Christmas Eve

We had our second annual Christmas Eve hike and fondue with our neighbors, the Ultes. Our friends, the Elkos, stayed in Switzerland for Christmas this year, so they also joined us. The walk to the farmhouse was beautiful with the trees covered in snow. Many a snowball was thrown by kids and adults alike as we made our way to and from the farmhouse. We enjoyed a 2 ½ hour lunch of some of the best tasting fondue I’ve ever had as well as some dried meats and wine. We squeezed in dessert, too, as they were homemade tarts and pies. It was a very memorable Christmas Eve.

Beer Run

We gave Barb and Terry a night to rest up and then we dove into the week’s itinerary. We headed out the first morning for Germany for two purposes: we needed to replenish our beer supply and we wanted to show Barb a Christmas market. After two hours of driving we reached the German border. Matt always likes crossing the border because it means driving on the Autobahn, where there’s no speed limit. I think Terry enjoyed the speed, too. We only stay on the Autobahn for about 5 minutes and then we exit for our little town, where the beer market is. I think it’s kind of silly for Matt to accelerate that much just to have to slow down a few kilometers later to exit, but he’s a guy and there’s no reasoning with him on this kind of thing.

We had a wonderful lunch at a cozy, little restaurant. It was a good, hearty German meal. Matt and Terry enjoyed the sauerkraut that came with their meal. Barb liked her goulash and spatzle. I ate my entire schnitzel, which was not easy as it was falling off the edges of the plate! The next stop was the Getrankmarkt to return our empty beer bottles and buy some more. Then we headed to Freiburg for the Christmas market and sight-seeing. The market was little disappointing as a lot of the crafts didn’t look handmade. I think I might be turning into a Christmas market snob! We all really enjoyed the cathedral. The Nativity scene was beautiful inside.

Holiday Visitors

We are so excited to have Matt’s family, Barb and Terry, here to share Christmas with us. They arrived on the 22nd, a little later than scheduled because of flight delays, but they made it. They will be staying with us until the 31st. This is Terry’s first trip to Europe, so it will be fun to see him experience it. Barb has been to Switzerland once before to visit, so we’re planning to travel to some other countries that she hasn’t seen. It’s so nice to have family with us to celebrate the holidays.

Weekend in Belgium

A few weeks ago Matt went to Belgium for work. He was there Monday through Thursday and then I flew in on Friday so that we could spend the weekend. I flew into Brussels early in the morning. Then I took the train to Antwerp to meet Matt. I realized that the Swiss have spoiled me with their trains. Rarely are trains late in Switzerland. This was not the case in Belgium. My first train was cancelled and then my connecting train was more than 45 minutes late. I was a little late arriving to Antwerp but it wasn’t a problem because Matt was having his own issues getting to the train station by bus. He had a bus or two pass him by because he didn’t know how to make them stop. I didn’t mind waiting for him as there was plenty to look at (the train station in Antwerp is beautiful) and plenty to do (eat waffles with sugar or waffles with chocolate or waffles with whipped cream).

Our hotel was a block away from the train station and just a few blocks from the city centre. We braved the rain and wind and put in a full day of sight-seeing in Antwerp. We window-shopped at the diamond stores. Matt told me that he bought his one and only diamond, so I was out of luck there, but I made up for it at the chocolate shops. I adored the chocolate in Belgium, especially at the Leonidas shops. I had so much fun picking out the different kinds to fill the little box I bought. Not only did they taste good, but they were all so pretty, too. Matt said that Belgian chocolates are only good for 10 days after you buy them. I’ll have to research a bit as to why that is, but it wasn’t a problem for me as I consumed all mine well within the 10 day period.

The rest of the day we spent walking around Antwerp with some stops along the way, including the Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp and a few pubs. Matt loved the selection of beers. I even found a few that I liked (a cherry-flavored one called Kriek). The highlight for us in Antwerp was the Mexican restaurant where we went for dinner. It didn’t look like much from the outside of the restaurant but after the first sip of our very strong, but very good margarita, we knew it was just what we were looking for. We devoured our food as we have not been able to find any decent Mexican food in Switzerland.

The next day we took the train to Bruges. It was about an hour ride by train. Same kind of weather as the day before: wet, cold and rainy. Bruges is described as a touristy city but I liked it, with its canals meandering through the city and beautiful architecture. It was a busy place, too, as the Christmas shoppers were in full force. Our first stop was a brewery tour at De Halve Maan Brewery. Matt and I agreed that we’ve been on better tours before; however, the beer at the end was worth it. Another stop we made was to the Church of Our Lady to see the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. This statue is said to be the only piece of his work to leave Italy in his lifetime. We also made a few stops that are not worth mentioning, you know the kind that are listed in the guidebook but if you haven’t read about them then you don’t know what you’re looking at. That happened to Matt a few times in Bruges as I had read the book and he hadn’t. We went to the Market Square and the Burg Square, where the Christmas markets were being held. We saw the Belfort bell tower, which dates back to 1300, but decided not to climb it. At this point Matt wasn’t feeling very well. I attributed it to him eating a brat for lunch in under two minutes. He said that wasn’t the reason. By the time we took the train back to Antwerp, he was running a fever. He was sick in bed the rest of the night with the flu. I made the most of our evening in. I got some Belgian French fries with mayo and had a little picnic in bed as I watched a movie and Matt shook with fever next to me. Not a great ending to the weekend but up until Matt got the flu, we had a good time.

