RECIPES!!!

I have started a new blog:
jazibesrecipes.blogspot.com

to share some of my recipes.
I love to cook, and I've recently found myself trying new dishes.
The first post, "Tacos al Pastor", its a great, easy and delicious recipe I made just yesterday.
I hope you enjoy it and please let me know if you try any of them out.

close to home!

literally! !!
(we live on the skirts of this hill)


(the photo was sent to me by a friend, I dont know where she got it from)

zurich, venice (part I)

Photos are found here
I hope this is not too boring!! it is looong.

Sat. May 12
Abril Baba, Robe & Ali arrive at the main train station. They are all tired and have already been traveling for more than a week. They are trying to get used to being with each other 24/7 (or at least get used to the idea of being with each other 24/7). Zurich will be a nice break in between for them (before they try to kill each other)

We eat brats and potato salad in our mini-backyard (we bought a table and chairs for this occasion).
All except Baba and I go to üetliberg (the big hill behind our house with a very nice view of the city). Baba reads a “rome book, I watch TV.

Sun. May 13
We go to Kunsthaus, where Abril tries Rivella (a softdrink made from whey), Then we walk to the lake, where we see the swans and take lost of pics, and then we go to the “churches”: fraumunster and grossmunster and St. Peters kirche (to see the Giaccometti and Chagall’s stained glass windows, and the biggest clock face in all of europe)
We eat fondue (first cheese fondue with bread and susages, then for desert chocolate fondue, with strawberries and apples). We light sparkles and candles. Just how I pictured it.

Mon. May 14
Gera goes to work and we all go out “somewhere” (anywhere, just to be out of the house). We end up at the lake (not much else to see), but with a stop at Sprüngli to try their Luxemburgerli. At the lake we take a boat (it is actually public transport, we just cover the whole route and never get off). The ride is included on their “Zurich Card” and I just pay a bit for the extra “zone” not included in my local pass. The day gets cold and rainy, and by the end of the boat ride (about 2 hours, round trip) we are sitting inside. We see nice houses with their own boat decks and big gardens. Abril knits.
That night, Robe Gera and I go to the main train station to send Ali and Baba off to Rome (overnight train). Abril stays home to watch my version of Must See TV (friends, desperate housewives, Grey’s anatomy, dr house).

Wed. May 16
We went to the train station to reserve seats for tonight’s overnight train to Venice, but to our surprise they were all sold out (yes, we waited until the last minute…). It was a holiday weekend and apparently people tend to go south for the holidays. Who knew. After much (and I mean “an hour long” much) searching by the ticket guy, he finally was able to get us to Venice by 2PM the next day. The problem: we would need to take 4 different trains to get there. It was all they had so we took it. Gera wasn’t too happy (I don’t blame him)

Abril and I meet my Mexican friends for lunch (I should stop referring to them like that… sorry guys), and Robe goes to meet Gera for lunch (at ETH). He was already late and it did not help that he got kinda lost. They did find each other eventually.
After lunch, we met Robe again and the 3 of us went to the Brockenhaus (a goodwill-type-store), and abril found knitter’s heaven in a stack of old knitting needles and yarn.
That night we packed our bags for Venice. We are meeting Baba and Ali at the train station at 3 (when their train gets in from Rome). We hope our train is not late, and we hope they were able to get tickets to Venice.

Thurs. May 17
We all get ready to leave, we are out and on time on the tram stop. We make to the train on time (it leaves at 6:50am). Now we just need to hold on to our patience as the hours pass by and we have to continuously stop and change trains. On the 1st train ride (Zurich-bellinzona), a group of women kept talking like chickens and wouldn’t let us take a nap. They got even worse when they got their coffee. On the second train ride (bellinzona-lugano), we had a surreal experience. This guy (swiss-talian) started talking to us, telling us all this things about world peace, his family, his wife’s smile, Bush, a peace rally… all very weird. Roberto wanted to doze off, but the guy wouldn’t let him. He talked about religion, got out his visual aids from his suitcase and even sang a song. HOW weird is that. We were soon in Lugano, the guy said goodbye and we got off the train. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Robe kept wanting to go to 1st class, because the railpass they had purchased was for 1st class. And he kept making jokes about how much bigger the seats were and how he deserved to be there.
As we spotted Venice in the distance, Abril and I sang Hombres G’s* song “venecia” (you HAVE to see this clip). And a few minutes later finally arrived in Venice, as scheduled. Abril and I went to use the restroom and by the time we were back, Ali and Baba’s train from Rome had arrived and they were all there chatting. How perfect timing!
The next step was to buy the 3-day vaporetto pass and then be on our way to the hotel.
We stepped out of the trains tation and were greeted by a sight like out of a Disney ride, except this is for real. It was awesome. Abril expertly gets us to the hotel (she had MEMORIZED the instructions from the hotel website “take vaporetto#1, get off @ …, walk to the Disney store, turn right… blah blah”. We checked in, two triple rooms: boys in one, girls on the other.
We were back out into the streets as soon as possible (“who needs to use the bathroom?”, “hurry up!”, “I am hungry” “here, have some egg sandwich leftover from breakfast”). It was too late for most sights, but thanks to a bit of planning we still had things to do. We went to the Palazzo Ducale (that closed later than all other attractions), and we explored St. Marks square for a bit. Abril had a BLAST with the pigeons, and every time we walked by St. Mark’s she HAD to feed them and take pictures. Ali also had a blast chasing them (he was captured on a snapshot stepping on one poor pigeon as he ran, he claims it was an accident, investigation continues).
Later we found a place to have dinner (pizza), and we went back to the hotel (with a stop for gelato). Baba mentioned she heard Gera say that the hotel was old and maybe even haunted, so Abril and I behaved like little girls at a pyjama party and ran to their room (at the end of the hall), knocked on their door and scratched on the walls, and then hid. It was hilarious! We heard them talk and try to figure out which one of us had done it: “It cannot be Baba, she doesn’t run, and abril can’t run with a bad foot, jazi wouldn’t do it alone…” This is my actual confession!! Yes, we did it, and we did not RUN, we just hid around the corner before you opened the door, hehe.

