Well, we did it. We officially made it through one whole year in Switzerland. It’s hard to believe that just a year ago we stepped off the plane and were thrust into this place that now feels as comfortable as an old shoe. We’re still discovering new things and learning more each day, and I still walk around town like a wide-eyed child. But as far as expats go, we’re officially seasoned pros.
Happy Saint Nicholas Day!
The Swiss do everything differently, and Christmas is no exception. Instead of Santa Claus, Swiss children look forward to the arrival of Saint Nicholas on December 6th. Saint Nicholas resembles Santa in his red and white garb. However, he usually makes the children recite a poem before handing out oranges and small candies (or he sometimes leaves the treats in their shoes at night). And, he has an evil sidekick known as Schmutzli (“the dirty one”). Schmutzli beats the naughty children or threatens to drag them into the forest. Nice. Dressed in dark hooded garments with a blackened face, he lookslike the grim reaper. That puts the fear into the kids at Christmas time! From my experience with Swiss kids, I’m guessing Schmutzli is a lot busier than St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas’ day also brings Grittibänz – baked breads shaped like little men who are supposed to represent Saint Nick. It’s fun to see the little bread men in all the bakery windows. I think they look like aliens with their beady raisin eyes:
In addition to Saint Nicholas’ Day, the Swiss celebrate Christmas on December 25th. However, the baby Jesus puts the gifts under the tree, not Santa. That’s one strong and busy little baby!
So to summarize, kids: St. Nick leaves oranges in your shoes, Schmutzli comes around to beat and scare you, and a baby sticks the presents under the tree. Got that?
The American commercial Santa Claus does have a presence here in Switzerland. The locals call him Samichlaus and he’s purely ornamental. As in this popular decoration:
Weihnachtsmarkt (christmas market)
One of the best moments at the Basel Christmas market was watching the kids make candles with their friends. Only in Switzerland would there be hot open vats of wax with nary a supervisor or safety gear involved!
I frequented the Basel Christmas markets so often I was worried that the vendors might think I was casing the joint. I needed a change of venue. Just about every town in this part of Europe has some kind of Christmas Market. In Germany, I went to Freiberg where the focus was on food – especially fried dough! Everywhere I turned a yummy looking treat waited – Langos (Hungarian deep fried flatbreads), funnel cakes, sugar covered dough balls filled with apricot jam, and many more unidentifiable and unpronounceable goodies. My favorite was the Kartoffelpuffer (giant potato pancakes) served with a side of garlicky sour cream - on real plates (how civilized!).
The French call their markets Marché de Noël. In Alsace there’s no shortage of adorable places to visit. As if the Alsatian towns didn’t already have enough charm, their markets add festive decorations and brim with holiday treats. I noticed that the merchants setting up their shops were already drinking their warm wine at 9:00 am. I contemplated buying a cup, but I’m proud to say that I exercised some restraint (at least until 11:00 am).
TIME FOR WINE
With winter comes the arrival of warm spiced wine. The Germans and Swiss call it Glühwein. In France, it goes by Vin Chaud. Whatever one calls this beverage, I’m in heaven when I’m drinking it. I have happily spent a good part of December sampling all the different varieties. In Switzerland, Glühwein is often served at food stands. However, in Germany, Glühwein vendors have their own kiosks where they offer wine with extra shots of booze. The Germans take their alcohol very seriously! They even serve a white wine version. Not to be outdone, the French serve a more complex and spicy variety of warm wine (Would you expect anything less from the French?). By the time I got around to sampling Austrian Glühwein, Larry pointed out that I’m addicted. Maybe he’s right. But I can think of no better way to take the chill off during winter.
Travel Time
On our way to a family ski weekend in Austria, we stopped in Bavaria to visit King Ludwig’s fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein. Perched high above in the hills and surrounded by snow-covered trees, the castle was a magical winter wonderland. To complete the fairy tale, we took a horse and carriage ride up to the castle. It was either that or a 45-minute walk through the snow (I told you the Europeans know how to make a buck). How does one top off such an experience? Warm fried dough balls, of course! Even Larry and Nina couldn’t help but be impressed by our latest adventure.
Our day ended at a friendly little hotel in Schwangau where we dined on traditional local food while a Bavarian accordion player (complete with lederhosen) cheerfully played his music. Wake me up, I must be dreaming.
Hitting the Slopes
Larry and Nina are both going away to ski camp this January with their school. In order to get them ready, the family hit the slopes together in Austria. The kids had been begging us for a ski trip and they couldn’t wait to take on the mountain. Then they actually started skiing. Let’s just say that things didn’t turn out quite as they had expected.
Larry came off of his first run down the mountain frustrated that his skills weren’t as good as he remembered them to be. Nina who had never been on skis before didn’t like my teaching skills. “I hate skiing. I want to go home!”
The next day the kids attended ski school. They went from this:
to this in just a few hours:
Now we have two very excited and happy snow bunnies. When I complimented Nina on her amazing progress, with a roll of the eyes she pointed out that the skilled ski instructors made all the difference: “You didn’t tell me about the pizza [technique], Mom!” (Duh)
Even Ken found his groove after a while:
For me, the breathtaking views were worth the effort of putting on my skis. I’m especially happy to report that I returned sans broken bones or torn ACLs. Now that’s something to smile about.
Promises
Last year, two days after we first arrived in Basel, we were fast asleep by 9 pm on New Year’s Eve due to some serious jet lag. I awoke around 11:00 p.m. that evening to the soft whimpers of Nina who had been standing alone at the window for almost two hours, “I’ve been waiting to see the fireworks all night and I can’t see anything.” I briefly contemplated getting my coat on and walking Nina down to the river to see the festivities, but the bitter cold and the fact that I had no idea how to find things in our strange new surroundings kept me rooted inside. The best we could do was catch small flecks of the light show from our top floor window. Nina was mollified for the time being. But she made me promise to take her to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks in 2009.
What a difference a year makes! This December we rang in the New Year with friends at a neighborhood party. After the clock struck twelve we cheered, drank champagne, then walked down to the river to take in the fireworks.
This being Switzerland (where they do everything differently), Basel's fireworks display was held at 12:30 am instead of at midnight. Despite the large crowds, the spectators remained pretty subdued. I’ve never experienced such a quiet public New Year’s celebration. There was a little clapping and cheering at the end, but for the most part the onlookers remained calm and noticeably sober. Maybe they were all just in awe as we were.
What a fitting end to an incredible year.
Excerpts from the Journals of Larry & Nina
Austria was very fun. At least that’s what I thought of it at the end. In the beginning I went skiing with no teacher. So I went down [the mountain] super fast and I fell over…I got so mad I took off my skis in the middle of the slope and tried to walk down the hill…The next day I was much better at skiing. Maybe that’s because I went to ski school. The rest of the trip was way, way, way more fun than the first day.
Larry - December 15, 2009.
During this Christmas break we went to Austria. We went all the way into the Alps!… And of course, like always, we had to go for a stop on the way! This time we went to the Cinderella castle Neuschwanstein! It was all the way on top of a mountain and instead of walking we went on a horse carriage. It was splendid, fantastic, amazing, wonderful and spectacular!
Nina - December 15, 2009.
Thanks for reading and for letting us share our experiences with you.
Glückliches neues Jahr!
[c’est top] what beautiful kids!
Posted by: angela | 01/03/2010 at 05:27 PM