to go from one extreme to another
Sarah asked me to post photos of my meals. Unfortunately, the meals worth documenting aren't particularly photogenic. My iPhone simply refuses to capture the beauty of a bubbling pot of cheese.
But here it is anyway: a vat of fondue cheese, indistinguishable from nacho cheese, lemon soup, and other opaque, yellowish fluids.
This plain-looking thing set my roommate and I back a whopping chf 50. Then you have to add in our carafe de vin blanc, and we got ourselves each a $40 meal that consisted merely of cheese, bread, and wine.
I was pretty appalled too.
Again, I must insert that this is commonplace here.
Here's a travel tip, by the way: if you're planning to split a meal with a friend in Switzerland, make sure that the menu doesn't read "par personne," indicating that the price listed is per person. You're better off buying two pots of fondue. But really, you're best off pretending to order separate meals (maybe order something small, like a soup, while your partner orders the actual course) and sneaking bites when the waiter isn't watching. It's a very, very tricky system to overcome.
To offset these lavish meals, I buy groceries and eat pithy meals of yogurt and fruit. (So far nectarines and bananas are the cheapest I've spotted at Migros, the Safeway equivalent here.)
When I'm feeling exceptionally hungry and frugal, I let my imagination run loose and create meals out of the few ingredients I have in stock.
Par exemple, pictured below is an arugula salad, topped with ripped chunks of brie, crushed airplane pretzels, and a sliced hard boiled egg.
This doesn't come naturally to me, I confess. It took years of training by living on a student budget and shopping only at Trader Joe's to perfect the art of whipping up meals out of rubbish and leftovers.
It's tricky to work with no salt, pepper, or any other herbs. And butter instead of oil. But the challenge is exciting.
My groceries cost me about $20 and stretched over maybe five meals. This is a real win. After all, one can't be expected to fork over 60 dollars for a meal every day.
Sarah asked me to post photos of my meals. Unfortunately, the meals worth documenting aren't particularly photogenic. My iPhone simply refuses to capture the beauty of a bubbling pot of cheese.
But here it is anyway: a vat of fondue cheese, indistinguishable from nacho cheese, lemon soup, and other opaque, yellowish fluids.
This plain-looking thing set my roommate and I back a whopping chf 50. Then you have to add in our carafe de vin blanc, and we got ourselves each a $40 meal that consisted merely of cheese, bread, and wine.
I was pretty appalled too.
Again, I must insert that this is commonplace here.
Here's a travel tip, by the way: if you're planning to split a meal with a friend in Switzerland, make sure that the menu doesn't read "par personne," indicating that the price listed is per person. You're better off buying two pots of fondue. But really, you're best off pretending to order separate meals (maybe order something small, like a soup, while your partner orders the actual course) and sneaking bites when the waiter isn't watching. It's a very, very tricky system to overcome.
To offset these lavish meals, I buy groceries and eat pithy meals of yogurt and fruit. (So far nectarines and bananas are the cheapest I've spotted at Migros, the Safeway equivalent here.)
When I'm feeling exceptionally hungry and frugal, I let my imagination run loose and create meals out of the few ingredients I have in stock.
Par exemple, pictured below is an arugula salad, topped with ripped chunks of brie, crushed airplane pretzels, and a sliced hard boiled egg.
This doesn't come naturally to me, I confess. It took years of training by living on a student budget and shopping only at Trader Joe's to perfect the art of whipping up meals out of rubbish and leftovers.
It's tricky to work with no salt, pepper, or any other herbs. And butter instead of oil. But the challenge is exciting.
My groceries cost me about $20 and stretched over maybe five meals. This is a real win. After all, one can't be expected to fork over 60 dollars for a meal every day.
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