Sledging with the Pinaires

Joe took this past Tuesday off work to enjoy the mountains on a hard wooden sledge with our winter visitors, the Pinaires. Clearly, they had an amazing day, were adventurous enough to pick up some speed & were surprised by how much 3 brats can cost in Switzerland (the typical response;)! Although it was a quick visit, we were glad to have them here & hope to see them again soon!

Silvesterlauf 13.12.09

 

Joe participated in the Silversterlauf, the annual winter run around downtown Zurich. He was "racing" a partner from E&Y, as well as some guys from his main client, Adecco. He did better than he'd hoped for the 8.6km (5.3m) run, but all the other (older) guys beat him! (He told me after the fact that they all have run marathons, so I let him off the hook for losing to oldies.) I watched from the sidelines with a warm Starbucks in my hand, a feeble attempt to stay warm. Maybe I should have just joined in for a lap;)

Colmar with the Urquhart Clan

 

It's about 11.20am here, and we're already so cold we require a gluhwein & churro fix. There are pictures of me from last year eating these exact churros from the same stand as we did this year (yum, this is one thing the french seriously do better than the spanish). We were the resident Colmar experts for the Christmas markets with our friends, Erin & Lachie, & their 4 visitors. Then again, we are frequently the resident Zurich experts for our hopeless Aussie friends, so we're used to that role. A lot more eating, drinking & generally trying to stay warm happening than actual Christmas markets, but the town of Colmar is just gorgeous & festive, so we were happy to be there getting in the holiday spirit!

 

Post-market we spent the evening at the Urquhart's new place in Zug eating raclette & drinking wine. Here's Joe with the other Urquhart lady (Lachie's Mom). Joe felt right at home with Jilly....she lectured Joe, made him laugh until he cried with her randomness & she falls asleep at bars (can't imagine who she reminded us of, huh?)

David Du-lebovitz, why won't you love me?

 

I have become a total junkie for this gay Jewish expat pastry chef blogger (wow. that was a mouthful of adjectives.) who lives in Paris and has amazing recipes like these coconut chocolate macaroon. I never knew that Joe liked coconut until a few weeks ago when I whipped up a batch of these beautiful cookies. Yum. Honestly, this guys recipes are gold.

Chicken or the Egg?

 
I picked up this 6 pack of eggs at the local grocery store the other day & was pulling these guys out so they could meet the frying pan when I met this egg that didn't want to part with it's remnants of mom. I am actually a bit freaked out by this egg, which incidentally is sitting in the fridge rather than in my belly. I've found small stray feathers attached to the eggs here plenty of times, but as you can see this is a big-un & it's pretty well stuck on (not that I was futzing with it too much)...so, does this phaze anyone else? Or am I just a big nancy?

Sammie Claus is All Over Town

 

A. He's called Sammie Claus here. Do not mess this up. Lil kids do not like it.
B. What is going on in this country? Honestly, the mall was open on a Sunday (this happens 3 Sundays per year) & this is the sort of crowd it attracts, close to a hundred Harley riding, Sammie Claus dressing men. A beautiful contradiction perhaps?
C. This is honestly a whole nother level of hogs. Tattoos, dirty scraggly pony-tailed hair (my personal fav feature of motorcylce men) & leather V. Sammie Claus. The road battle of the century. I think I'm on to something here...
D. Don't worry ZIS 1st graders, this was not the REAL Sammie Claus. Almost everyday at work, I hear some child say they saw Sammie Claus at X location & he gave them some perfume or a mandarin orange. However, they feel inclined to note 'but it wasn't the real Sammie Claus.' This warms my heart almost as much as the fact that in Spain (according to my first grade Spanish friend), they don't have a tooth fairy, but rather a 'tooth mouse.' How crushing will it be to one day find out that there is neither a REAL Sammie Claus, nor a REAL tooth mouse.

Joe is so going to kill me...

 
Much to my excitement on Sunday morning I noticed a leak under our kitchen sink. You think a leak, no big deal. So, Joe works his plumber look (aka every Sun morning look), only to realize he's not going to be able to remedy the situation. We must commence to use our German language *skills to contact someone to get over here & take care of it. Unfortunately, plumbers aren't known for their English language *skills. I'm pretty sure I have an appointment set up for tomorrow...
*skills --- also known as the ability to communicate at the same level as this Indian kid at the school who I have spoken to 7 times & never understood more than 3 words he's said, none of which actually related to each other, or which I may have made up.
also known as the ability to mess up vital prepositions, which incidentally change the entire meaning of what you are trying to convey.
also known as the ability to smile stupidly when uncomprehending, a tool that is rendered ineffective whilst on the telephone.

The Daily Show Does Switzerland

Check it out here. All the adverts John shows we see here and pretty much feel the exact same way.