Tuesday, July 7, 2009

How I drank 50 francs worth of mojitos... otherwise known as Caliente

Um... so as far as photo journalism goes - this time, I was totally rubbish. I will tell you that right now, up front. We are keeping it real here at Swisstory. I mean, I do have a very, VERY valid excuse, so let's just get it over with... Why didn't I get really good shots of Caliente, the Latin festival that took place in Zurich this last weekend? Um, Ahem..., did you read the post title? Yeah. Um, that's why.

So instead of taking photos of all the Latin music tents and food stands (and holy bejezus was there some great food on offer - I'm talking barbecue, steak sandwiches, Thai food, Mexican and all kinds of international fare the likes of which Zurich has never seen - um... can you say tamales? Yeah, it was that good...), I have about a dozen pictures of me taking photos of... myself...

and Andrea... and Jace and Christian... and the mojitos... and more pictures of myself... and before everyone thinks I am a big drunk, let's just get a few things straight. 1) I never drink mixed drinks in Switzerland. Why? Well, because I like to have a positive bank balance, thank you. They are that expensive. They were CHF 12 each and tiny at Caliente (so CHF 50 worth of dixy cup mojitos is not that many really...) but if you got the right booth they were magical and I realized how much I missed them and how much I wished my mint plant would grow and that limes would magically appear from behind my ears and ...

2) it was Caliente. You have to drink mojitos so it was my civic duty. Yes, MY DUTY. So much so that I think below Andrea was telling Christian that I needed another mojito. She is a good friend. She understands the law of the land when it comes to Caliente. ;)

The day was awesome (but expensive... then again, what is not when it comes to special events in Switzerland?!) and pretty low key, which was great, as around 10 pm it was as though everyone in Zurich came out to lambada all over me and you inched from bar to bar and could barely breathe. They need to do a better job of spacing the events out next time - so if you have kids, I say go in the afternoon for the food (can you say ribs?! and perhaps 1 mojito... it's ok, I won't tell..) and get out before the crowds come into town and just after you get a bit of salsa in ya - that's dance I mean, not dip, but you can do both, I said I won't tell.

Did anyone else go and get to experience more than a bit of lime, mint, rum, and summer loving?

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3 comments:

Nik said...

I was there, but like you, succumbed to the lure of the mojito.

And the caipirinha -- well, it is Brazil's national cocktail after all.

And the batida.

I've put a few photos online. You'll note that the last one is the banner for a bar. After that holding the camera steady became a little tricky.

Stephersplatz said...

I remembered how much I like the capioska. :-)
Good times...can't remember the last time I saw a taco either.
I had some good food at the random African booth,too. Can't remember what it was called, but it was basically deep fried pineapple...pretty tasty. :-)

Jessica said...

Thanks, Nik. Your pictures are exactly what I should have done! You captured the theme well and the colors of the day. Well done!

Stephersplatz - I did not see the deep fried pineapple but I wish I had. That sounds delicious!

 

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