For those of you who are familiar with bagels, this could be a very divisive post: New York City vs. Montreal. But this is no simple battle of H&H vs. St-Viateur (each city’s most famous bagel maker, respectively), nor is my very favorite bagel from either of those two places. Unfortunately, it’s not from Zürich either, where I live. So on my transatlantic travels, I often bring back bags of bagels in my suitcase. Into the freezer pre-sliced (a must), they toast perfectly and taste almost like fresh. So where do I go for the best bagel ? Great Neck.

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My recent travels found me eating pasta, risotto, polenta and gelato, and listening to the musical sounds of the Italian language.

While your minds may be full of romantic images, like crossing the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, strolling through the Borghese Gardens in Rome, perhaps shopping in Milan or simply eating pasta all day long in Bologna,… I’m not even talking about Italy.  I’m talking about Switzerland.  Yes, Switzerland, the country with a distinctive Italian speaking canton in the South, called Ticino (or Tessin in German), where you often forget you’re actually not in Italy.

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Over the past few years living in Zürich, there have been innumerable “only in Switzerland” moments. Local festivals come to mind, especially Stoos Schwinget, the country’s national sport, where large men dressed in sky blue Edelweiss-clad shirts hold on to each other’s shorts and wrestle to the ground, within a circle of saw dust. (There’s rock throwing contests, alphorn players and yodeling there too.) The hot air balloon festival in Château d’Oex is a must see, the sky filled with enormous, colorful balloons against a breathtaking backdrop of snow-covered Alps. Yet another jaw-dropping visual is White Turf in St. Moritz, when dark, handsome horses race on a frozen lake.  It’s simply spectacular.  And finally, I can now add Alpabfahrt to that list of unforgettable Swiss events. Alpabfahrt ?  Time for Swiss cows to come home; summer vacation on the Alps is over.

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