he puts it (incidentally also the name of Gary Oldman's 1997 movie that both he and I adored and Movie-Chris abhorred). Yet without the use of his mouth, he has not lost his voice. Some of the best online reading I have done over the last couple years has been on his blog. His articles are inspired, witty, though-provoking and down-right entertaining. I highly recommend it as required reading to anyone out there.

His most recent article describes his inability to eat and drink and all his online work can be found at http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/.

Hang in there Roger and keep up the amazing work: you're an inspiration to all.

* Movie-Chris and I also managed to "meet him" afterward by hanging out back stage next to the car waiting to pick him up. He thanked his loyal followers (5 of us) before driving off with his wife Chaz.

Hasta Luego!

2010-01-04T18:54:00.002+01:00

Marc and I are back in Buenos Aires and are looking forward to kicking off the new decade Argentina-style. We had a great visit home and we've said our goodbyes to our families, friends, the arctic sub-zero temperatures and the crunchy snow.

I'd like to think the earth turns slowly but this last trip proved me wrong. We ran out of time and we didn't get to see a few folks we had hoped to. Another one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't get enough time to build more forts with Captain Sammer and First-mate Jack, ARRRR!

We do have some awesome memories though -- a few of the highlights:
- Kenji's rock band performance -- Rock on Little Dude
- Shuji's awesome Japanese supper & Kim's shove-off breakfast quiche
- Tasty crab dinner night at Joannie's
- Seeing Lil' Eiffel again - Thanks to Dan, Rebecca, Jodie and Jon for taking care of our baby
- Pajama parties at Mike & Jill's; Teresa and Chip's and Kimmer & Shuji's
- Celebrating Grandma C's and Baba L's 89th birthdays
- Volunteering in Ms. H's 3rd grade classroom - She's the best teacher in the world!
- The great party at Teresa and Chip's house - I'll have another Dark and Stormy
- Team GALORE winning the bird back -- better luck next visit Team HELMA!
- Introducing mate to Stef, Cassandra, Daria, Johnny and Sandra
- Dan and Lisa's awesome homemade pizza night
- Carter's piano recital
- Cate's amazing wild rhythmic dancing - this girl has the moves!
- Sam's acting debut as a shepherd - Charlton Heston has nothing on you!
- Lealya's sweet tea party
- Meeting Taryn and Mikola for the first time
- Seeing Marusia and Markian's new home - Thanks for building a guest room for us!
- Martinis and Malbec with McDaniel and Palmer-Ross
- Chillin' with Alanna, Roman and Baby K while Skyping with Lealya, Bana and Gigi
- Getting doused with ice water by the waitress at Amore Victoria's on New Year's Eve
- Seeing Fultzie's new digs
- Marc's new tattoo
- Snow, snow and more snow - shoveling, shoveling and more shoveling!!

We'll be back, but in the meantime - stay in touch!

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-26T18:03:00.003+01:00

Today's headline from the National Weather Service:

Record Christmas Day Snowfall

Christmas Day 2009 will go down as the snowiest Christmas on record in many places. Below is a table of snowfall through 600 am Dec. 26th, previous record snowfall for Christmas Day, and the 3 day storm total from the evening of December 23rd until the morning of December 26th.

SITE: SIOUX FALLS
SNOWFALL: 10.5 INCHES
PREVIOUS RECORD: 10.0 INCHES IN 1945
3 DAY TOTAL: 17.5 INCHES

We are hanging out in the Sioux Falls airport waiting for our delayed flight to get us to Winnipeg. I think I spent more time shoveling snow than drinking this Christmas which is easily a first for me. The snow piled so high there was nowhere to put it. We heard that this was the 4th largest snowfall in South Dakota history. But honestly, I love this weather. It's quiet and clean and beautiful. A perfect white Christmas.

Leaving Argentina and coming to the US/Canada for Christmas was a real culture shock - yes, a reverse culture shock. One forgets how inundated we are with the "spirit of Christmas" here in North America. Of course, Christmas is heavily celebrated in Buenos Aires but it's not shoved down your throat like it is here. The stores and tv are the worst, it's literally headache inducing. Leaving Argentina, people were preparing for the holidays but it just seemed so much more rational and stress-free.