O Christmas Tree

Here’s a picture of our tree. It looks a bit like a Charlie Brown tree as the branches are few and far between. All of the trees looked like this at Hornbach (like a Home Depot), so it must be a European thing. No fraser firs to be found in Switzerland. Our tree was really tall, too, so Matt had to buy a saw and take about 30 centimeters off the bottom. That didn’t end well as he cut his finger, deep enough that I wanted to take him to the hospital. He wasn’t having it so we bandaged him up as best we could. We also had a difficult time figuring out the lights for the tree. The lights I bought were connected on both ends to the plug, so it was one big circle of lights. How is that supposed to work?! And there’s no plug to connect the multiple strands together. After several attempts and a few choice words on Matt’s behalf (I think my favorite was ‘The f-ing Swiss. They can’t do anything the easy way.’), I took over the lights. Now I know why my mom always did our lights on the tree. Men don’t have the patience for it. Though our tree buying and decorating experience frazzled us a bit, I think our Charlie Brown tree is perfect.

The Efficient Swiss

I went shopping yesterday and discovered that all of the Christmas merchandise was on sale at several stores. Fifty percent off and it’s only December 15th! No wonder I didn’t find any good deals last year after Christmas. They get rid of all of their stock before the 25th. That’s a little too efficient for me. I feel like they’re rushing the holidays by doing this; however, I did find some good buys.

Our Little Conehead

It’s been a rough week for Millie. We noticed a large bump on her nose after we picked her up from the kennel this weekend. The kennel owner said that nothing unusual happened so we couldn’t figure out why she had such a big welt. On Monday morning it was all bloody as she must have scratched it in the night.

I took her into the vet later that day. The vet thinks that Millie has some kind of fungal infection. This next part is gross and I’ve made two people almost throw up when I’ve told them this, so you’ve been warned: the bump was caused by a huge amount of pus underneath the skin. He said it is often seen in dogs during the spring and summer months when they dig outside and get into rodents’ nests. Not only does she have two antibiotics to take, she also has to wear a cone around her head so she won’t scratch her nose. It must be difficult to adjust to your head in a cone as she’s been running into walls and furniture. The cone makes it hard to sniff the ground, too, which is her favorite activity on walks. Even Matt, who doesn’t like to admit how much he loves her, is giving her some special attention this week. He takes time each night to scratch her itches for her since she can’t reach them herself. Poor Millie!

The Hills Are Alive….

The girls and I took a train from Switzerland to Salzburg, Austria for a weekend trip. It was a long ride (8 ½ hours), but we had stunning views of the Alps and interesting people watching as the 10 guys next to us drank the entire way to Austria. Salzburg is a beautiful city. In addition to the history of the city (it dates back to A.D. 700), we also enjoyed the touristy stuff like the Sound of Music sites. The darn songs from that movie are still in my head from over a week and a half ago. I don’t know how the tour guides remain sane listening to it every day!

Here are a few of my favorite things about Salzburg:
• The Christmas Markets – We were just in time for the Christmas markets. We enjoyed wandering through these at night with all the pretty lights. We enjoyed gluwein and big pretzels as we made our way through the different stands.
• Augustiner Brewery – We took the scenic way – a hiking trail across Salzburg’s little mountain, Monchberg, to the brewery. The girls enjoyed rinsing out their own mugs and getting a beer straight from the barrel. The brewery was founded in 1621 by the Augustinian monks. I decided to eat, rather than drink, my way through the brewery. I was thrilled to find a kasekrainer there. I was on the prowl for this sausage, which literally translates to ‘pus sausage,’ since I had it in Vienna last year. It may sound disgusting but it’s really good with melted cheese in the middle.
• Sound of Music Tour – We enjoyed our ride through Salzburg and the nearby lake area on a minivan with Bob’s Special Tours. I was kind of hoping our tour guide would be dressed in one of the SOM curtain outfits (if you know the movie, you know what I’m talking about), but he wasn’t. We saw Mirabell Gardens which was featured in the SOM, when the kids are on the steps singing, ‘Doe, a deer.’ We also saw the backside of the vonTrapp house and the lake, where Maria and the kids fell out of the boat. Another highlight of the tour was the gazebo from ‘I Am 16 Going on 17’. Unfortunately, it was closed to the public because someone tried to do Liesl’s dance moves on the benches a few years ago and ended up getting hurt. We also stopped at the church where Maria and the captain were married. We were hoping that Cameron Diaz or Tom Cruise might also be taking Bob’s tour that day as they were in town filming a movie that weekend. No such luck.
• Mozart Balls – These little chocolate balls filled with marzipan were everywhere you looked in Salzburg. We tried them all – the ones wrapped in gold foil, the ones wrapped in silver foil, and on and on. Mozart was born in Salzburg, so a lot of things are named after him, including these interesting little chocolate balls.