Gera could not sleep with Roberto snoring, so he knocked on our room like at 2 in the morning:
“let me in”
“who is it”
“its ME”
Door opens
(*hombres G was a pop group from spain very popular in mexico in the 80’s)

Frid. May 18
We went early to St. Marks’s Basilica, where the line to get in was already long. We saw the treasury, the altar, and the dome/terrace. Then we head towards the Accademia and have lunch on the way (a nice restaurant with the best tiramisu ever!). We got split up there, and Abril, Robe and Ali went to a yarn shop (guess whose idea that was?). Baba, Gera and me took more time to look around and then headed out. As we were in line boarding the vaporetto, the gates were closed and Gera was on board and Baba and I were left on the boarding platform!! We told Gera “we’ll meet you on the next stop” so Baba and I started WALKING to the next stop (big mistake). We got lost and it took us like almost 1 hour to get there. By then Gera had gone back to look for us, when we finally found him he asked “why didn’t you just wait for the next one?” “I dunno know…” Than was an experience…
We finally met with the rest of the group and boarded yet another vaporetto, but his for mere sightseeing purposes. We went all the way to the lido (the beach) and back to the trainstation, but we did not get off the vaporetto. Eventually we made our way to the front seats and it was like a tourboat. We saw the nice houses on the Gran Canal and the bridges and it was one more thing to check off the list.

Sat. May 19
Gera woke up really really early (which means I also woke up really early), so we were out and about before 8am (he was out at 6am, then came back for me at 7am). We got too walk around an empty St. Marks square, and got to mingle with the photographers with their big lenses and the watercolor artists catching the sunrise. Back in the hotel, we had breakfast and checked out. We split up again: Gera, Ali and I went to the train station to drop off our bags in a locker; the rest went to the post office. We then went to the Rialto market all together, and browsed and shopped and got lost… classic.
Abril had a good 20 minutes of “I lost my camera!”. Turns our Baba had it, but since Baba was lost, we couldn’t ask her. We ate fresh fruit (I had my personal stash of chilli powder in my purse, which mad eit taste even better) and walked around.
Gera and I wanted to go to the Guggenheim, but the rest were not all that interested, and after finding out the entrance was not free (some were free and some discounted because it was Italy’s cultural week), decided to go do something else instead.
The Guggenheim was great! Small but loaded with art!. Well, maybe it seemed small because half of it was closed because they were setting up a new show. It was still worth the trip.
We were supposed to meet near the Accademia, so we headed there, and since we were early, we sat down at a little café to have a Spritz with Aperol (my friend Adri said it was a MUST in Venice). The spritz was a bit bitter (it is certainly an acquired taste). As we were sitting there, Abril, Robe and Baba walk by (they had “lost” Ali). Its it funny how you can get lost so easily, but then you can just as easily find each other just by staying still long enough… They joined us with a beer and I ordered a Bellini (Cava and Peach juice). Later, Ali showed up! Guided by Abril, we walked searching for some shops, and then we walked some more. We stumbled into a place where they sell really cheap wine (by the liter, they provide the plastic bottles for you!) It was funny and we had to try it. We feared going blind, but it was not that bad! (not worse than the “house wine” in most restaurants).
We walked and drank and snacked and pretty soon it was time to go to the train station.
This train was more or less direct. We had to go to Bologna, then wait there for like 2 hours for the overnight to Zurich (that was coming from Rome). By then we were exhausted, had some McDonalds and went to sleep.

Sun. may 20
We stayed home, I cooked General Tso’s chicken for dinner. Yummy.

Mon. May 21
Baba and Ali went back to reality. Gera went to work, and Abril, Robe and I stayed and took a break from walking around. After much pondering, we decide on Rome as our next trip. We thought for a while we would go to Prague, but since Abril and Robe still had travel days on their railpasses, it didn’t make sense to buy plane tickets to go somewhere else. So Rome it is… I was glad Baba left her book for me!

its been a while...

It has been a while since I wrote anything new, but I am sure you understand I’ve been busy! Abril, Robe, Baba and Ali came to see us and we had a great time. We spent time here in Zurich, where we did some things but mostly just enjoyed each other’s company. I cooked for them my current “specialties” (butter chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, beer battered fish), and we also had some traditional fondue. Abril and I saw the Season/series finale of one of our favorite series: “Gilmore girls”, and we even cried a little.
We all went to Venice and had a big 3-day adventure there. After that, Baba and Ali had to go back, but Abril and Robe stayed for a few more days. With them we went to Rome and saw some great ancient sites and museums.
The traveling was great, the food was great, but the best part of all was just getting to hang out with them like before. We really missed them, and now that they’re gone, we are all alone again.
I have posted all the travel pics on flickr, and soon I will post the “travel Blog” (I think is parts, as its turning out to be quite long). I hope you come back to read it and let me know what you think.