The Chapel Bridge-Kapellbrücke-at the heart of Luzern.
The Lion of Luzern-Löwendenkmal-a monument commemorating the Swiss Guards who gave their lives at the Tuileries Palace in 1792 during the French Revolution.
My sister and I next to a unicorn fountain and a pizza joint-which looked appetizing, but was closed the day after Christmas.
Standing with the enormous swans by the channel.
Regarding pictures, of the few I took on my personal camera-most have yet to be uploaded from another, better camera-here are a few of my activities at Heathrow Airport while I waited for my connecting flight. I was originally only going to have an hour to get from one gate to the other, but with the significant delays due to Seattle's snow storm last week, I had over two leisurely hours in Terminal 5, the newest and most modern at Heathrow. After spritzing myself with Calvin Klein Euphoria from the duty free store as I had been in some state of travel for the last two days I went across the way to my interim destination: the chic little bar in the middle of the terminal-good for relaxation and people watching.
I asked for a Perfect Manhattan and the bartender didn't know what it was. This should have been my first clue that perhaps I should order something different. I figured that drink wouldn't be an issue. He found the recipe in his little book and started to make it-which took him forever and a day. Yes, if the bar is not too busy (and it wasn't) I absolutely expect some time and car to be taken when my drink is being made. This was just shy of ridiculous. He was overly leisurely, watering down my drink by stirring the bitters with ice first for several minutes and then shaking my Manhattan for a minute more. When I finally took a sip, he asked me how I liked it and it was far different than I expected. He had used Scotch Whiskey and not Bourbon Whiskey. It was palatable enough and would do the duty, so I said it was fine despite the lack of Bourbon. He said they didn't carry 
Bourbon and I looked at the duty-free shelf behind me and pointed at the Maker's Mark. "Oh, I don't think our company owns the rights to serve that." But what bar, anywhere doesn't serve any Bourbon? I should have paid right away as it took fifteen minutes from when I said I wanted to pay to a mere three drinks later when he took my card. Maybe he was new. I really wanted to get behind that bar and do things myself!
A selection of Misty of Chincoteague novels by Marguerite Henry from my lengthy "horse phase."
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit, a book I remember quite fondly-not so much the 2002 movie, however.
Aaaand, Help!: I'm Trapped in My Gym Teacher's Body! by Todd Strasser. An interesting concept-kind of kinky. I liked this book as an adolescent. This explains alot of things.
That being said, today's trip to Lucerne, Switzerland was most pleasant and the weather cooperated marvelously-except for the temperature which was hovering above freezing with the wind chill. It is one of the most visited cities in Switzerland and for good reason. It is full of stunning architecture-castles, bridges, bell towers, monuments and stone walls. There's a great new vista behind every building. The bridge in the above photo is the oldest covered bridge in Europe. Being the day after Christmas, there were few people walking the streets. However, also being the day after Christmas, there were not many shops or restaurants open. We weren't going to the city for either particularly, so it was fine except when it came to eat. After looking up and down narrow streets, we found an open restaurant-a modern, sprawling three-floor McDonalds. 
As I said to my dad, menus at McDonalds do differ quite a bit around the world, so it was a cultural experience. I made up for it by having a vanilla Berliner post-"Chicken Mythic" sandwich. I'll share pictures of the whole trip as soon as I can gather them from the couple cameras we used. On our way back we cut across the German border and back into France with a great meal by Mom and a viewing of Iron Man with the family.
After literal days of travel-including cancellations, delays and flight connections, I finally touched down in Zurich, Switzerland around 2:00PM local time on Tuesday, December 23rd. On the way back to my parent's place, we stopped at the local butcher to pick up a ham for Christmas day and two baguettes from the bakery down the street. My dinner, was, naturally, bread and brie. And in fact, that may be what I have for the majority of my meals during my time here. 
There are still a few places in town you can get a cosmopolitan under $5.00 during happy hour. What about $2.00? Believe it or not, Bleu Bistro serves $2.00 cosmos and lemondrops during their happy hours-often bringing them to the table two at a time. You also can't go to Bleu without having their Wasabi Grilled Cheese sandwhich served with three dipping sauces. Bread, cheese and dipping. Yes please.
Here is the first of the lot:
It's hard to determine what the best part about this year's Definitely, Maybe, which I thought was one of those surprise enjoyable and adorable romantic comedies that I don't have a problem confessing I liked. Ryan Reynolds is handsome as always as Will Hayes-though his characterization is a bit bland when all is said and done. Abigail Breslin, in her biggest role at the time since Little Miss Sunshine, is exceptional and given a decent script to play out. But the stand-out, step-out role was that of April Hoffman played by Isla Fisher, who had not been in more than one or two films I had seen prior-and nothing as substantial. She wafts between the sweet, comedic and meaningful.
It is important for the American public and for the markets to stay calm because things are never smooth in congress and to understand that it will get done. That we are going to make sure an emergency package is put together because it is required for us to stabilize the markets and to make sure that when a small business-person wakes up tomorrow morning, he will be able to make payroll. ... I am confident we are going to get there but it's going to be sort of rocky. It's sort of like flying into Denver. You know you're going to land but it's not always fun going over those mountains.
Last night's events paralleled the geek-saturated nature of that former experience in the viewing of two movies of the science-fiction variety and "juice" by which I mean "juice + booze."