Thanksgiving in Switzerland

We celebrated Thanksgiving with all of the traditional dishes with the exception of turkey. We had chicken instead. The can of French fried onions for the green bean casserole was a special treat that Darcy had packed in her suitcase. Shannon’s mashed potatoes turned out well despite the weird potatoes we have in Switzerland. My pumpkin pie tasted pretty good, too. We even had the Packer game. It felt just like home as we ate dinner at halftime. It was wonderful to have friends from home to celebrate the special day with us!

Zibele-Märit

My girlfriends, Darcy and Shannon, came for a 10 day visit from the US. We packed a lot of sightseeing and activities into those 10 days! One of the first stops we made was to the Swiss capital of Bern for the annual Zibele-Märit, which is the German name for ‘onion market.’ It’s a one day festival that takes place on the fourth Monday of November each year. The festival dates back to the 1500s. 

The city was packed with people. Confetti battles (throwing confetti at people passing by) proved to be a popular activity with the crowd. The streets had about an inch of confetti covering them. We were also covered in it by the time we left. I’m still finding the darn stuff in my house! A favorite activity for kids seemed to be bonking unsuspecting people on the head with plastic toy hammers. Of the three of us, I got thunked on the head the most (5 times).

Seven hundred vendors filled the streets of Bern selling plaited strings of onions, onion sculptures, crafts, food and drinks. We enjoyed knoblibrot (garlic bread), french onion soup, onion cheese and onion quiches. The beverages were good, too – gluwein (spiced wine served hot), apple cider and hot shots (a shot of coffee mixed with some kind of liquor). I went to bed that night with heartburn. I wonder why….

Thanksgiving Supplies

My friend, Jen, and I made a special trip to the American Store in Nyon last Friday. The town of Nyon is about 20 minutes away by train. The purpose of our trip was for Thanksgiving supplies that cannot be found in the typical Swiss grocery store. Here’s what I bought:

Pumpkin pie filling (29 oz can): 5.45 CHF (Swiss Franc)
Evaporated milk (3-5 fl oz cans at 1.90 each): 5.70 CHF
Stuffing (2 boxes at 3.90 each): 7.80 CHF – The Stove Top brand was double this price
Chicken gravy mix (I know I should make my own, but I’m lazy): 1.95 CHF
A&W root beer (1 can): 2.50 CHF – Not part of Thanksgiving dinner, just a craving I had

That’s a grand total of 23.40 CHF, which is about the same amount in US dollars. Jen saw a 10 lb turkey at the grocery store – they only had the one. It was 50 CHF. Fifty dollars for a 10 lb turkey! That’s insane! We’ll be having chicken for our dinner. I hope it all turns out. I can’t afford to keep making trips to the American Store at these prices.

Cooking Success

I had a success in the kitchen this week. My wild rice soup turned out perfect! It was the right color, the correct consistency and it tasted good. This is a huge improvement from last time when it turned out as a purple glop of a mess (See picture below). Purple because I had to use du riz noir (black rice). I searched high and low for wild rice in the grocery stores in Switzerland but had no luck. I brought back wild rice from the US and it did the trick this time around.

Last year I had a difficult time figuring out what they use here for cornstarch. I was unable to find it in the stores, so I made my own with milk and flour. I guess I didn’t do it quite right as the soup turned into a blob that was too thick to stir. I have since then figured out that ‘maizena’ is the Swiss version of cornstarch. It makes cooking a little easier knowing this. My soup last year went right into the garbage. Bon appétit this time around!

Too Much Reading?

I showed Matt the list of books I’ve read since moving to Switzerland. I keep track of them on Goodreads.com. He thinks I might have too much time on my hands as I’ve read 41 books in a little over a year. He did the math, and that’s about one book every nine days! I can’t help it. I love to read and I have the time and there are so many good books out there.

October

Where did the month of October go?! I’ve had a busy month with trips to Scotland and the US, so I’m behind on my blogging.

