Christmas, New Years, and a holiday in Gstaad

Why hello again! It’s been a while, and I apologize, but I was having some issues with my Swiss Visa, which are mostly resolved now, so I hope to get back to more regular blog posts! I can't remember quite where I left off, but I think I'll go back to Christmas and do a speedy resume from then until now.

:)

Geri, Flo and I near the last site of the day with a beautiful panoramic view of the valley.

The days leading up to Christmas weekend did not look at all wintery, but when Christmas Eve rolled around we were blessed with buckets of the white stuff. At last a white Christmas! I don't have many pictures from Christmas but here's one of the Christmas tree in the yard. Do you think I've used the word 'Christmas' enough in this paragraph?...

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree..

We worked the morning of Christmas Eve, then spent the rest of the day in a flurry of activity: baking, setting up the Christmas tree, and preparing meat fondue for dinner.

Amazingly delicious squares and chocolate macaroons. Sooooo good :)

They celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve here, which was quite different from back home where we open presents on Christmas day.  Besides that, it wasn't too unfamiliar: the exchange of presents, lots of laughter, and a delicious dinner, although instead of the typical turkey dinner that is always eaten in the Poole household, we had meat fondue! Think of cheese fondue, but instead of cheese there was hot broth, and instead of bread, pieces of meat. So delicious! The set-up is pictured below.

The family around the dinner table on Christmas Eve, minus me. L-R: Liz, Frau Bärtschi (the landlady), Kaspar, Urs, Christine, and Moritz.

The skis and poles that the Breitenmoser's got me! Yay! :) Thanks so much you guys!

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures from New Years.  We all went to a family friend's house along with another family, and spent the last day of 2010 sitting around chatting and playing a fun board game until dinner, then a bunch of us watched a movie before celebrating the New Year! I was a bit unsure of the traditions that take place here, but it didn't seem too different from back home: we went outside and watched the fireworks, or at least listened to them because it was so foggy/cloudy that they were hard to see; and when the clock hit midnight we all cheered, then everybody hugged each other and wished each other the best in the new year, and we went back inside to pop some champagne. After that we finished up the movie we had been watching, then headed home around 1:30. A very pleasant evening and great way to end 2010 and start the new year!

On New Years Day, I joined the Breitenmoser family for a week-long vacation in Gstaad, which is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world. It was SUCH an amazing week. We had gorgeous sunny weather for almost the whole time, and while there was no new snow, the ski trails were still lightyears better than the field I had been skiing on... The days were very relaxing: sleep in till 9 or 10, delicious breakfast, then around noon I would go for a ski for a couple hours, then later on in the afternoon on a few of the days we played this great board game called Catan. Oh yeah, and lots of time to watch the Tour de Ski on TV! It was all in all a wonderful holiday, and here's some pictures from there to give you an idea of the stunning surroundings:

The view from the mountainside above Gstaad

SKI TRAILS! Soooo amazing!

As I said, gorgeous sunny weather almost the whole week!

The Breitenmoser's flat (bottom floor), conveniently located a 2 minute walk from downtown, and a hop, skip and jump away from the ski trails :)

Morning walk with Bali. I think this was the morning that there was supposedly a solar eclipse, but I couldn't see anything unusual, or else didn't know what to look for...

Ski trails weaving down the valley

Scenery doesn't get better than this!

That's all for this post, but look for one coming in the next week or so about my recent trip to Paris!!

-Sonja :)