June 26, 2006 Football fever! When in Rome.... Although I've never followed soccer before, I have suddenly become a big fan. Yes, I have shamelessly jumped on the World Cup Soccer bandwagon! I figure I might as well make the most of my European experience by cheering along with the rest of them. I even wipe with "Hopp Schwiiz! Allez Suisse! Forza Svizzera!" toilet paper! Patriotic TP! A quick report: The two teams I'm cheering for are Switzerland (naturally) and Ecuador. Both teams made it to the 1/8th finals, but sadly Ecuador lost yesterday to England (the bloody English!) and is now out. Switzerand faces a strong Ukrainian team today -- fingers crossed! What else is new these days? Mini-golfing: (L) Check out those skills! (R) Sepp and his trophies. Saturday market in Bern: (L) Cheese! (R) Chess! (L) Fruit! (R) Flowers! Food: Last Thursday evening, Sonya, Daniela and I drove to Zurich (1.5 hours) just to go for dinner. We went to the Cafe Terrasse -- the fancy restaurant where Daniela did part of her chef's school practicum. Oh man, was it ever good. To start I had a summer salad with avacado and chanterelles. My main was grilled Scottish salmon on a bed of baby bok choy in a tomato-chili sauce. The dessert was the highlight, however. Imagine a silver platter with six fabulous homemade desserts: Creme brulee with apricots, chocolate torte, coupe cafe glacee, frozen yogurt with fruit salad, strawberry sorbet with vodka, panna cotta with fresh berries and tiramisu wrapped in white chocolate. WOW! Tour de Suisse: Martina and I rode to Bern the other week to watch the end of the final stage of the Tour de Suisse. It was a 30.7-kilometre TT that ended on cobblestones. We were situated by the finish and had a good view of the riders as they powered over the line. We also had a fantastic perch, which was ideal for people-watching. The Euro bike fans were out in full force, banging on the boards and hanging over the railings holding their glasses of white wine and/or beer. Glasses, not plastic cups. Only the best! Big Jan Ullrich won the TT and the overall tour. Go Jan go! Martina and I also picked up a bunch of free Tour de Suisse paraphernalia and other swag: 1 Minipic pepperoni stick, 1 Tour de Suisse ball cap, 1 Blick ball cap, 1 plush animal key chain, 1 Tour de Suisse T-shirt, 1 Tour de Suisse lanyard with whistle, 1 flourescent orange bag with which to carry it all. Oh dear, I just realized I don't have a boy of the week! Sorry. I'll have to make up for it next time with two of them. Does that sound fair? And just to let y'all know, I've updated my race reports, so we're good to go. Check 'em out! I'm heading home next Tuesday, July 4. Only a week left in the land of cheese, chocolate and cowbells. So sad....