More Visitors

My dear friend, Anne, and her sister, Molly, were our next visitors. They started their trip with a long weekend in Germany for a family wedding. They had some crazy stories (and video) from that experience, most times involving beer. Then they took a train to see us in Switzerland. We had a great week with lots of sightseeing. We squeezed in a girls’ overnight to Aosta, Italy, too. I drove to Italy, which was a little scary because of the windy roads and border patrols, but it went okay with the exception of one screw up at the France border (I panicked and drove down a one way going the wrong direction – oops). It was a 2 ½ hour drive with beautiful views of the Alps. This was a good thing as the girls were unable to see the mountains from Morges because of a haze that hung over the lake all week. Mont Blanc provided a stunning background. Then I drove us through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Thirty-three Franc and 15 minutes later, we were in Italy!

We’d heard mixed things about Aosta as one of my guidebooks said that it was very touristy; however, some of our neighbors had been there and really enjoyed their stay. We decided to give it a try ourselves and we were not disappointed. Aosta is a beautiful, sleepy, little town with amazing Roman ruins dating back to the Middle Ages. The shopping was great. Cheap, too, but everything seems inexpensive after living in Switzerland. That can be a dangerous thing.

The highlight of Aosta was the food. We ate our way through town with stops for gelato and pizza. Then we ate a late dinner (we didn’t get back to the hotel until midnight from dinner). The food and wine lived up to our expectations of what Italian food would be. We found the following phrase in our guidebook to describe our meal: “It was so good I licked my mustache.” That had us laughing pretty hard – I think the bottle of wine and shot of limoncello may have made that more entertaining at the time.

Laura’s Visit

We accomplished a lot in Laura’s four day visit. The thing I enjoyed most was her desire to shop. Matt has no interest in shopping unless it’s at Hornbach (the Swiss version of Home Depot – same colors and everything – I’m very consistent, I don’t like Home Depot or Hornbach), so I took full advantage of Laura’s interest in shopping! The highlight for me was the market in Divonne, France. I’ve been to the market before but going with a girlfriend rather than my husband was a completely new experience. Laura and I made it through the entire market – usually I make it through half with Matt before he’s maxed out with the crowds. We stopped to look at jewelry, clothes, shoes and all that girl stuff that Matt doesn’t even notice. The only problem was that I couldn’t remember how much the Euro is worth compared to the US dollar, but it wasn’t a problem. We convinced ourselves we were getting some great bargains regardless of the conversion rate. I don’t have a picture of us shopping, so here’s a picture from a hike we took in Grindelwald.

Visitors

We have our next visitor coming tomorrow! My friend, Laura, from book club decided she needed a mini-vacation away, so she’ll be hanging out with us for a few days. We’re so glad she picked Switzerland to get her rest and relaxation (She deserves it – she has three boys under the age of 6!).

La Fete du Raisin

Matt and I ventured out to the little town of Fechy on Saturday for a festival. The purpose of the fete was to celebrate the wines of this region. It was a beautiful fall day, a little windy but the sun was shining as we meandered through the town. After seeing people with a little pouch around their neck to hold their wine glass, we decided to purchase one, too. For 12 CHF (Swiss Franc) we sampled wine after wine after wine. When we made it through the festival, we turned around and did it again! We also sampled the different kinds of grapes they use to make the wine.

The only disappointment of the day was the lack of food at the festival. We were on the prowl for a Malakoff, which is a popular food item in this region. I was craving one ever since I read a description of it: a deep fried cheese ball, crispy on the outside and drooly Gruyere cheese on the inside. It sounds like something straight out of the Minnesota State Fair (minus the stick)!
   
Well, we were unable to find the Malakoff. We also didn’t get a plate of French fries – they stopped making them from 12 – 3:30?! And the hamburger line was way too slow, so no food to soak up all that wine.

Birthday Boy

Matt’s big 4-0 is this week, so last Saturday we had a good ol’ BBQ at the park to celebrate. Our neighbor (and Matt’s drinking partner), Didi, turns 40 the day before Matt, so we made it a joint party. We had nearly 40 people join us for the big event. It turned out to be a beautiful day with Lac Leman dotted with sailboats and the Alps looming in the background.
With the boys manning the grills, there was no shortage of sausages, ribs or kabobs. We also had nice, cold beverages thanks to our neighbor, Mark, who found probably the only ice vendor in Switzerland. We had 100 kg of ice delivered to the apartment building on the morning of the party. (It was supposed to be delivered to the park in the afternoon, but I guess if you’re the only guy selling ice in the country, you can deliver it wherever and whenever you want!). )Our friend, Jen, made a special cake for the guys. It was in the shape of a beer mug (She knows them so well!). My American desserts – rice krispie treats and brownies – were a hit, too.
Guests were very generous and brought the birthday boys gifts. A highlight for Matt were the Cuban cigars from the Elko family. After he opened them up, Sam Elko (age 5) yelled ‘smokers.’ A fun day was had by all! Maybe a little too much fun for some as Matt had a hard time getting out of bed the next morning because of a headache. (Point/counterpoint - I was around smoke that evening which gave me a headache....all the next day. - Matt

French Lessons

With our formal lessons done as of July, I’ve been getting creative with how to study French. Recently I’ve been watching DVDs with French subtitles. My friend, Suzie, gave me the first season of the TV show, Entourage, so that’s what I’ve been using as my daily “French lesson.” If you’re familiar with the show, you know that there’s some foul language in it. I think the only thing that has improved with my new method of studying is my knowledge of French swear words. Oh, well. At least I’ll now know if someone says something rude to me in French.

