Food + Switzerland

     As many of you know, I love food. I deeply, truly, and passionately love eating and food. I'm already getting a reputation in the group for my eating habits. When I go somewhere new, I find the best way to get to know the place is to eat. So, I walk around and eat everything and anything that I think looks interesting or tasty.
     I've eaten a lot this trip so far. My favorite place in the city is Marktplatz, a small square in the center of the city that holds a market every day with different food stands. There are cheese stands, meat stands, Italian stands, stands with cured meats, bread stands, and wonderful food carts where I usually buy lunch. For lunch today I ate a large soft pretzel, a bratwurst, a very good bread with tomato sauce, olives, and sardines on/in it, some cheese, and an olive mix, all purchased from different stands in the Marktplatz.
     And the pastries! There are tons of shops throughout the city selling every sort of delicious looking bread and pastry concoction. I've been known on runs to stop suddenly and stare into the windows of these stores (my friends I run with got tired of this pretty quickly). The only downside to the food in Switzerland is that it costs so much money. Many Swiss actually travel to other countries, such as France and Germany, to do their grocery shopping because it costs about 20-30% less there.
     I also can't forget the chocolate. Chocolate is everywhere in this country, and it's cheap and delicious. The specialty chocolate stores can cost a fair amount of money, but you can get a really good bar of chocolate in a grocery store. And there are so many types and brands of chocolate! Even small markets seem to have a wall devoted solely to chocolate in all its glory.
     Due to the costs, I haven't really been able to check out the restaurant scene in Switzerland, but we did have a farewell lunch at a Turkish restaurant yesterday afternoon. Switzerland and Germany have large and growing Turkish immigrant populations that cause domestic tensions and it was nice to be exposed to that community for a little. The food was also quite good. I had peppers and grape leaves stuffed with spicy rice and covered in a yogurt sauce.
       I really can't wait for the food in India. It will be cheap, interesting, and there will be tons of it, everywhere.

 Marktplatz