Anyway, one side-note from the geniuses as Delta airlines. Apparently, Canada has become the 51st state; Delta's "International Policies" that permit one free piece of luggage for check-in does not apply to this particular country. Go figure.

Happy Holidays, all.

Payback Time

2009-12-12T01:21:00.005+01:00

Discover Buenos Aires just reported that soon visitors to Argentina from Australia, Canada and the United States will have to pay a "reciprocity fee" upon entering the country. The fee will go into effect on December 20th and is good for 10 years.

Essentially, what the Argentines are doing is matching what the Australian, Canadian and US governments do to Argentines who want to visit their country: charge us, we'll charge you,

Personally, the charge of $131 or less for a ten year permit doesn't bother me all that much but we are living here, frequently coming and going. However, I wonder how a family of four who plans to visit Argentina would feel if they suddenly realized their trip just increased by over $500? Or how about a backpacker making their way across South America and have to pay $131 for every country that they visit? There's plenty of other places in the world to see that don't charge admission.

In a real example for us: Lori and I recently had a chance to spend a couple days in Brazil. We were 10 minutes from the border but decided against crossing for they too implement the reciprocity charge. Paying $262 for a short visit did not seem worthwhile. Instead we opted to not spend our time eating in Brazilian restaurants, sleeping in Brazilian hotels and taking Brazilian excursions. I'm by no means implying that Lori and I can make or break a country's GDP and I know we'll end up visiting Brazil at some point thus paying the fee at another time, but for that moment, the money I was planning to spend in Brazil ended up in someone else's pocket.

I also want to point out that I think the fees that the Aussies, Canucks, and Yanks charge are equally bogus. I know there are a lot of locals here who were proud that their country didn't stoop to the same level and promoted foreigner visitors as freely as possible. It'll will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

Punta Del Este

2009-11-29T21:22:00.007+01:00

Once again, I'm living the life of a bachelor. Lori has retreated to the United States to spend Thanksgiving with her family and our friends. I'll join her in a few weeks but for now I must fend for myself for a while.

It's a good time to get caught up on some of our adventures over the last month. As discussed earlier, we had visitors through most of November and did a little bit of travelling. I'll attempt to recap some of the highlights over the next couple of postings. On to the good stuff...

Punta Del Este, Uruguay - Situated on Uruguay's southern coast, Punta Del Este is one of South America's hotspots for ultra-rich and famous. A tour of the area's homes underscored how the affluent spend their money. A couple weeks ago Lori, my parents and I took a long-weekend to check it out.

During the summer months, Punta attracts millions of tourists from Argentina, Uruguay and Brasil looking to flaunt thier stuff on the miles of beaches that outline the coast in this region. Though Punta isn't the only city along this stretch of paradise, it's the largest and most popular.

Our November visit was still early enough in the season that we arrived before all the celebrities, tourists, and nice weather. Our days were marred by overcast skies, high winds and touch of rain. But we were not here for the sand and sun. Like most of our travels, our primary focus was on the food.

Let the truth be told: Buenos Aires is not the place to live if you love seafood (and that's me being polite), so any chance we can take to indulge in fresh fish is extremely abused. Punta's harbour is a paradise for seafood lovers and we took advantage of it: freshwater, saltware, shellfish, and sushi. A quick overview of our favorite food moments:

3. The Sangria - no true-blooded Argentine would ever permit the violation of fruit in their beloved vino tinto. But I must confess my love of sangria and do believe one can have it both ways. In Punta, almost every restaurant we visited offers sangria and wisely demonstatrates that they don't use the cheap wine by opening the bottle in front of you before pouring it into a pitcher of citric goodness.

2. The Corvina Negra or Black Drum is the quintessential fish of the region and is prepared in a wide variety of ways, including grilled on the parrilla or oven-baked with scallops and mussels with an asparagus sauce, the way I had it.

1. The dish that kept the family together was a simple bowl of soup (which Lori accurately noted is also hard to find in Buenos Aires). Chock-full of a wide variety of fish and seafood, good as anything we have had yet in Argentina or Uruguay. So good, in fact, we went back the next day for seconds and a third visit would have been guarenteed had we stayed another day. The restaurant where we found this dish, Guappa, is highly recommended.

This entry is getting long enough, and I have been told I write more about eating than I do about anything else, same goes for my photos, so to prove we actually do other things and capture other moments, here are some other images of our visit.