Weekend in Zermatt

Matt and I spent the weekend in Zermatt. It’s about a 2 ½ hour drive from our town. The main attraction there is the Matterhorn, which is absolutely stunning to see in person. We’ve seen a lot of mountains while in Switzerland, so I wasn’t sure this one would be any different, but it was. The town of Zermatt is a little on the touristy-side, but we really liked it. It was so quiet there. The only sound we could hear at night was the nearby river. Cars are not allowed in town, so you need to park in a nearby town and take the train or a taxi. Everyone gets around by foot, bike or over-sized golf cart in town. They use the golf carts like a taxi or bus. They kind of sneak up on you as they are very quiet, so we considered the weekend a success as neither of us got pegged by one. As we were walking through Zermatt on one of the nights, we had a special treat – a trio of alphorn players. I’ve been waiting to see these guys and there they were playing on the street. They looked just like the ones in the Ricola cough drop commercials.

Matt found a beautiful hotel in town that opened last month. We really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Phoenix. The owner was very friendly and helpful and our room had a nice view of the Matterhorn. Here’s the website if you want to check it out: http://www.hotelphoenix.ch

We spent Saturday and Sunday hiking around the area. There are several different ways to get up to see the Matterhorn and other surrounding mountains and glaciers. On Saturday we took an underground funicular up to a viewing area. We took pictures of the Matterhorn’s reflection in a glacial lake right along with the Japanese tourists. How do they always know where the best photo opportunites are? Then we hiked over to a town and caught a train up to another viewing area. We hiked back down to a different town for lunch – sausage filled with cheese and rosti (a Swiss speciality that is a lot like hashbrowns). We went for a three hour hike on Sunday as well. We had beautiful views of the Matterhorn the entire time as our trail meandered through the Swiss countryside.

Millie made the trip to Zermatt, too. I love this take your dog anywhere thing in Europe. She thoroughly enjoyed the hiking, especially chasing marmots. She was on the hunt for the little critters (they look a lot like overgrown prairie dogs to me).

Hot!

We’ve had a very hot week in Switzerland. It’s 35 degrees Celsius right now at 19h00 (7 p.m.), which converts to 95 degrees in Fahrenheit. The humidity is 38%. (I’m not sure exactly what that means, all I know is that it’s hot!) This kind of weather makes our apartment on the top floor feel like an oven, and we don’t have air conditioning. No air conditioning at work, either, so we get pretty sweaty and stay that way all day. I made a trip to the beach on Monday with my friend, Jen, and her three kids in an attempt to stay cool. It helped some. Matt bought a fan to use at work in his attempt to stay cool since they don’t have AC in his office. We’re headed to Zermatt this weekend to see the Matterhorn (described as the most recognizable mountain on the planet). It should be cooler temps there, so we’re looking forward to it after the heat this week.

Beer Run

Matt and I made a beer run to Germany last Saturday. Matt said we needed more beer because I have some girlfriends visiting soon. Not sure if I completely believe that one, but okay. Our drive there was uneventful. It took a little over two hours. We went to a small town just over the Swiss border and had a nice lunch in a little village. Matt had Rinder-something or other and I had Schwein-something or other for lunch. Ah, the joys of not knowing a language. I knew my meal had something to do with pork but that’s all I knew for sure. Matt ended up with the better of the two lunches. His entrée was beef.

After lunch we headed to the Getrunkmarkt. That’s where they sell the beer. You make your own cases, so you can mix and match different kinds of beer. It’s just like the variety packs of pop that my dad used to make for me in college. Matt enjoyed himself at the Getrunkmarkt and had a hard time deciding which beers to buy. I thought it was interesting that they had a little girl about eight or nine years old running the cash register. She knew her beers, too. I guess they train them young in Deutschland. We weren’t so lucky with our drive back home. We sat in traffic for quite a while to get over the border, which was our own fault. Our GPS (we named her Brenda after Matt’s high school girlfriend) told us to go a different way but we ignored her. It took us an extra hour to get home. The lesson learned: sometimes you should listen to the old girlfriend and not the wife.

