Geppetto would love Mr. Pinocchio's store

There is nothing like shopping for children, both big and small.  And in Zurich there are so many lovely little shops catering to moms like me looking for that very special gift for a birthday party or just so.   I have been to Mr. Pinocchio more times than I care to mention.

Located in the Altstadt (Old City) of Zurich on Oberdorfstrasse 3 and only a few minutes walk from my favorite deli, Bellevue Deli, Mr. Pinocchio is the brainchild of Antonella Gherlardi.  She lovingly selects all of the items in her store searching out tried and true classics from Djeco, books from the series  ¨This is . . . ¨ from Miroslav Sasek as well as Olivia and Curious George (who is, by the way, known in the german speaking world as Coco). And as one would expect from international Zurich, she has books available in English, German, Italian and Spanish.  Mrs. Gherlardi has a love for children which you can see and feel throughout the quaint one-room store.  Everywhere you turn,  wonderful little toys grab your attention.   From costume mustaches, pirate hats, and comic books to wind-up birds in cages and Vespa calendars, you will find everything which will make bog kids and little smile with delight.


Naturally other stores such as Pastorini & Franz Carl Weber offer customers a larger selection of toys. But as individual as my children and their friends are, I prefer to shop with Mrs. Gherlardi in her gorgeous store filled with unique and exceptional gifts!


Buon Divertimento!

Knowing where your food comes from is good . . . right?

I had to laugh again today as I opened my emails to find not the usual GAP offer or Nordstroms sale but the quarterly email from my local farmer, Fritz Baumann Jr.   I note that his name as Junior as he is not your ¨old school¨ farmer that we all know and love but rather the next generation farmer and he knows the power of direct communication with his customers. 

The email had the basic information a consumer needs: how old the cow is, where it lived, how many kilos are expected from the cow at slaughter and that I can order 5kg, 10kg and 25kg  mixed packages of meat.  Attached was a lovely photo of the one year old grazing cow (see above) which will be slaughtered shortly as well as a 10 page powerpoint presentation explaining how wonderful the Limosin beef is as opposed to Angus beef, etc.   

I know. 

I know!

Seriously, I know. When I first started getting the emails, I thought is was going to lose it. I did not want to see a photo of THE cow I will be eating. I grew up in suburban Atlanta where you got your meat from the grocery store.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine meat even came from anything other than, well, the store.  But when I was 10 I do remember, however, that my dad bought a half of a pig and a quarter of a cow from ¨Uncle Leonard¨ in Indiana.   My dad rented a U-Haul trailer, packed that meat up in dry-ice and we hauled (that is why they call it U-Haul, right?) that meat down to Georgia.  A few days later my mom was making her famous pork chops from that little pig (prize winning hogs I was later told they were) and in the pan was the blood.  I cried that night when I realized that the meat came from . . . an animal.  

But I got over it (pretty quickly as my Drama Queen prone self does).  30 years  later I am a steak tartare loving gal.  Living in Europe and more specifically Switzerland, I have gained a greater appreciation for food.    Just two weeks ago on one of the rare days of warm temps and sun (this spring has been cold and rainy, unusually so), I was driving over the Hirzel and the cows were sauntering through the fields swinging their tales in apparent happiness.  As much as I chuckle when I get the email from Mr. Baumann, at least I know that I know the meat comes from a happy cows,  probably the happiest cows in the world.  You are what you eat.

En Guete!

Sandwiches taste better when someone else makes them

10 years after moving to Europe, I had all but forgotten the love of sandwiches I once had in the States.  A nice tasty sandwich at a local deli was staple once a week.  On the other side of the pond, however, my once a week fix came to a screeching halt when I realized no one could make a decent sandwich. Sure, I could get a nice bread or roll with some ham and some cheese on it but, in theory, I could make something that simple myself. I never did, of course, but the idea was out there at least.

And then one day this Spring, after living in Zurich for over two years, I found myself ready to catch the tram back home and *gasp* hungry.  What to do? The sushi bar would have been a nice thing to do but I could not just justify the 25Chf for a few pieces of sushi as take-away.  It was lunch time and in the cold I saw people lining up outside a small window and ordering lunches. ¨Perfect¨ I thought, this looks like something good. I made my way up to the window and saw some lovely  sandwiches in a basket as well as tempting desserts (real brownies) and various salads in the window. 

I ordered the California Chicken with cranberry pesto and cilantro and fell in love with Bellevue Deli (Bellevueplatz 2, 8001 Zurich).  This is my favorite place to grab a quick lunch and I have scheduled more than one appointment in the city around lunchtime so that I can have a sandwich for lunch. Yes, I am that obsessed with having someone make me my sandwich.  I can also highly recommend the chicken & bacon focaccia as well as the  tuna sandwich. My friend Jersey (no, that is not his real name) and I recently went to Bellevue Deli and we both agreed a tuna fish sandwich is really something left to moms and friends to make. It needs to be done with love. But the tuna sandwich at Bellevue is made with love.  ¨It's mom's recipe¨ the owner confided in us as he stepped outside to say hello to some fellow Americans. 

And the best thing about Bellevue Deli beside the fact that the sandwiches are amazing, the soups are great, the staff is friendly, there are lovely little bistro tables outside to watch the passersby while eating is the fact that the meals are affordable!  Sandwiches are about 7Chf.

En Guete!

The circle of life

Two and a half years ago I moved here to Zurich, Switzerland from Stuttgart, Germany. At the time it was a few days before Christmas and the winter solstice. My daughter was a wee three years old and my son almost six months. My husband was beginning a new position at his company.  Oh, and did I mention my husband and I were celebrating our (lucky) seven year anniversary?

Two days after we moved, my brother flew over to visit for the holidays and one of my best friends came from Hawaii to spend the holidays with her family from Bern, a mere one and a half hours from Zurich.  I went to Bern to see the city on cold and blistering day.  Sitting at a local restaurant with ¨P¨ I began to wonder where I had landed. The language was so strange and yet oddly familiar.  Seven years of German will help with that feeling.

Yesterday, I saw that friend from Hawaii in Bern as she was visiting her family. The weather was lovely and only a few weeks shy of the summer solstice.   My oh my how things have changed.  In the next week our family will find out if we will be leaving this land of mountains, lakes, cows, cheese, and (in my humble opinion) perfection.  Life here has been great for all us despite some challenges. The weather, the language and culture have made me crazy from time to time but at the same time feel more at home here than I did for seven years 160km (100miles) to the north.   And this makes the feelings that I have for Switzerland all the more intense as an impending move nears.  

Only a few months ago my husband was asked if he was interested in a position in my former neighbor to the north, Canada. We said ¨yes¨not knowing or thinking too much about it. And then months went by before we heard anything but then it all went so fast. Now we are looking a possible move in August.  

As I walked with the kids through Bern yesterday I realized it might be the first and last time we make that trip together.  I look at everything now with the same eyes I had when we moved here. I am appreciating the sunsets, the blue skies, the snow capped mountains and the ¨gruezis¨ more than I did before. The kids are hearing more of ¨hey, look over there - mountains with snow!¨than ever before.

And today, as we rollerbladed around the Zurich Airport, I could not help but thinking that in a couple of months we might well be on one of those planes. And while it made me sad to know that the circle might close on us here I know that a new circle will begin elsewhere.