Hand in the sand

Crazy roller-coaster bridge

Casapueblo - the "living sculpture" of artist Carlos Páez Vilaró

It's Mom's Turn

2009-11-14T03:11:00.007+01:00

The Ballad site has been quiet for quite awhile. I wanted to get something on the site, however Marc has beat me to it. As he explained, WE have been here. That's right: Mom and Dad K, and this is our first ever blog article.

Marc and Lori have been so busy trying to keep us occupied. We have enjoyed their hospitality and have had very able tour guides. Their Spanish has enabled them to move right into the Argentine culture. Yes they both are very comfortable in the language. They wouldn’t tell you this, but I would. Needless to say, this has made our movement in Buenos Aires very smooth. Marc is the lucky one - he is able to get a break when he goes to work. Lori on the other hand has been an excellent tour guide.

They have introduced us to the Argentine eating style: MEAT, MEAT and more MEAT, as well as late-night meals. I must say it is difficult trying to sleep after you have eaten the entire hind of a cow. I mustn’t forget, the wine does help to wash it down. When you order a steak here in Argentina, that is exactly what you get: A pound and a half piece of meat or more depending on the type you order. What, no sauce? no vegetable? no potato? What for?? You are in Argentina - beef country.

We have seen many interesting places and things in Buenos Aires, things you will not find in any tour book, thanks to our own personal guide. Buenos Aires is a beautiful huge city. You could spend days just looking at the lovely old buildings. The styles are varied, but you get a very European feeling. Parks are plentiful. Every time you turn around there is another park. The people are friendly. Everyone says “Hola”, pronounced “Ola” (hello). When friends meet it’s always hugs and kisses. I’ve seen more kissing here in one day then most people would see in a lifetime. This was very prevalent when we met our Argentine family. We spent he whole day with them conversing and eating. The entire family was most gracious and welcoming.

We spent 4 days in Punta Del Este in Uruguay. It is a beach resort on the Atlantic, east of Montevideo. We stayed in a quaint hotel overlooking the ocean. The weather was not very cooperative, very windy, but we made the best of it. Weather curtailed our plans to Iguazu Falls. This was a big disappointment. This weekend we fly out to Mendoza…..wine country. A week of touring and tasting. Soon our adventure will end along with the wonderful Buenos Aires hospitality. It will be back to reality.

Sound of Silence

2009-11-12T16:28:00.003+01:00

Although the blog has been a little quiet lately, I can assure you, dear readers, that it is not due to the fact that there is nothing to write about.

Truth is we have a couple of guests visiting us at this time, and when we are not keeping them entertained, we are keeping them entertained. It's a full-time job and I finally understand what it's like to have children of my own. The problem is these "children" are my parents, and they are getting back at me for all those past years big-time.

In truth, Lori is the one taking the brunt of it. The three have been taking daily tours around the city visiting places I haven't even got to see yet. Lots of walking, shopping, sight-seeing, and eating. I, in the meantime, have been doing other entertaining in my office. My boss from the US is visiting, so I'm plenty distracted with work.

In seriousness, the visit has been going great so far. We've done a couple of trips that we are sure to write in detail about when we have a little time, plus we leave Saturday for a one week trip to the Andes - again, more to come.

Til then, sit tight, friends. There will be plenty of BoLaM coming soon.

Very Superstitious, Writing's on the Wall

2009-10-18T15:42:00.005+02:00

Yesterday in the subte underground I came across the following billboard. I asked Lori to translate it 3 times. Each time, she read it as "Friday the 13th".

For those that don't know a word of Spanish, Martes translates to Tuesday, not Friday - a lesson you learn in your first day of Spanish classes - so the image of Jason's mask and the relationship to our "day of bad luck" should translate without any thought, right?

However, here in Argentina and most of Latin America, it is indeed Tuesday that is the problem date, not Friday as we know it. In Argentina, it's bad luck to have a wedding on a Tuesday, to board a ship on a Tuesday, to shave with a straight razor on a Tuesday. I made the last one up.

"Martes" comes from the word Mars, the Roman god of war, synonymous with destruction, blood and violence. Being in Latin America, it's no surprise that the reference for 13 comes from Christianity. Some say it is a reference to Christ having 12 disciples when he died - Jesus being the 13th. Some say Jesus was part of the 12 while Judas was the 13th. Either way it's no surprise that both cultures at least share the same number. In numerology in general 12 is a number of completeness: 12 months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 hours on a clock; 13 represents irregularity, incompleteness.