Home Sweet Home

Matt and I had a wonderful time with family and friends while home in the US. Matt returned to Switzerland at the end of July, and I stayed in Minnesota for an extra week and a half. We were busy, busy while home, but it was all fun. We came back exhausted from all of the activities. Not as exhausted as Millie, though. She did not make the big trip to the US, but instead spent her time at a dog kennel near Lausanne. It was her and 20 other dogs in Monsieur Fahrni’s house. (His house!) Matt said she slept for two full days after he picked her up because she was so tired. She didn’t have the energy to even go potty. She didn’t pee for 22 hours according to a frustrated Matt after he picked her up, so he came home during his lunch hour to try to get her to pee. Twenty two hours! That’s longer than she had to hold it when she flew over to Switzerland last year!

Matt and I were very strategic about packing for the trip. We came home with almost empty suitcases so that we could stock up on supplies: spices, brown sugar, chocolate chips, press n’ seal saran wrap, taco and chili seasonings, Frank’s red hot sauce, frosting, etc. We also did quite a bit of clothes shopping. Clothes in the US were inexpensive compared to what we pay here. We were able to catch up on all of the foods we missed, too: pizza at DeMoris and Roadhouse, Mexican food, fast food, steaks, corn on the cob, hamburgers and more hamburgers.

I had a chance to meet new babies while home: Jemma’s son, Keane, Amy’s little girl, Ingrid and Anne’s little guy, Marty. I even had a chance to see our Switzerland friends, Jen and Dan, who were visiting Dan’s family in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

We had a great trip home! Matt and I are so thankful for the love and support we get from all of our family and friends.

Shhhh!

This is what I wanted to say to the two, twenty-something year old girls talking loudly on the train this morning. I was looking forward to my usual quiet ride, and I didn’t get it.

This was odd for two reasons. First, someone was talking loudly. This doesn’t happen very often on Swiss public transportation. A typical ride on the train or bus usually consists of murmurs of French and German in the background. You can just barely make out the words that are being said. The other thing that made this odd was that I found myself irritated by the conversation. Aside from the obvious reason that they were talking loudly, I was also able to understand what they were saying. No, my French hasn’t improved that much. Their conversation was in English. And the girls were clearly American by the accent.

It wasn’t just me who noticed the loud talkers. Other passengers on the train had also taken notice of them. I wanted to shush them. I thought about moving to a different seat. I came close to giving them the evil eye. That’s how much this bothered me! I guess the Swiss way of life is rubbing off on me.
My train ride back home was better. No loud talkers on that ride.

Something in Common

Now that the weather has turned warm here –it’s been in the mid to high 80's all week – I’ve discovered that the Swiss and I have something in common – our love of ice cream! They are as passionate about ice cream as I am! As soon as the nice weather came around, several ice cream stands popped up along the lake path in our town. They’ve got all kinds of yummy treats and no shortage of customers. With an ice cream cone in my hand, I think I blend in and look a bit Swiss for once.

A Special Treat

My neighbor, Suzie, has a subscription to People magazine. She is kind enough to share them with all of us expats when she’s done. It’s a happy day when I get one. Her husband came over tonight to have a drink with Matt, and he didn’t come empty handed. He brought a few beers and four People magazines with him! Let the boys drink. I’ve got some reading to do.

Television

Our TV time is pretty limited over here because the programs are mostly in French or German. Every once in a while we’ll be surprised and find a show that’s in English, like Two and a Half Men (called Mon Oncle Charlie) or That 70’s Show. We’ve started to watch television shows on DVD to help with this. Most of my expat friends are watching trendy new shows like 24, and Lost, with their husbands. Not the case at the McCarthy household. I get to watch something from the early 80's with my husband. Matt recently received a gift from his mother – the first two seasons of Magnum PI. You know, the one with Tom Selleck – bushy mustache, Hawaiian shirts, fast cars and lots of women in bikinis. He’s watched two episodes so far. That’s two hours down and 44 more to go!

An Afternoon in Lausanne

My friend, Andrea, and I went into Lausanne for the afternoon. It’s about a 10 minute train ride from Morges. We had two stops on our agenda – an English book store and Starbucks. I loved the book store. It’s so nice to be around books with titles that I can actually read! Our visit to Starbucks was just as good. I had a chai iced tea latte. It cost me seven francs for the smallest size, which is equivalent to 6.50 US dollars. A little on the expensive side but well worth it. We stopped to see the Cathedrale Notre-Dame, too, since it was on our way. I read that it’s the biggest church in Switzerland as it’s more than 300 feet long. I also read that a night watchman continues to call out the hour at the top of the tower (225 steps up) from 10:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. Lausanne is the last town in Switzerland to continue the watchman tradition (according to my Rick Steves’ guide book).

