Gatlinburg: trapping tourists in style

I’ll get back to Europe soon, I promise. But in the meantime, allow me to introduce (to the uninitiated) the town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg is easily one of the top 10 kitschiest destinations in America (and we all know how much I love kitsch). The main drag is … Read more

Food, Southern-style

And… I’m back in the southern US this week. Do you think they use little tiny little milking machines to make the rat cheese? Boiled peanuts (or berl’d p-nuts, spelled phonetically). They’re boiled for a long, long time in brine, and are soft and salty. Okra! Mmmmm. People from other parts of the US tend … Read more

Times Square from above and below

The steaming cup o’ soup is gone, but otherwise Times Square looks pretty much the same as it did the last time I was here. One of those cheesy touristy things I love to do in New York is have a drink at The View, a revolving bar and restaurant on the 48th floor of … Read more

Recent American culinary innovations

American grocery stores are totally overwhelming – so many food-like substances that we don’t have in Switzerland! It’s really fun to explore, but sometime I’m a little, um, disturbed by what I find. Here are some products I’ve discovered in the past couple days that I don’t think existed last time I was in this … Read more

Laughing out loud for fake news

After weeks of religiously checking The Daily Show’s website, I was able to score tickets for one of the days I was in New York. The email from the show recommended arriving between 3:30 and 4:00. I got there around 3:45, and there was already quite a long line. A little after 4:30, they came … Read more

Smells like New York

I escaped the Bible Belt for a few days this week and headed up to New York City, probably my favorite city in the world. I spent most of the time just walking around Manhattan, people-watching and soaking up the atmosphere. It’s so familiar and different all at once – I can’t get enough. New … Read more

Chattanooga reborn

This week I find myself in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a city which is often touted as an excellent example of urban renewal. Over the past 10 years or so, the downtown area has gone from drab and unappealing to vibrant and interesting. The city invested heavily in redoing the waterfront area, creating parks and a river … Read more

Spargelfest!

That’s right, boys and girls, it’s that time of year again: Spargelzeit. The celebration of asparagus is in full swing in Switzerland. Thanks to a tip from Jack at Laughing Lemon, some friends and I headed outside the city last Sunday to check out the Flaacher Spargelfest (an asparagus festival held on a family farm … Read more