Our First Christmas in Europe

We are very excited to report on our first Christmas in Europe!  We knew it would be hard to be so far away from our friends and family but we were eager to explore and learn about Christmas traditions on the Continent.  One of the things we really wanted for the "real" European holiday experience was a White Christmas. It had not snowed in Basel for a few weeks, so we were pleasantly surprised to look outside our window shortly after we woke up on Christmas Eve to see snowflakes, and the action did not stop for 36 hours.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, we took a walk down to the Rhein.  Everything looks so beautiful when it is covered with snow!  We even let Austin off leash at this little park, because we figured the Swiss authorities would be in the Christmas spirit and allow us to ignore the "no dog" signs.  Aussie even played with another off leash dog whose owner we could not communicate with.  That's okay though, dogs are a universal language.

One of the biggest traditions here for the holidays is Glühwein.  This is basically what the English call mulled wine.  You take some cheap red wine (preferably Don Julio!) and then add some water, sugar, honey, cloves, oranges, cinnamon, and lemon juice.  You let it stew for at least an hour (the longer the better and don't you dare let it boil!) and then you ladle it out, put a splash of spiced rum on top and enjoy!

According to Veronica, this is the only receptacle worthy of the delectable beverage of Glühwein.  In order to acquire this mug, we went to the local Christmas market (Basler Weihnachtsmarkt) where there are lots of little stands that dispense Glühwein.  You pay 3 Swiss Francs deposit for the cup, so if you want to keep it, you're out only a few bucks.  Things got complicated, however, because we were given the "boring" white mugs for our wine.  After finishing said beverage, V insisted on asking the clerk for a mug switch-er-roo.  The guy was pretty grumpy about it, but as you can see, V scored us some sweet mugs using some of her burgeoning German and some pointing.

Another truly Swiss winter tradition is Raclette!  Raclette is both a type of cheese and the way of eating it.  Our Christmas gift to each other this year was a raclette oven. Here, you can see the oven, the cheese a-waitin' to be heated, and the obligatory plate of pickled goodies, including gherkins, onions, and corn. 

You put the slices of cheese in your little pan and stick 'em in the oven.

Once the cheese is a bubblin' to your liking, you get that sucka outta there.

And pour it all over your baby potatoes.  We decided to add our own little touch by steaming some broccoli to add cheese to.  The dish is completed by grinding some fresh raclette seasoning over the top.

Gifts in Switzerland are not delivered by Santa.  Instead, they are delivered by the Cristkind.  This is essentially a cherubic angel that delivers the gifts and then rings a little bell telling the children that it is time for presents.  Gifts are always exchanged on Christmas Eve so we adopted the practice.  Here, Aussie is wearing his Christmas hat and awaiting delivery of his scrumptious holiday treat. 

All Jon wanted for Christmas was gummis and scotch.  V kicked it up a notch by giving him the most delicious gummis in the world served in a nice pilsner glass.  Now he doesn't have to drink out of used pasta sauce jars anymore!  There is an entire shop here dedicated to gummis.  They make cakes and pizzas entirely out of gummis and coincidentally, don't go around asking for "gummis" here with a German-sounding long "u".  That is the word for condom.

Oh, man! The sweet smell of 15-year Glenfarclas single-malt scotch.  Life is good!

Veronica got a guitar for Christmas!!  Now she can finally compose those Chronicles of Veronicles!

We had a wonderful first Christmas in Basel!  It was just the three of us, but we had a great time learning about and adopting some local traditions.  Speaking of which, Jon learned from a friend about a great local Alpine tadition that he wants to bring back to the States.  This is the tradition of the Krampus.

This is the Krampus!  He comes along with Saint Nicolas and punishes the bad children with his switch.  He also chases the kids around with rusty chains and bells.  If you are really bad, he puts you in his basket and carries you off.

We hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday, no matter what you did.  As long as what you did doesn't anger the Krampus.  He lives a lot closer to us than is comfortable, and we simply can't associate with those that anger the Krampus.

Schöne Weihnachten!!

The EuroFadoks

The Lab Outing to Wasserfallen

 In early  October,  Austin and V had the opportunity to meet almost all of Jon's lab-mates on a beautiful fall hike to Wasserfallen.

Austin tried very hard to keep the whole group together, herding us the best he could.

At one point, some of us took the more difficult route, which afforded us many breath-taking views.

One the the many waterfalls we saw along the way.

Once we reached the top of hill we stopped in at the local restaurant for a few refreshing beers.

We then headed further up the hill for some traditional fondue.

We ordered some locally made beer. Jon's was delicious, unfortunately V's was not. It was contaminated with many alcohol-loving bugs. Jon did not want to believe it as first and tried to prove that it was fine, much to the dismay of his taste buds.  The good news is that he managed to communicate the problem to the waiter in German and ordered a fresh beer for V.

Oh delicious Fondue! Enjoyed best with many glasses of white wine.

Jon and a couple of his lab mates also tried the traditional schnapps called Kirsch (cherry).  Schnapps here is not the relatively weak, American sugary liquor, instead,  it is about 80 proof and has fruit on the front and a nice tequila/whiskey burn on the finish.  Local farmers are allowed to make one liter of schnapps for each cow they own...to aid in the cow's digestion.