Last week was the last Tuesday the 13th for a while. I'll just have to remember to show a little more caution come April 2010.

Beer... Now there's a temporary solution.

2009-10-16T16:53:00.009+02:00

(Quoting Homer S.)

Oktoberfest in South America: whodathunkit? And this was one major celebration. The town of Villa General Belgrano hosts a annual Oktoberfest party that lasts the first two weeks of October. It's one of the cultural-clashes we needed to see for ourselves.

The town of Villa General Belgrano, named after the creator of the Argentine flag, was settled in the 1930's by German immigrants that likened the area's natural beauty to that of the European Alps. The influence that the immigrants brought is evident in the architecture and design of the buildings and decor, but it had the feeling of superficiality, a facade to attract the thousands that visit annually to attend the giant beer festival the town is best known for.

Of the two weekends available for attending the party, Lori and I decided to pick the long-weekend as our time to visit. As noted in our previous post, we decided not to stay in the host-town of Villa General Belgrano, but rather rest and sleep away from the chaos in neighboring Santa Rosa.

We drove to Villa General Belgrano early Saturday afternoon at around 11am, very early for Argentina standards, to find that the streets were already bustling with people. The primary area of the celebration is a long street lined with knick-knack shops and eateries who's sole purpose is to hock Oktoberfest wares. The main street was blocked for pedestrians only and stretched approximately a dozen blocks to the end where the real party took place: the beer gardens.

Before entering the beer garden we strolled up and down the pedestrian street to the tune of bad German oom-pa-pa blasting through the speakers on every street corner on a mission to find a Chopp - a beer stein, complete with shoulder strap. An important task indeed, as this would be our best friend for the rest of the weekend. Once we found Chopp that matched our personalities, we ventured into the garden.

The beer garden itself was quite large and was broken into three distinct ares - the beer zone, the food zone, and the performance zone. Beer zone consisted of over twenty stands of varying suds. For the most part, each represented a local microbrewery each filling your chopp with one of several artisan blends. The food was exactly what you'd expect from Oktoberfest - sausage, kraut, black forest cake. And the stage where performers representing varying European cultures performed was largely ignored by us, but it looked interesting enough if you needed a break from the beer.

Our Saturday turned out to be perfect. After spending most the afternoon at the fest, we went back to our hotel for a siesta and to watch Argentina beat Peru in World Cup qualifying and then headed back to the festival for the late night show. Maybe we should have expected it, but the night crowd was a little different from the one we hung out with in the afternoon: louder, dirtier, wobblier.

We elbowed our way through the drunken masses and managed to enjoy a couple of chopps of a local brew. To top the night off, on a day with perfect weather, a passing hail storm broke up the party around 11pm for a brief moment only to give the now mostly drunken crowd an excuse to bust up everything in site in order to create makeshift umbrellas. We pulled the plug just before midnight to search for late night meal and a break from the anarchy.

We had planned to go back on Sunday but the crowds managed to double. On our way into Villa General Belgrano we were part of a very minor car accident but it was enough of a sign that maybe we can find a better way to kill the day. We turned the car around and head in the opposite direction to explore the valley. We did however head back Sunday evening only to again find a much larger and boisterous crowd. Lori and I decided to play the role of spectators this time around and instead watched drunks stumble by as we had dinner at a nearby cafe.

All in all, we had a great time. The beer was fantastic, and in the end, that's all that really mattered anyway.

Down in the Valle de Calamuchita

2009-10-14T16:00:00.010+02:00

Lori and I spent the weekend in the province of Cordoba, specifically in the Valle de Calamuchita. Our primary purpose was to check out the Oktoberfest fiesta held annually in the area but we did get to see quite a bit of this region in the southern Central Sierras of Argentina.

We were fortunate enough to have enjoyed this trip with Ariel and Cecilia (great travel mates; our second trip together) as visiting this area with a car is a much easier endeavor than touring via bus like we normally do. It allowed us do a little more exploring and stopping whenever we saw anything that looked remotely interesting.

