CH is for Chocolate: Individually Wrapped Tastes of Switzerland

Vegetable gardens for rent by the square meter. Daredevil sledding in the shadow of the Matterhorn. A plot of woods named "Amerika." A secret passage in a centuries-old barn. These are some of the images Mary Ann Miller uncovers in this fresh collection of travel writing. Fluent in German and armed with a brand new B.A. degree in International Studies and English Literature, Miller embarks on a quest to discover Switzerland and share her adventures through a weekly newspaper column. Once she arrives in the "Confederatio Helvetica" she faces indecipherable local dialects and Bern's inexplicable obsession with bears. Her camera lens zooms from the precision-stacked woodpiles lining mountain chalets to graffiti sprayed on train station walls. She juxtaposes visits to the hideouts and prison chambers of the ancestors of the Amish and Mennonites with descriptions of an annual festival dedicated to consuming 45 tons of onions. Drinking straight from the city fountains of Bern, Miller weaves a picture of Switzerland more vibrant than simple postcard snapshots.