Insert "The Godfather" soundtrack here...

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse..." -Don Corleone

Okay, so I didn't quite make it to Sicily, but I still had a "Godfather" moment on my brief stint in Italy today.  As I got out of the car at Lake Como, I saw two guys in their finest duds walking by.  One was wearing a blue pinstriped suit, and the other a black suit with a matching hat.  I immediately had a vision of these two heading to some restaurant to meet their cronies, and a violent shoot-out occurring just after the veal arrives at the table (too much Hollywood influence you say?).

My impressions of Italy are thus...

From a distance, it is gorgeous, a beauty you cannot properly capture on film (or in my case, on memory card).

Up close however, things are a bit different, things are pretty dirty, graffittied, run-down and just kinda gross.

Not to mention!  Italian drivers are insane.  INSANE!  All those movies you've seen with cars zipping in and out, going on sidewalks, traveling at seemingly impossible speeds...it's all very very accurate.

I would like to go back someday and see some other cities...Rome, Florence, Milan (which we were actually pretty close to), Naples, Venice...you get the idea.

But for now, I have the work of Nino Rota to remind me of Italia.

Buy it by the kg

If you are a cheese connoisseur, I recommend that you locate and try Raclette.  It is a delightful, light cheese with a robust flavor...I prefer the smoked raclette myself, but I tend to like smoky cheeses and realize not everyone shares my tastes....poor them.

Because really, it's great!

The brown stuff

When given the choice of Chocolate or Vanilla, I will go with Vanilla.
If I want something sweet, I will generally go for something fruity over something chocolatey.
So why is it that my suitcase is now practically overflowing with chocolate???

Sail Away

My niece LOVES Enya.

If you have never seen a 3 year old sing and dance to Enya, you are seriously missing out.

Do you hear the people sing?

You know those times when you're sitting in church, and you just can't seem to grasp anything?  It's almost as if the speakers are talking in some foreign language that you can't understand! (You can see where I'm going with this can't you?)

Church amongst the Swiss is something I have done before, so I wasn't completely thrown for a loop (and the fact that LDS church practices don't differ much no matter where you are helps too).  I was able to follow the Sacrament prayers thanks to having memorized them over my 25 years of church attendance.  One of the things I had a hard time with was the hymns.  I love singing the hymns, and have many of them memorized, though when everyone around you is singing in German, and you don't have an English hymnbook, it can lead to either: (A) Humming along with the hymns  (B) Attempting to sing in German--I don't recommend this option, it leads to the butchering of a language  or (C) Mixing up the verses you know in English because you are unsure of which verse comes next--this is generally the most used option next to (A).

I'm sure there were a few people chuckling at my sorry attempts at singing, but I wasn't about to just sit there, I think people look silly if they don't sing during the hymns....yep, the truth is out!  If you're one of those people who keep your mouth shut while everyone else is singing, I think you look a bit ridiculous...I hope you can live with that...or that you'll start singing...one or the other.

Architectural Digest

If it's old, crumbling and was once inhabited, chances are, I'm going to like it.

I hope to get my fill of old buildings, castles and ruins while in Switzerland.  I have already been to one castle, and was thoroughly enthralled.  All I can say is that I had better marry someone who can either share in my love of architecture and history, or someone who can be content with the fact that I could be happy just walking around looking at old buildings.

Basically Bacteria

Quark, where have you been all my life, and why must you live so far away?

No, Quark is not the name of some deliciously handsome Swiss man I intend on smuggling home in my suitcase.  Quark is....better (Face it, I don't speak German, ultimately, any relationship would be doomed from the get-go).

Quark is like yogurt, but thicker and more delicious.

If you know me well, you know that one of my basic food groups is Yogurt, therefore it stands to reason that I would love a land that specializes in yogurt.  The Swiss have turned yogurt into an art form (though some types of art are....questionable).  I do not recommend Buffalo yogurt or Sheep yogurt,  Hazelnut yogurt leaves much to be desired, and I am pretty sure I would not like Chocolate yogurt so I haven't even tried it, but I love the Pomegranate-Cranberry (I think it may be my favorite).