Sausage in Switzerland

Matt loves to go to the market to buy garlic sausage on Saturdays. He has a hard time ordering in French, so he will often times stand there with his hands spread wide open to indicate how much he wants. He gets some serious sausage, like two or more feet at one time. While my parents were here visiting, we took them to the market and Matt demonstrated his ordering skills.

After returning from their vacation, my mom was explaining all this to my 4-year old niece, Rowan. My sister, Lisa, was out of the room and did not hear the story. The other day when Lisa put Rowan's breakfast sausage on her plate, Rowan said, "Matt's sausage is bigger than that." When Lisa asked how Rowan knew this, she said, "Grandma told me." I wish I could have seen my sister's face! Lisa immediately called me and asked how our mom knew the size of my husband's sausage. Hee hee.

Sometimes a Girl Just Needs a Burger

It’s been five months since I’ve last enjoyed a cheeseburger. The hamburger here tastes different, so we’ve given up the search for a good burger. We’ve come to terms with it being just one of those things that’s not the same as back home. A burger from McDonald’s is the one exception. So, my friend, Jen, and I ventured out to McDonald’s today for lunch. We struggled to order our food the last time we tried this. I thought that this time around it would be easier since I know more French than I did five months ago. Guess I was feeling a little too confident. The McDonald’s employee had no idea what I was trying to say when I ordered my value meal. I even got an eye roll from the girl. Some of the simplest things can be so darn difficult here! It was worth the pain though. I enjoyed my cheeseburger.

Weekend Hike

Matt and I ventured out for a walk on Saturday. Who knew there was a beautiful chateau so close to our apartment?! These are some of the things we saw on our hike... This is something we heard on our hike...

Twilight in Switzerland

Last weekend I had my girlfriends over to watch the chick flick, Twilight. For those of you who are not familiar with this book (and now movie), it’s a young adult love story with a vampire (Edward) as the lead character. It’s not just for teens. Thirty-something year old women like it, too! A friend’s parents brought the DVD with them from the States when they came for a visit. It was a fun evening with appetizers, wine, chocolate, vampires and good friends. (Matt says this blog entry is boring but I think our readers need to know that we stay home sometimes and aren’t always off in exotic places!)

Spring!

Spring has sprung in Switzerland. Everywhere you look it’s green. Our town is known for their tulip festival. There are over 100,000 tulips, hyacinths and daffodils in just one park. Well, I think that’s what the sign said. It was all in French, so I can’t be completely sure. Here are just a few pictures of the park. Even Matt said the flowers were pretty. (From Matt: I believe Sandra said “They’re pretty, aren’t they?”, and I said “Yes.” I didn’t know what she was talking about but figured if I agreed with her I wouldn’t get a long follow-up conversation. All the guys out there understand.)

Busy, busy!

Sorry about the lack of blogging. We’ve been keeping busy. Matt and I traveled to Italy for a week in March. Loved it! It was our honeymoon. Only a year late. We stayed in an apartment on the coast and drove all over the Tuscany region. Then our visitors started to come. My friend, Darcy was our first visitor. She came for a week. Not only did we tour around Switzerland, but we also went to Paris for two days. It’s a beautiful city. I hope to go back and spend more time there since it’s only a four hour train ride. Next, my parents and sister, Andrea, came for a week. We had a great week with beaucoup sightseeing. We were active, too, as we did some hiking in the mountains and rented bikes from the train station. In between our visitors, I traveled to Budapest for a long weekend with some girlfriends. The highlight was the outdoor bath. Very relaxing and some good people watching (lots of men in speedos that maybe shouldn’t have been)!

Le Rapport de Bière (The Beer Report), Vol. 2

Remember when I said I would run a somewhat regular update of the various brews? Well, twice every four months is what I really meant. I figured I better get this report done now that I’m back from my Germany beer run. In honor of a successful trip, I’m going to focus on a few beers from there.

Augustiner Helles – the brewery is located in Munich and was founded in 1328 (Munich’s oldest brewery). This is one of their most popular beers, a light lager – light by German terms anyway at 5.2% alcohol. It’s very smooth and full-flavored, and my favorite lager so far. (Step aside, Budvar!) I like how the Germans use the word “helles” to describe a beer – it probably describes the morning after as well.

Lowenbrau Original – “here’s to good friends”….and a pretty good lager beer. This is brewed in Munich, Germany and dates back to 1383. It has a full, malty flavor and the good news is that we won’t run out of it because they sell it here in Switzerland. More than a few cans of this have been chilled on the terrace over the past few months.

Erdinger – this is an excellent Weißbiers (white/wheat beer). It’s very smooth and full-flavored. Founded in 1886 in Erding, Gmbh, it’s one of the world’s largest wheat beer breweries. On our beer run I bought four Erdinger glasses – one of the better investments I’ve made since they’re holding their value better than any of my stocks. They make another beer called Kristallklar, which is a filtered wheat beer – it’s more of a “warm weather” beer that is served in the glass with a slice of lemon. They’re good, but I think I’ll save them for the hot summer days on our terrace.