The Central Sierras are about 750 km northwest of Buenos Aires, right in the middle of Argentina. They are home to beautiful rolling hills that are sprinkled with great little towns. We drove through a large number, but lingered longer in the following:

A picnic at Villa del Dique: the peaceful lago Embalse nestled in the hills and home to the dam (dique) available for touring was the perfect place for lunch. Our afternoon was not wasted as we relaxed by the lake watching the birds and horses nearby.

Our home-base in Santa Rosa del Calamuchita: 10 km from the celebrations at Oktoberfest made for a good place to be close yet far away from the craziness at nearby Villa General Belgrano. Santa Rosa is a nice town along the lazy rio with the same name. We also had one of our favorite meals in Argentina here.

Alta Gracia, and the life of Che: an accidental stop in Alta Gracia turned out to be a fortunate event as we found that this town was the childhood home of Ernesto 'Che' Guevera. The house he grew up in was set up as a museum in his honor, chronicling his life.

The Motorcycle Diaries Bike

Overall, this part of Argentina really impressed us. It's beautiful, clean, friendly, and a nice change from the hustle of the big city. There is a lot more exploring to do in this region and deserves a visit back in the future.

Mar del Plata

2009-10-06T22:44:00.007+02:00

This past weekend, Lori and I drove down to Mar del Plata (not to be confused with our recent trip to La Plata) for the weekend with our friends Carlos and Andrea. Carlos' family has an apartment in this beach-side city of 700,000.

A notorious vacation resort, Mar del Plata is the primary reason Buenos Aires is a ghost town in the months of January and February. Beaches line the coast of the city along the Atlantic and though they were plenty empty during our visit, millions will fill them up in the heart of the summer.

One of our highlights included visiting the port nearby were we mingled with the fishermen and sea lions - a lively bunch (unlike the group we met in Puerto Madryn) who entertained everyone by fighting with the local dogs, settling arguments over female companions, and literally following fishermen with their catches up the stairs of the dock up to the foot of the fishery warehouse door.

The food was fantastic too. We highly recommend the tasty Cuban food, large portions, cheap prices and mojitos at 'La Bodeguita del Medio' in the Güemes neighbourhood - but come early because it fills up fast. Also in the same area, Che Cafe, where they specialize in the glorious picada. The four of us shared three platters: cold (meats, cheeses), hot (shellfish), and sweet (chocolate fondu).

Only 4 hours from Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata is a great escape from the big city for a weekend. Staying away from January and February are recommended unless you have a reservation and plenty of patience in dealing with the mobs.

A New Ballad

2009-09-26T21:13:00.004+02:00

When we originally started up the blog, we wanted a quick and easy way to communicate with friends and family but as it turns out it's a great little diary for us. Lately, we've gotten tired of looking at the plain old ugly white design so we felt a makeover was in order.

If you are viewing this through a reader, visit our actual site to see some of the improvements in look plus the addition of the following features:

Our Travels: shows the various places we have visited and routes we have taken. Clicking on the travels map will take you to a custom map with highlights of our latest trips and links back to the associated blog posts.

Our Bookshelf: One of the things that has turned out to be a huge highlight for us are the books that appear from time to time in our mailbox, much appreciated gifts from friends back home. We thought it would be fun to chronical our reading.

Do you have any other fun things that we can include on our website? Leave a comment and let us know.

La Plata

2009-09-20T19:12:00.014+02:00

Lori and I took a day trip into La Plata this weekend to explore the city. La Plata itself is primarily a college town, home to 4 well-respected universities. It's also a city much larger than we expected with a population of over 800,000.

La Plata was the first planned city in South America. Then Governor Dardo Rocha selected urban planner Pedro Benoit's city design in a design competition because he surmised that the city would grow quickly and that the grid design would facilitate traffic and land use.

It's inner center consists of a grid of streets numbered 1-32 for those going east to west, 33-72 for the ones traveling north to south. Within the first 32 blocks it is relatively easy to navigate (if you're paying attention) however, beyond street 32 you suddenly skip to 100-and-something.

From an aerial view, the diagonals streets that cut through the grid at perfect angles from the center of the town look like a wonderful symmetrical plan, the reality at ground-level is confusion: At some points up to 8 streets meet causing chaos for both driver and pedestrian. Hopefully the planned cities that followed were approached differently from a functional perspective.

