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Appenzell,in the land of cheese..


Today, I ventured out on my first solo expedition to the town of Appenzell, known foremost for its stinky Appenzellar cheese and also for its Alpenbitter, a sweet liqueur. I was a little nervous about the train ride, after T and I had a failed attempt yesterday to reach our destination, Mt Santis, the highest peak around this area. We had gotten a little confused about when and if we were to switch trains in the small town of Herisau before we caught a bus from another town and a tram up the mountainside. We assumed wrong, and when we hit the last stop on the train and started back the way we had come, passing all the same buildings and cows, I knew that we had made a wrong decision back in Herisau to stay on the train. By the time we had righted our wrong, we had missed our connections to train-bus-cable up the mountain. We decided that instead of waiting another 90 minutes in a town in the middle of nowhere, that we would head back to St. Gallen, for, you guessed it, another Olma Brat!
So, today was a new day, the train ride was direct and a mere 45 minutes. It couldn't have been easier than that!
The town was very sleepy when I arrived and everything was closed for the lunch hour. I wandered the streets which were pretty deserted, but it was a beautiful area and quite a beautiful day, so I was pretty happy. I finally found a Bakerei that was open and treated myself to a slice of Apfel Kuchen (in this case, the Kuchen was thinly sliced apples in a custard with a nice crisp crust) and a nice cup of coffee. When I emerged, all the stores had reopened and the town had such a different feel. It still was quiet, but there was a little more hustle and bustle. I wandered into a cheese shop and was overwhelmed by the stench of the Appenzeller cheese. so good! I opted not to buy any, since I still have some 'kraft-singles' like slices of it in our fridge...(which I am sure isnt quite the same, but it looked good at the time)
Now that I have one solo trip under my belt, I feel much more comfortable venturing out again on my own. There are many quaint towns within reach of St. Gallen, so it will make for some nice days!

..a demonstration of the Warrior Three pose....

Another word about Starbuck's..

As much as I have tried to loathe Starbucks, I just cant. I feel a loyalty to it, being from Seattle; but I certainly appreciate good coffee that isnt the Starbucks brand as well. I have to say that my first reaction when learning that I could find one here in St. Gallen after living no where near one while in Ithaca was a pleasant one. I like being able to order my drink of choice and know that when I get it, it will taste just like I remember it. In the last couple years, being away from Seattle, I have tried to open my mind about coffee, tried to be forgiving that things are just not the same in good ol' Ithaca, where a mocha isnt really a mocha, but coffee and cocoa powder, and in fact a Mocha in Seattle is equal to a Mochaccino in Ithaca. I had to learn this the hard way when I ordered what I thought was a Mocha and saw the "barista" (if you can call her that) stirring cocoa powder into a cup of coffee. YUK. Or, when I went to order a cappuccino and was told in a couple different places in Ithaca, that a cappuccino, isnt REALLY a cappuccino in the traditional sense, but a latte..WHAT? Why all the confusion?
..Anyway, back to where I was really going with this. So, here in St. Gallen, Starbucks is essentially the same, but it seems just a tad more sophisticated. Aside from the myriad of languages being spoken by the baristas, what I love is that hardly anyone gets their coffee to "take-away" here. The number of porcelain mugs behind the counter heaily outweigh the number of paper cups. I feel like I have rediscovered the "Cafe Latte". It tastes like a whole different drink here. I think I started to get little burnt out on the latte, even at Stabuck's in the states. It just was starting to lose its appeal, in that paper cup, where you cant even slurp up that thick foam because of the plastic lid on top. Maybe it is that the whole coffee experience is different. Most of the recent times that I was in Starbucks, over the holidays, was while out shopping and in a mad rush to get everywhere...with no time to sit and have a "mug"..I think having a coffee for me and so many others is equated to so much more than just that quick cup, but the experience that it brings or the memories of relaxing on a Sunday morning that it invokes. I am really appreciating the European way of not rushing something that can be so enjoyable, if you just give it a little more time...

Starbucks, Wanderwegs and one ‘very special’ Chocolate…




So, today I managed to steal a nice man’s seat at Starbucks (which resulted in a nice conversation over coffee) and wander my way along a “path” that led me straight to someone’s front porch. I was unable to read the signs, which may have said something like, Private Property, NO Trespassing OR in words I couldn’t understand at the time, Kein Übertreten! I am tempted to go back now that I am aware what these words mean, just to see if I was in fact breaking the law. Luckily, I just received a few curious stares from the window instead of some not so kind words being screamed from out the front door. When I realized my mistake and turned around, I met a woman on the “path” who said something to me..I thought maybe it was some sort of greeting, so I just smiled and nodded. I tried to keep her words in my mind so that when I got back home, I could look up what I thought she may have been saying..so far, any greeting has been ruled out. The closest thing that I can think of is that she was asking if I was lost. Sind Sie Verloren? If this is the case, my reaction by smiling and nodding ‘Yes’ wasn’t too far off!!



After a dinner of inattentive servers, we stepped in a chocolate café. Behind the counter was a bunch of different types of chocolate bark, each with milk or dark chocolate, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts…they were quite generous with the samples.. after we had decided against the chili pepper chocolate bark and had opted for some milk chocolate-hazelnut bark, some dark chocolate-almond bark AND a hot chocolate, the woman held out another piece to both of us and said, “try this…very special flavor”…it was milk chocolate, so we both happily agreed. I think this was the craziest surprise in a piece of chocolate yet. Once it started to melt on the tongue, it started popping! They had added crushed Pop-rocks! It was actually quite good!! (I will have to remember this for future desserts!) Needless to say, we had a bit too much chocolate last night, but it was too good to turn down!

Brats, Burgers and Kase

Guete Obig from Sainkt Gallen!

So, after being in transit for 17 ish hours, I have arrived in lovely Switzerland! For my first order of business, we passed on heading to the local Starbucks and instead headed to the local deli for a hot brat..which here are served in many varieties. Thaddeus impressed me with his German and ordered us two of the long ones :) and two coffees. The brats were piping hot and were served in a paper bag, accompanied by a really tasty crusty roll of bread. If only I had some grainy mustard...
We then did a little walking and a little grocery shopping, which to me is always so interesting to do in other countries. We also walked by our share of Patisseries and Chocolate shops as well. Tomorrow, I will hit a few of those! I did try to nap today as well, but with little success.. the construction next door today consisted of grinding logs from cut down trees, not the most quiet of activities. For dinner, we had the swiss version of a good ol' cheeseburger, which for me came with some melted raclette cheese and for Thaddeus, "Hawaiian" style with Pineapple. So far, I have noticed the smoking is prevalent in the restaurants, something I had gotten used to doing without... but, alas, EVERYONE smokes in Europe..now, off to bed for some much needed sleep...more tomorrow!

Big Day..
In preparation for the travels, I took Toonses into the vet for a dental work-up. Turns out, his hygiene was SO bad that they had to extract two teeth, and a third one fell out during the cleaning! Aside from his hygiene, he must take after his mom! He seems to be recovering well and has been quite spunky post surgery. What a trooper. He is now living like a king and eating more than his share of tuna.