Zurich, Switzerland La Quinta, California: Our plan for the day was to leave Reims and take a train to Zurich. Neither of us had been to Zurich before (I know!), so planned to take a few days to explore the city before heading south to our previously-much-explored-and-loved Italy.
In Real Life: Dave rode his bike 345 miles (or something like that), while I took my usual Saturday Day-of-Rest. After he returned, we had a swim, then I fed him avocado toast (with tomatoes, sea salt and cumin). Later, we drove to the Motorcoach Country Club to take photos of our campsite. Maricela's crew had been there yesterday to clean, and we still needed a few shots for the real estate blurb. Yes, our lot is going on the market within a few days.
Fishel-Paykel Dishdrawer & GE stove/oven.
Please tell all your friends: Lot 322 at the Motorcoach Country Club is FOR SALE. Best view in the entire resort. Sun never hits the front windshield of your RV. One of the largest lots in the resort. Quiet.
After spending time at our lot at MCC, Dave golfed 18 holes at our new home course. He did not invite me to join him. Good thing. It was 115 today. Our temperatures have been over-the-top the past two weeks. The usual/normal high in August is 105°. In the dry desert, 105 is totally manageable. It is usually a dry heat, so tolerable. The past two weeks, the humidity has been very high. I do kinda laugh when the weather reporters are complaining about 50%+ humidity, because we lived in Manila for years where the humidity is usually around 90%. (Ah... how I miss those "good-hair-day-every-day" Manila years.) Even in Manila, the temperatures didn't reach 115 degrees - it rarely went over 100 degrees... but that humidity was a killer.
Dave golfed this afternoon. I stitched.
If we had been in Zurich tonight, we would have (fer-shure) have visited one of the famous/touristy wiener-schnitzel restaurants. Though most-probably developed in Italy, this type of dish is used in nearly every culture world-wide. (Dredge some-sort of thinly-pounded meat in flour, dip it in an egg wash, then coat it in bread crumbs of some sort, fry in oil.) Wiener schnitzel in Germany and Austria, Veal Milanese in Italy, Katsu in Japan, and - let's face it - chicken fingers in every diner in America. Even the Golden Arches. It's just a classic.
Appetizers tonight may have not been particularly Swiss, but there is nothing odd about the selection and could have been served in Zurich: smoked salmon spread, radishes, olives and pickles.
During the appetizer portion of our evening, we had a most-spectacular display of thunderheads to the southeast. Sadly, these clouds will produce no rain.
I made a bit of a typical German potato salad. Not unlike my paternal grandmother would have made (several days a week - OMG, so good). This salad can be served hot or cold. It is heavy on vinegar, and often served with bacon. Tonight I dressed it with a scoop of that purchased Bearnaise sauce. It was good. Grandma would have loved this salad.
I think this is the first time in 64 years I have ever made wiener schnitzel. Is this even possible? It is not easy. It is messy. It is expensive. It was totally delicious and perfect. It was a lot of food. We have leftovers.
Until my next update, I remain, your Swiss correspondent.