As was the desire of our ill and gracious host, we followed Cloverfield by watching another disaster movie, this one entitled The Day After, no not that Day After. It was produced for television in 1983 with an array of actors in the early stages of their career including John Lithgow and Steve Guttenberg-whose character's name I appreciated: Stephen Klein. The Day After is a disturbing look at the possibility of a full on nuclear war with rather graphic depictions of doomsday. 
Paul Leonard Newman“I picture my epitaph: "Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown".”
I cannot imagine any other actress portraying Buffy than Sarah Michelle Gellar. SMG gave those performances her all. In some talkbacks online I recently saw someone suggest Buffy be recast and continue with the girl who played Ruby on Supernatural as Buffy. I cringed...multiple times. I just can't see it nor would I desire it.
I do also have a great affinity for World War II films and stories, which if nothing else, will get me into the theatre for Valkyrie come December or early January. One of the most moving experiences in my life was playing Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, in a stage production of The Diary of Anne Frank in Germany. The cast had the opportunity to meet with Anne Frank's last living relative, Buddy Elias. Props I kept from the show were my wedding ring, a yellow felt Star of David with "Jude" printed on it, and the scarf my "daughter" knitted. That whole period of my life has stuck with me and for good reason. I'm continually drawn to that narrative. Recently, I have enjoyed Intiman's production of The Diary of Anne Frank and before that I was awed by Paul Verhoeven's phenomenal film, Black Book.
The highly anticipated restaurant by the acclaimed chef, Jerry Traunfeld, formerly of The Herb Farm, is now taking reservations. The restaurant, named after Traunfeld’s mother, is an invigorating entry into Seattle’s restaurant scene based on the chef’s experiences with the Indian culinary art of Thali during his travels. The main feature of the restaurant’s menu is a prix-fixe Thali at $32 with ten different dishes not meant to be shared. As the restaurant just opened, Traunfeld and his staff are still working on the development of an à la carte bar menu for those looking for a less intimidating option. The menu blends Indian tradition with Traunfeld’s dynamic use of fresh herbs in his cooking-he even has an herb garden right behind the restaurant. I slipped into Poppy’s “soft” opening on September the 16th to survey the space and meet the staff behind Poppy and made a return visit for dinner a few days later. The restaurant is beautiful. In speaking with Jerry, I saw how much passion he has for Poppy and how invested he has been in its inception and growth-from the food to the custom-made chairs to the lighting fixtures. With an authentic tandoor oven, Poppy is able to make original and delectable dishes and always fresh naan-Indian flatbread. The highlights of my meal there included scrumptious tandoor chicken marinated in a yogurt sauce, creative specialty cocktails-try the “Turkish Delight” an enticing fusion of vodka, orange curacao, maraschino liqueur, lime and pomegranate-and a dessert that is absolutely not to be missed, the “Rocky Rose” ice cream-homemade with real chocolate, geranium/rose essence from the backyard, marshmallows made from scratch and marcona almonds, all served up in a martini glass. If you don’t get anything else-but please do-go for this. Their website.
The Loveless Building, built in the 1930s with gorgeous stone, has housed many restaurants over the years and Olivar appears to be a perfect fit. Translated from “olive grove” Olivar’s menu focuses on small plates born of an investment in locally-sourced, organic, seasonal foods, including chorizo with white beans, rabbit with garlicky pasta, and salmon dressed in Bernaise sauce. The menu is set to change every so often. The classically trained chef Philippe Thomelin grew up with a Catalan grandmother in France, spent many years in Spain, and possesses a love of Italian food. Olivar is next on my list of new restaurants I aim to visit personally as soon as possible. As a couple friends and I walked home from Broadway Grill (which I still like despite its triteness) last night-deciding that it was too late to go bowling at the Garage as intended-we peeked in to the intimate dining area through the windows and perused the menu next to the heavy wood door. Everything looked pristine and inviting. Between Poppy and Olivar-not to mention the new Vivace coffee shop opening with the Brix condominiums-the north end of Broadway gets a well-deserved injection of fine urban dining. Their menu and more.
The bold pine wood that makes up the patio and furniture and the bright blue signage makes this restaurant stand out along 2nd Avenue. Kushibar opened for business just a couple weeks ago next to Tavolata in Belltown. Chef Billy Beach and Umi Sake House owner Steve Hanis are marketing the restaurant as "Japanese street food meets home cooking." Billy has said he is looking forward to mastering grilling and sauces. His menu will be skewer-centric with various meats and fish accompanied by what he calls "the best ramen in town." The restaurant is filled with light, sustainable woods, a year-round outdoor deck-which looked great as I walked by this morning-and an open kitchen that affords guests a view of the incredible grilling. Updated website coming soon.
Valextra MacBook Air Cover, $1,640. Go to Barneys.com. MacBook Air, $1,799. Go to Apple.com. Unbelievable.
Vessel
Chapel
In other drink and restaurant news, I checked out a new bar on Capitol Hill last night called Buck. It is a western-themed bar on Olive Way-where a number of bars old and new have made their new home in the past year. Buck might become one of my new hang outs, a very comfortable space with an all honey-pine interior. I have one friend that works there: broad-shouldered with a goatee, he could definitely pass as a cowboy. The waitress was gorgeous, very nice and dressed in a cute equestrian outfit. I sipped on a Sidecar-brought to me with a “refill” in a shot glass-while I straddled a western saddle on a saddle-rack. Buck has had a soft opening this week and opens officially tomorrow. I can’t wait to go back.
Café Presse
Quinn's Pub 
Txori
Thai Tom