fresh chocolate truffles

On route to Boston from Geneva for the big HIV meeting (CROI) - I stopped in Zurich. And there, I picked up some fresh chocolate truffles at Zurich International Airport (they literally had made them that day and have to be consumed within 4 days).

Insanely delicious.

massacre in Distomo, Greece - case revisited

Greek civilians look on as the Germany army makes its way to Thessaloniki in April 1941. Photograph: Getty

Interesting article in today's Guardian on the WWII massacre by Nazis in the village of Distomo. The international legal context of the current Greek government's efforts to support the case for compensation is expressed in a great piece drafted by my friend - Antonios Tzanakopoulos, who's a lecturer in Public International Law at the U. of Glasgow in Scotland. Please take the time to read both on this Sunday. Bon journée.

$50, I just spent on Swiss cheeses today

Tomme de Bruson Croûte Fleur. Le Gruyère AOC. Toudeille Midi-Pyrénées. Raclette Valdor. Tomme à la farce truffée. I am a very happy man.

au revoir Mubarak

I love this quote I saw saw by the New Yorker's David Remnick.

To watch Hosni Mubarak today in his late-night speech in Cairo, as he used every means of rhetorical deflection to delay his inevitable end, was to watch a man so deluded, so deaf to the demands of history, that he was incapable of hearing an entire people screaming in his ear. And it is almost always that way: the dictator, coddled in his isolation, surrounded by satraps and servants, immersed in his own sense of essential-ness, is the last to know.

lovely Geneva

Oh how much I love this city. And my new job. I am making an effort to speak French (very experimental, but I think those that are Francophones appreciate the effort).

Food is insanely expensive. NYC is cheap compared to Geneva. That said, I think there are ways of finding reasonably priced food products, particularly in ethnic shops (huge fan). As in Les Pâquis (my favourite section of town). Today I went for my first walk around the lake (stunning vistas, freakin' gorgeous day) - and at some point, I stumbled upon a little Portuguese shop where else but in Pâquis. I discovered this olive oil that my friend Fernandes from Oxford used in her kitchen. I, naturally, argued in favour of the superiority of olive oil from my mother's village outside of Kalamata. I got all nostalgic about my Oxford days and ridiculously wonderful friends (whom I miss dearly) when I saw the label.

On a final note, I discovered a lovely cafe in Pâquis - Café Art’s. It had vibe, good food, GREAT cappuccino, and funky folks. I think that will be my hangout. It's open late. Like everything back in Athens.

Bon weekend.