Swissmas Dance Revealed

Todd demonstrates the ancient Swissmas mountain dance.

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Swissmas 2006

It was our second Christmas in Die Schweiz and this time we had Kathleen's entire family make it here to celebrate with us. After the usual pick-up with a coffee break at the airport and the ceremonial dropping of the bags at our flat, it was off to pick out a Christmas tree. We picked out a fine looking larger-than-life, Charlie Brown model with a strong pine scent. It smelled like Christmas. And after a lovely tram ride with our new shrub, I set about decorating it while our exhausted guests grabbed a little cat nap. Upon their waking and Kathleen's arrival home, it was time for to open our first gifts. So, after poking about under our thin limbed symbol of Christ's birth for a few moments, I pulled out five nicely wrapped packages from "Santa" and passed one out to everyone. They looked the same. Yes, in fact they all were the same. What were they? Slippers! No, not here in Switzerland they're not. Here they are called Hause Schue or in English, house shoes. Whatever you call them, we all slipped them on and felt a little more Swiss then we did just a few moments before. We all commented on how cozy they were, but WATCH OUT, because when you stepped on to the kitchen tiles, wwwoooooooossshhhhh, away you'd go, sending your hands desperately seeking for anything to grab onto. Some might say, "for dear life."

After a day of listening to the iPod purr our holiday selections into our living room, a quick trip to the Lindt factory to satisfy the hankering of our sweet tooth and the usual trek to the Zeughauskeller, we made our first journey to the town of Zug by Zug. Zug = Train in english. Zug is like a mini version of Zürich. We had the town to ourselves and discovered Zug's "secret place." Which I'll keep secret here save for this: If you find yourself in Zug head over to the police station and ask for the "key." That's all you need to know. Zug was well worth the visit. They even have church with stained glass windows that appear to advocate the game of craps.

Then it was time to pack it up and head for the mountains. Destination Grindelwald.

Grindelwald sits in the mountain valley directly below the north face of Eiger mountain. It's beautiful there. The mountain is breathtaking. We settled in there for 3 days and 2 nights. The weather smiled on us the whole time. We took the Jungfraubahn up the the Jungfraujoch. It was stunning but super windy. I mean hold on to your hat, no, hold on to the railing so you don't fly away, windy. We enjoyed great meals together and did some amazing sledding.

On Christmas Eve after dropping a few twosies, we all cleaned up for the Christmas dinner ahead. After donning our Hause Schue's and gathered in our hotel's cozy little restaurant. It was almost completely empty, except for one other family and the family that lives there and runs the place. Plus, two dogs. One the size of a small house. (Small as in 5 bedroom small.) He was so big he could eat a baby in one bite, which we think he may have done. (Ask us in person, it's to painful to share online.) Anyway, we all shared a lovely 5 course meal while we watched the family that lives there open gifts. Awe.

Our final day in Grindelwald was pure magic. After a morning sled run we loaded into a sleigh for a long ride through the valley. As we dashed through the snow we sang carols and tried our best to keep our chins off the floor of the sleigh. The whole ride was right out of dream or a post card.

Swissmas 2006 — unforgettable!

'Tis the season to shop at Harrods.

The beginning of December brought us to London. Kathleen had some business meetings to attend, so we turned it into an opportunity to explore London, catch some great theatre and of course do some Christmas shopping.

The first night we stayed in a nice little hotel with a nice little problem in front of it on the sidewalk. (Can you blame a guy for trying to make a little extra cash around the holidays?)Next next few nights were spent at the Mandarin Oriental overlooking Hype Park across the street from Harvey Nicols and Harrords, this of course was provided by ZFS!

That Saturday we started the day in the giant crowd outside of Harrods. Then we made it inside for some great shopping and eating. Then we shopped Bond Street. Or should I say we window shopped Bond Street. And we thought Zürich was expensive. That evening we were able to secure a couple of tickets for "Moon for the Misbegotten" starring Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic Theatre. It wasn't our favorite production, but seeing Kevin Spacey from about ten feet away was pretty cool.

After the weekend ended, Kathleen headed for her meetings and I went for a walking tour of London. Well, I just started walking actually and kept going for about seven hours. Breaking only for a meal and some wine.

Another great weekend. Nothing like turning business into pleasure!