Slovenian Sausage!

Back at the ETH, there is this well-known Slovenian chemistry postdoc by the name of Dr. David Sarlah (his last name is missing a funny letter in it that I can't make with my American keyboard). He is supposedly one of the most brilliant chemists ever to grace the planet (seriously, he has an excellent reputation). He does work hard but he also knows how to have a good time. And by good time, I mean sausage. And alcohol. I also love the way he talks; his accent sounds kind of Russian to me. And he has a lot of funny sayings. But that's an aside.

This past weekend David (il)legally imported 10 kilos of salami and prosciutto into Switzerland from Slovenia. Then he invited all his friends to a party to try them all out. They were all delicious. Some of them were homemade by his parents' neighbors. I think it's the one all the way on the right in this picture:

Here's the full spread. Bread, cheese, salami, and a bunch of side salads. Interestingly, all the salads were made by our friend Sebastien who lives in the same apartment we lived in when we first moved to Zürich - the teeny tiny one-room with a kitchen in a closet. So, kudos to him for cooking and putting together all those salads!

This is a Slovenian pre-dinner drink made from blueberries. It had real blueberries floating in it. It was pretty sweet and flavorful with just a little bit of alcohol taste ... just right for me. David said he'd bring me back a bottle and I'm going to hold him to that. I don't think you can find it in Germany.

This is another Slovenian drink, but for after dinner. It's made of unripened green walnuts. Pretty tasty, it reminded me of the Godiva after-dinner drink ... very sweet but with good nutty flavor. The Slovenians make my kind of drinks!

Some of the boys played soccer for a little while. It was super hot so it didn't last very long:

Relaxing on the grass in the sunshine. The guy with the arm cast, Simon 2 (not to be confused with Simon 1), got an arm filled with glass in a lab accident. Many pieces of glass will remain in his arm forever. Finally somebody who is more accident prone than Martin!

More relaxing and chatting. David is the guy in black on the right.