In the heart of La Plata's grid designed city, opposite City Hall in front of Moreno Square towers the neo-Gothic La Catedral, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

Over 100 years of planning went into constructing this behemoth of a structure. First started in 1885, opened in 1932, and fully realized in 1997, La Catedral is one of the grandest churches in all of South America and has a unique Gothic style cathedral.

The cathedral is a focal point and appears to have sprouted from the ground in the middle of an empty field giving it an imposing yet isolated look; grand but lonely.

The cathedral interior is beautiful with long intricate stained glass windows that look like gorgeous colorful curtains. You shouldn't miss the catedral museum and the cafe in the crypt either. In the museum, you can take the elevator up the Tower of Jesus where you can get a better view of some of the exterior sculptures, the plaza and the city plan.

Getting to La Plata is very easy (from the center of town, catch the 129 bus for 8.50 pesos) and makes for an easy day trip. There are still plenty of museums to see at La Plata, so no doubt we'll be heading back soon.

An interesting side note: in 1952, La Plata was renamed Ciudad Eva Perón, but was changed back in 1955 after Juan Perón's overthrow.

Office Talk

2009-09-16T22:25:00.001+02:00

Lori and I are well into our 7th month of our assignment here in Argentina and I have yet to post a single article about work since starting this blog (other than the visit we recieved from the big man).

This post is also for my father, who is always asking what the heck do I do for a living. :)

My 18-month assignment here in Buenos Aires is to create a development organization that will work alongside the ECommerce department in the company's headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota. We started recruiting the staff back in February and the first group of employees, 6 new people, began work at the beginning of April. Two weeks ago we concluded our second round of hiring bringing 4 new employees to join our staff. There are now 11 of us in total, including myself.

In the last 5 months or so together, I feel like things have gone very well. Up to this point I feel like the team has gelled together very well. We've successfully transitioned 3 projects over to our control, with 2 more coming in the next couple months. We've had a couple of project releases and two very important ones planned in the next 4 weeks.

To celebrate our achievements we held a team asado (an Argentine BBQ) last Friday. Our office has a large grill (or parilla) on the rooftop, and a cool Friday evening made it the perfect venue for our celebration. Our 'Lead Asador', Carlos, prepared a perfectly cooked buffet of meat. Patience is the key, he told me after slow-cooking for over 3 hours. Meat (vacio, chorizo, morcilla, mollejas, and Tira De Asado - short ribs), a nice picada (cold cuts, cheese, olives, nuts, and crackers), wine and a little fernet made up the meal.

Afterward we played a little Chancho - a card game that involved very little strategy and a lot of dexterity - which I happened to be terrible at, losing 6 of the first dozen or so rounds. We also had a couple games of truco which was a little more my speed as I went 2 for 0 in a couple of battles to end the night.

All in all I'm really lucky to be in a situation where I'm surrounded by a bunch of good-natured, hard-working folks. We all seem to have a great time working together and, as you can now see, eating together.

Delpo Gana!

2009-09-15T14:53:00.008+02:00

Lori came home from her vacation in the US yesterday and we celebrated her return by ordering pizza and watching the men's finals of the US Open.

For the first time in over 30 years an Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro, won the championship beating the 5-time champion (and greatest player ever to play the game) Roger Federer in a fantastic match that lasted just over 4 hours.

Although giving up the first set to Federer, 3-6, Del Potro's booming shots started finding the lines in the second set. Once he broke Federer late in the fourth, I knew it was over.

Del Potro really impressed me. I'm a Federer fan, but the 20-year old Argentine, playing in his first Grand Slam final showed a lot of guts and didn't crack under pressure. His teary-eyed acceptance speech was great too: "I had two dreams: one was to win the US Open and the other one is to be like Roger".

Argentina has a new hero.

Bachelor "Party"

2009-09-08T00:50:00.002+02:00

All alone...

Lori left for the US today so I'm spending the next week fending for myself. She will no doubt have a fantastic time with Chip, Teresa, Carter and Cate. But me, I need to figure out how to use the oven...

One of the Dangers of Argentina

2009-08-29T16:11:00.005+02:00

Lori already posted about her love of Argentine pizzas, but of course there is a danger that comes with it:

Micro Systems

2009-08-19T02:01:00.004+02:00

Back to Bariloche, the second time in just over a month. This time, however, we chose to not travel by air but by ground, like a couple of real Argentines.

