On my way to getting fat :)

I hope the title of this post is a joke - since I'll be hiking and doing other physical activities enough to counterbalance the eating...

I am writing this post from my favorite pizza place - probably anywhere in the world. I'm eating pizza with an olive oil base, cheese, artichokes and garlic - no sauce. It's yummy! With it, I'm drinking a sparkling apple juice that is nearly as good as the "appletizer" drink I became addicted to in Cape Town. This place has the best choices - 4 different bases, about 30 different toppings... you get the idea. At lunch time they have pre-made slices of lots of different flavors. This is actually the first place I ever ate here, when I came for my job interview. The decor is great, with creative murals like guys snorkeling in an underwater pizza paradise, and painted chairs with crazy and random themes.

I also had a terrific lunch today - there is a Japanese noodle and sushi place just across from my department. I had a great Bento (lunch "box") with edamame, stir-fried veggies, rice and tofu (each in their own little compartment) and a side of miso soup. There are other great lunch combos that I can't wait to try - and of course I'll try the sushi. There was a Bento place at Ohio State I kept intending to go to but only went to a few times - now is my chance to take advantage of one. This place seems a lot better, too, if only for the fact it is clearly a mom and pop (who barely speak English) who are lovingly running the place, and not some commercial operation.

Other great food places include an all vegetarian place with all sorts of crazy dishes inspired from mexican, asian, and american food. There's also a soup and salad place with 8 varieties of soup on any given day (and when I've been at least 3 are vegetarian). There's also a bar-style place with a great portobello sandwich if I get a craving for french fries :) These are all close walks to my office :) I haven't even mentioned the other decent places, or the places I'm not likely to try... Then there are the restaurants downtown, and the restaurants along the shopping strip... All this in such a small town?