V discovered that the slide was extra fun after many glasses of wine.

After a couple hours of enjoying fondue, white wine, and Kirsch, Jon's lab adviser decided it would be best if we all took gondolas down the hill as the daylight was waning, and so was everyone's willingness to hike down the hill with a cheese baby on board.

Austin enjoyed his first gondola ride!

We had a great time on this lab outing, and we look forward to many more.  All of Jon's lab mates are great fun and we feel like we already have made many good friends. There are a few more photos of this hike on our flickr account:
More hiking photos here

Cheers!
EuroFadoks

Austin's Passport

In order to travel between countries in Europe, Austin needed an official Pet Passport.  He needed to have all his shots up-to-date, and he had to have a European tracking chip implanted.  Fortunately, we had already taken care of all of that before heading over to Switzerland.  Additionally, when we arrived, we had to bring him to the local vet to have him registered and to have his chip added to the database.  And now, as you can see, Austin now has something we will never have, a Swiss passport!  If he isn't there yet, we are willing to bet that he might be the most well-traveled pet in the world!  Next week, he is taking the train to Nice, France and he has offered for us to come along. 

Fall Colors in the Basel Woods

In early November we took a short tram ride out of the city into some nearby woods to marvel at all the Fall colors.  

Reminiscent of  the Robert Frost poem:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

(Austin decided to mark his way along.)

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Mach's gut,
The EuroFadoks

Madonna and Devil

Yesterday, we took a hike with our friends Katrin and Philip and their son Ben from the town of Seewen.  It was a beautiful winter day with a mostly clear, crisp sky and lots of pure snow all around us.  These hikes that we have been sharing with you have mostly come from a book that V bought at the train station called "Wandern mit dem U-Abo".  This book showcases 25 regional hikes that can all be accessed with public transportation.  Part of the adventure, however, is translating this book from what appears to be Swiss German into English.  We think it is written in Swiss German (which is not normally a written dialect) for two reasons: 1) our German friends have a hard time reading it and 2) the online translations that we obtain are hysterical and confusing.  We thought it would be fun for you to come along on the hike, guided as we are by the silly-sounding translations.  We have edited the entry to make it shorter but we did not make any of this up.  We hope you find it as funny as we do!

Let us begin:

Madonna and Devil (Madonna und Teufel)

A very-wholesome-walking castle, balanced, refreshing and relaxing for dynamic contemporaries, not by unknown hiking areas, and yet in part to little-used paths, through light, loose forests, magnificent vistas and in a romantic Naturschutztal.

We leave the postal service car in the stop Seewen, lake valley height. 

 

There Welschhans (551 ms) stands the way manner.  The Seebachoder fur mill valley, with which climbers loving [Pelzi] named, is a climbing paradise.  The rock faces serve innumerable mountaineer as a übungsgelände and immense line the rough rock volumes both sides of the deeply notched valley.  

On the lake valley height, the transition of the lake stream valley on the far plateau of Seewen, stand we on an earth historical interesting ground; the many confused lying around rock chunks point it on.

Of the postal service car stop out of we march, downward to the large curve, change some meters first on the car street back there before a powerful Felsbrocken- to the right on a wide forest way, a couple steps very easily it upwards, sang always flanks downhill through a light, loose mix forest, to the rights of rock volumes.  In a deep terrain incision, far into the mountain flank buried there, reach we shortly on that a way spider and the way manners oak mountain (573 ms).  

 Here we bump into the footpath of Grellingen to the Falkenflue and to the gentleman mat, that are both our goal; the yellow rhombus is led us there.  

This Dugginger madonna is a marked, vacant rock tooth before which Falkenflue placed and a popular object for climbing friends.  Your vis-à-vis a rock pulpit, of which one enjoys an imposing outlook, stands, in clear weather until far in französiche and German countries out.  Always with the yellow rhombus, we hike aud the field way further to the way manner Falkenflue (600 ms).   

Downhill it goes now only our day goal toward Aesch, finally through a lovely nature protectorate.  The way manner and the yellow rhombus show us the way, at the restaurant past, over the terrain crest away, past also at an old boundary stone (at the left way edge), then obliquely to the right speedily downhill on a wide, rocky forest way, always straight ahead through boy growth.

A stream meanders admire itself through the meadows, in close to nature tree gardens we old, gnarled and weathered fruit trees.   

Lively hops the stream over the valley steps and obstruction steps down, schlittelt over rock stairways, forms waterfalls, pond, pond and pond.  Birds and insects most never animate hear hang the world, innumerable boxes in the trees, we and the Schmerwurz, one resemble and form rich Flora, meadow forests discover reed, water and swamp plants, bushes, shrubs and trees, a harmoniously romantic, nature left valley, before the gates of the city and the agglomerate ions.  

And then has back us suddenly the everyday life world.  And also from there we can go home make comfortably with the public transportation; the U subscription it possible. 

 Well, that is what we deal with when we use this book for hiking.  It is quite  possible that Yoda contributed the authorship of this book.   

Here's a link to more photos of this hike:
Madonna and Devil Hike

-The EuroFadoks