Wiehenstephaner Hefe Weissbeer - “Oh, sweet nectar of life!” That was my first reaction when I had my first one of these. I kind of liked it. This is one of my favorites. I may drive back to Germany just to get more of this. The Benedictine monks of this Bavarian brewery began brewing beer in 1040. After almost 1,000 years they’re close to achieving brewing perfection. Way to go monks – thanks for the sacrifice! No chicks for you, but at least you’ve got beer. (That’s been the life motto of a few of my friends).

Quark

I told Matt that he should blog about his beer run to Germany last weekend. People would find that much more exciting than what I’m going to blog about. But this week was busy for him at work, so instead you get to read what I have to say about quark. It’s our new favorite food here. Matt’s the one that found it at the grocery store. He kept telling me it was yogurt even though it wasn‘t in that section of the store...which had me a little worried at first (you never know what you're getting here...e.g., cheval=horsemeat). It’s something different. It’s made out of curd cheese and it’s good for you.

Quark is a cross between cream cheese and cottage cheese. Don’t let the cottage cheese thing scare you off. Matt can’t stand cottage cheese but he loves this stuff. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_cheese if you’re really curious about it. Quark has a creamy texture and comes in a variety of fruit flavors. Our fruit of choice is strawberry. You put a little bit of muesli (granola) in it and it’s a yummy breakfast. Even Millie enjoys a little quark in the morning. She sits by Matt’s feet and drools until he’s done and then she gets to lick the container clean.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping in Switzerland was overwhelming at first with the different foods and the labels written in a foreign language (usually French and German, sometimes Italian, too). The price of food was also a shock and still is at times, but I’m getting used to it. Here’s a website to get an idea of food prices in Switzerland: www.leshop.ch. Scroll down to the bottom to see prices. Notice that these are sale prices!

The shopping is getting easier now that I know my way around the local grocery stores. I mostly shop at the Coop and Migros. I’m still not quite sure how to pronounce the first one. Some people pronounce it like a coop for chickens. Other’s pronounce it so that it rhymes with “hope.” I think the pronunciation reflects which region of Switzerland you’re from. The locals can tell that I’m not from any part of Switzerland by the way I butcher the name. I miss straight-forward names like “Cub” and “Rainbow.”

The Migros is the other grocery store in town. You can tell how big the Migros store is by how many M’s are on the outside of it. One M is a small store. It goes up to 3 M’s, which means really big, like Super Target big. Ahhh, I miss Target. You can’t do all your shopping at just the Coop or just the Migros. They don’t carry the same products. So, I have to go to Migros to get cheddar cheese because the Coop doesn’t carry it. Then I go to the Coop to get alcohol because the Migros doesn’t have any. I spend a lot of time chasing between the Coop and Migros during the week!

Some Serious Sledding

Last weekend we went to Les Diablerets to sled down the side of a mountain. We went with another American couple and their three kids. This was unlike any sledding we’ve ever done back home.

After renting the sleds and getting the instructions on how to use them, we hopped on the chairlift. Our friend, Dan, didn’t know to put the arm rest down on his chair lift, so he and his kids were hanging on for dear life as they rode up the lift. The trail was 7 kilometers long and it took about 30 minutes to get to the bottom.

My first run wasn’t pretty as I crashed into the snow wall several times. My steering really improved by the second time. I’m thinking I might try out for the Switzerland luge team for the 2010 Olympics. That would be a way to fill my time over here.

Mon echelle n’est pas cassee

That’s the latest phrase I’ve learned in French from our computer program. It means, “My ladder is not broken.” I wonder if I’ll ever use it?! We are switching to a new French teacher because we’ve had only two classes since the end of November. I don’t think she liked getting up early to see us. I might try to work the ladder comment in to our first lesson with the new teacher. That should impress him.

Sick of the Swiss

For your viewing pleasure...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2XTuc6i1Uo

Tres Bien Francais

I had a proud moment today on a walk with Millie. Swiss dog owners are usually pretty friendly and will talk to other dog owners. Due to my limited language skills, these conversations usually consist of me nodding a lot and smiling as I’m clueless to what they’re saying. Today we met a woman and her dog on our walk. As the dogs were busy sniffing one another, the woman and I had a very, very brief conversation in French. Basically it consisted of saying “hello” and then me answering her question (How old is your dog?). I answered with a complete sentence. Sofia, our instructor, would have been so proud. The woman then said, “Tres bien francais” which means very good French and gave me a thumbs up sign. At least I think that’s what she said! She was being very kind as my French does not sound anything like what they speak here, but it’s a step in the right direction.