Of course I mean our first Christmas in Switzerland.
We started on Christmas eve with a traditional ... FONDUE (cheese of course - is there any other kind says Richard) with new friends Deborah and Bob from Santa Monica in LA. We met at the famous meeting spot outside Orell Fuessli English book shop on Bahnhofstrasse in Zuerich. Then we had a little wander round the Altstadt looking at the twinkly lights and (total lack of) Christmas crowds - everyone had left town and the shops had shut at 4.00pm so it was very pleasant.
They caught the train home with us and we had a great evening enjoying fondue and good company. Naturally one of the topics was would it be a white Christmas and we all agreed we would rely on the accuracy of the Swiss met office which told us that the hochnebel would be around until January so a white Christmas was out of the question.
On Christmas Day we woke to the hochnebel again and the prospect of a great day with our other new friends Oz Bob and Kiwi-Oz Anita. First, I made the brandy sauce and didn't make the salad because SOMEONE had forgotten to buy the walnuts. Then we packed up the Sprungli champagne truffles (you have to eat them almost immediately because they are made with fresh cream), bottles of Moet and other oenological delights in Richard's red and tartan trundler (I said I wouldn't be seen dead with such an item but Louis Vitton doesn't number this among essential items of luggage). And then set off on the train for our 70 minute journey to Liestal.
Along the way the hills to our left were covered in thick frost which was so thick in places we got the sense of a white Christmas even thought it wasn't really. On our arrival the Australian flag fluttering on the flagpole was a sign we were in the right place. And a copy of Bob's very newly published book What to do when you become the boss was available to inspect. The concept is excellent so I urge you to investigate if you are newly promoted or have newly promoted someone with no previous experience of managing.
As is traditional, Christmas lunch (and the accompanying oenological delights) lasted from when the sun reached the yardarm to after it had set and we had to scurry to lower the flag (-2 degrees outside).
We feasted on capon from Colmar and Christmas pudding made to Annita's grandmother's recipe and champagne truffles until we were as wonderfully stuffed as the capon. And then we rolled down the hill to the train station. As a special Christmas treat we had bought first class tickets so we had an entire carriage to ourselves with place to hang our coats and dissociate ourselves from the tartan trolley (but in any case only the ticket inspector was there to see our luggage).
By the way, I take back my previous statement that I have never had a bad cup of coffee in Switzerland. Railway coffee is not only foul I think it's probably lethal as well. Ughh!
Christmas Day ended with falling asleep on the couch watching the last ever Parkinson. And the Queen's Christmas message was nowhere in sight even though we have BBC and ITV here.
Thank you Bob and Anita for making our first Christmas here very special. It's nice to know that good friends can be made in an instant.
And if you are reading this without pictures look again - coming soon.
We started on Christmas eve with a traditional ... FONDUE (cheese of course - is there any other kind says Richard) with new friends Deborah and Bob from Santa Monica in LA. We met at the famous meeting spot outside Orell Fuessli English book shop on Bahnhofstrasse in Zuerich. Then we had a little wander round the Altstadt looking at the twinkly lights and (total lack of) Christmas crowds - everyone had left town and the shops had shut at 4.00pm so it was very pleasant.
They caught the train home with us and we had a great evening enjoying fondue and good company. Naturally one of the topics was would it be a white Christmas and we all agreed we would rely on the accuracy of the Swiss met office which told us that the hochnebel would be around until January so a white Christmas was out of the question.
On Christmas Day we woke to the hochnebel again and the prospect of a great day with our other new friends Oz Bob and Kiwi-Oz Anita. First, I made the brandy sauce and didn't make the salad because SOMEONE had forgotten to buy the walnuts. Then we packed up the Sprungli champagne truffles (you have to eat them almost immediately because they are made with fresh cream), bottles of Moet and other oenological delights in Richard's red and tartan trundler (I said I wouldn't be seen dead with such an item but Louis Vitton doesn't number this among essential items of luggage). And then set off on the train for our 70 minute journey to Liestal.
Along the way the hills to our left were covered in thick frost which was so thick in places we got the sense of a white Christmas even thought it wasn't really. On our arrival the Australian flag fluttering on the flagpole was a sign we were in the right place. And a copy of Bob's very newly published book What to do when you become the boss was available to inspect. The concept is excellent so I urge you to investigate if you are newly promoted or have newly promoted someone with no previous experience of managing.As is traditional, Christmas lunch (and the accompanying oenological delights) lasted from when the sun reached the yardarm to after it had set and we had to scurry to lower the flag (-2 degrees outside).
We feasted on capon from Colmar and Christmas pudding made to Annita's grandmother's recipe and champagne truffles until we were as wonderfully stuffed as the capon. And then we rolled down the hill to the train station. As a special Christmas treat we had bought first class tickets so we had an entire carriage to ourselves with place to hang our coats and dissociate ourselves from the tartan trolley (but in any case only the ticket inspector was there to see our luggage).By the way, I take back my previous statement that I have never had a bad cup of coffee in Switzerland. Railway coffee is not only foul I think it's probably lethal as well. Ughh!
Christmas Day ended with falling asleep on the couch watching the last ever Parkinson. And the Queen's Christmas message was nowhere in sight even though we have BBC and ITV here.
Thank you Bob and Anita for making our first Christmas here very special. It's nice to know that good friends can be made in an instant.
And if you are reading this without pictures look again - coming soon.
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