Some say that Argentina has perfected bus travel and having rode in several other countries via the same means, I must confess that they have come close. Buenos Aires to Bariloche is a meager 1600 km, a formidable distance to travel by ground, but honestly, the 21 hour ride flew by.

Photo: locura_micrera

Each sleeper bus, or micro, traveling that type of distance generally comes with a crew of three. Two drivers who swap sleeping and driving duties and one host who is responsible for food and entertainment. The quality of the food is one step above airplane fare. In our 21 hour ride we had 3 servings, dinner being the only hot one, and vegetarian options were provided (though we arranged that in advance). Entertainment was made up of music (during meals) and movies - we saw four of them, three of which were actually in English probably due to the large number of foreigners on the trip. One nice touch was a late-night serving of whiskey, straight. I had more than one serving.

The line of bus we took for this trip was 'Via Bariloche' which is unrelated to our destination and travels throughout the entire country. Some buses are equipped with full horizontal style seat to bed conversions. Ours featured only the semi-cama, or la-z-boy style recliner that got you most of the way there and not to mention leg room to spare - beats the hell out of airline "comfort".

In general, I'm a huge fan of road trips and seeing the world from ground, so keep that mind when I say that I thoroughly enjoyed this means of travel. Others I told about the trip thought we were crazy for spending that much time on a bus. Me, I wouldn't hesitate one bit to do it again in the future.

Now for the negatives. Obviously, the extra time spent 'traveling' instead of at your destination is a knock against this mode, but you do save money on extra nights in a hotel and it's much cheaper than going by air. Plus, you get a chance to meet a lot of people if you make an effort to socialize. Second is the bathroom, because lets face it, there is no such thing as a clean camode on any ground transport. It wasn't like squatting over a hole on a rickety wooden train in Africa, but it wasn't like hanging out in an operating room either.

Tips for the future include:

Bring ear plugs,
Some snacks - in case you need something to munch on during the movie
A good book - reading was surprisingly easy for a guy who normally gets queasy reading in moving vehicles
Toilet paper - see above
Loved having the DS - for a game of Boogle, Scrabble, or for doing crossword puzzles
Mate - every Argentinean micro is equipped with a hot water dispenser. Great for making friends.
Wear layers - you are never sure what the temp is going to be, and prepare for both too warm or too cold at some point during a long trip.

Good Eats: Pizzeria Guerrin - Argentine Fast Food

2009-08-11T23:16:00.014+02:00

Today, I had lunch at Guerrin, a pizza/empanada restaurant in downtown Buenos Aires. It was one of my most delicious dining experiences I’ve had in Argentina so far. I can’t say that it is the best pizza here because I haven’t been to many pizza places yet, but for now it is my favorite. Guerrin opened in 1932 and is a special place for many people.

Guerrin is like a well-oiled machine – in two minutes and 12 seconds, I stood in line, ordered and received my two pieces of mozzarella pizza and soda. I then found a place to stand and eat along with the others at the crowded counter. There’s an unspoken rule here: you eat and then you leave.

There is also a part of the restaurant where you can sit down and eat like other restaurants but I think the counter is way more fun. Lunch was delicious, fast and unforgettable. I highly recommend a visit!

Pizzeria Guerrin: Corrientes 1368, Buenos Aires

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en español....

Comida Rápida: el estilo de Argentina

Hoy, almorcé en Guerrin, un restaurante de pizza y empanadas en el microcentro. Fue una de mis experiencias gastronómicas más deliciosas en Argentina hasta ahora. No puedo decir que es la major pizza que comí acá porque no fui a muchos lugares todavía; pero, por el momento, es mi favorita. Guerrin abrió en 1932 y es un lugar especial para mucha gente.

Guerrin es como una máquina que funciona muy bien. En 2 minutos y 12 segundos, hice la cola, pedí pizza y me dieron 2 porciones de pizza mozzarella y gaseosa.

Después encontré un lugar donde pararme y comer: un mostrador abarrotado de gente. Hay una regla no expresada que es: comer e irse.

También hay una parte donde se puede comer como en otros restaurants pero creo que el mostrador es más divertido. El almuerzo fue delicioso, rápido e inolvidable. ¡Recomendable una visita!

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Please note: A special thanks to my spanish teacher, Marco Luccón, for editing the spanish portion of my restaurant reviews which you will now be able to find after the english version.