Trip thoughts

That was at the Hotel Real, the dish is called "Wiener Backhahn."  When we asked how to get to the restaurant, one Lichtensteiner (what do you call them in the English language?) said  "It is close.  Lichtenstein is very small.  (Pause)  But it is very beautiful."  Zurich has a high percentage of foreigners; it feels like 20 percent or more.  The Western side of the city is now "cool," and almost bohemian; eat at LaSalle.  The Swiss seem to have legalized prostitution.  The French-speaking Swiss generally favor joining the EU; the German speakers — 63% of the country — do not.  The German speakers also are more likely to speak good English than good French.  Crossing the border, German bookstores do not feature Freakonomics prominently; their economics sections are full of doom and gloom about Germany; are Levitt and Dubner too entertaining for them?  Some guy named Frank Schatzing has an 800-page German science fiction bestseller called Der Schwarm, just translated into English, is it any good?  Swiss food prices have gone through the roof.  I’ve experienced the $30 pizza, the $40 schnitzel, and the $42 breakfast, all good but none extraordinary.  Rural Switzerland now has plenty of Thai restaurants.  Switzerland was the first country where I first saw first-rate scenery, mountains, or for that matter cows.  Does this mean I still overrate the value of the Swiss landscape?  Paris was the first city where Natasha was able to go shopping and see the West; does she overrate it?  Do I overrate German bread and orange juice?  What was the first good blog you read?

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