A few more New Orleans neighborhoods

The Garden District I hear that Brad and Angelina recently purchased a house in this area (which, like the French Quarter, stands on high ground and wasn’t flooded). ————– This picture is of a relatively new neighborhood. Designed by FEMA. Edgewater Park Those aren’t out-of-town guests living in those trailers. Some of the many blue … Read more

A stroll through the French Quarter

The heart of New Orleans is still alive, populated with more drunken tourists than you can shake a stick at, although I can’t really compare it with what it was like before. There are several places that have closed down, and many beautiful old buildings for sale.

Amsterdam: a scar is born

I’m currently in the middle of a 32-hour layover at my home in Zurich. I just got back from 4 days in Amsterdam, and tomorrow morning I am headed to New Orleans, for my first trip to US soil in about a year and a half. Should be interesting, to say the least. There’s a … Read more

In Amsterdam they sell Doritos that taste like me

Or maybe they taste like ranch dressing, like my friend Saron said. I didn’t actually try them. I did experience some major super-market envy while walking through her local Albert Heijn, though. It was way bigger than my local Migros, and it offered a bunch of foods I’ve never seen here. And it stays open … Read more

Skiing in Davos – a post for posterity

Sunday morning we woke up hideously early and hauled our ski gear to the train station for a day in Davos. On the way there my husband joked that someday we would tell our kids about this last day of skiing ever before global warming made it a thing of the past. So I figured … Read more

Colmar: France at its most charming

Day one of my recent trip to Alsace was spent in Colmar, an adorable little town full of narrow cobblestone streets and half-timbered houses painted in vivid colors. It’s just a 2-hour train ride from Zurich, changing trains in Basel (I’m being nice in this post, so I’m biting my tongue about the cleanliness and … Read more

France is growing on me

I never used to be a big fan of France. I wasn’t out renaming fried potato products just to spite its citizens or anything like that – I just wasn’t that into it. The language sounds ridiculous to me. The food is meaty. The trains… well, you know about the trains. But my last couple … Read more

Have you seen this nude man?

The Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung printed a new Gucci ad last week featuring an unknown male model – so unknown that not even Gucci had heard of him. Turns out the ad was a fake, and this guy just wanted to sneak a naked picture of himself into the newspaper. This isn’t even the first time … Read more