China is currently celebrating the spring festival. Chinese New Year, the biggest event being celebrated in China. And the new year is the “year of the rat” – the year I am born in… (I should be wearing red underwear… because the year you are born in is supposed to not be your lucky year, that is when the color red comes in… forcing the luckiness).
When Chinese friends & family see each other these days they first wish each other “gong xi fa cai” – “hope you get rich”! Followed by “Xīnnián kuàilè” or “happy new year”.
This years focus might be more on staying healthy… the corona virus (or Wuhan virus) is getting seriously spread. My Chinese colleagues keep me updated about the local status. Daily. And it doesn’t look so good at the moment.
I already started my obligatory preparation for the planned business trip in 2 weeks:
masks are sold out in China, but even the delivery time on Amazon took a while…
Now waiting to see if this trip is going to happen… or better to be postponed…
It’s January. The birds are back and beautifully singing. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. It’s too warm for winter coats. And there is tulips on my table (next to the honey wax winter candle). Is it already spring?
Zermatt, the heart of the Swiss Alps. Taking the train to the snowy village is already a true fairytale. Zermatt is nestled at the foot of the mighty Toblerone mountain, the Matterhorn. For the last days we truly enjoyed the Matterhorn in front of us. Next to us. Below us. On top of us. Big, proud & dominant. Legendary.
Zermatt is love at first sight. A village where the only traffic noise you’ll hear comes from cable cars, electric taxis, and the mountain train. It’s a place where you can ski & hike above the clouds, soak away your troubles in a hot tub with a majestic view, step right into the highest glacier palace in the world or enjoy rustic food at a cozy mountain restaurant.
It’s a true Alpine paradise: my husband refreshing his snowboard skills on YouTube… The snow is amazing and skiing is excellent. I wondered if I would ever reach the bottom of the run. It is a skiers dream with so many freeride possibilities and pistes (you could Ski to Italy if you wish). All of this unfolds under the watchful gaze of the Matterhorn that dominates the landscape. And those lunch breaks: chilling at 3000m, sun bathing and majestic views inclusive… that blue sky… amazing!
Food and travel go hand in hand, and when it’s cold you’re totally entitled to eat more indulgently (haha!). From rich cheese fondue (or meat fondue), to raclette, and rostis as big as your face, the restaurant experience is fantastic. We discovered wonderful hidden “Hütt’n” on our hikes into the mountains. And they are packed (not so hidden after all)! And delicious!
Our New Year’s Eve dinner (the grocery shopping was fun, so much choice of Raclette cheeses!!!): Raclette (probably forbidden) in our hotel room with smoke detectors. The solution: grilling with open balcony door at minus 3C degrees (gloves and hats are not only for skiing!). A dinner to remember (paper plates and plastic forks).
Skiing. Jacuzzi. Snowboarding. Spa. Cheese fondue. Ski in/out hotel. Hiking. Sauna. Meat fondue. Cross-country skiing (the only thing for free in Zermatt I think). Raclette. Sleeping in. Viewing the Matterhorn. Relaxing. Naps with a view. Winter. Wonder. Land. The Matterhorn. Zermatt. Switzerland.
In spite of traveling so much of the world, there are those moments that still make us go “whoa!”. A wonderful white vacation. It’s fantastic to be back in the mountains and the snow. You only know what you missed when you get it back… It feels great to be back home in Europe!
Seeing enough of the Matterhorn? It’s not possible! Breathtaking views. Everywhere.
so far only fake snow… it feels more like spring outside…
A cake for daddy’s birthday tomorrow. A bit of a challenge I have to say (not the baking itself but connecting all the electronics…): How do I notice that we have been abroad? Because of our different plugs and devices with different voltage. “A house doesn’t loose anything…” I made it (on time)!
American plug in Chinese connector trying to get Germany electricity to work…
our transformer to make the US devices work in Germany
some last leftovers: vanilla from Japan
voila! worked out: a Christmas winter cake: Spekulatius-Mascarpone-Sahne. mmmmhhh.
I love wrapping gifts… all ready for next week 🙂
It’s so wonderful to be back in a country that loves to celebrate Christmas.
Friends. Winter coats, gloves & hats, a fire in the garden – that was the idea. A storm made us sit around the fire in the living room (which was as nice).
A delicious home made Hungarian Goulash soup is getting us started… And then we finally prepared the pot of Glühwein… red wine, cinnamon sticks, oranges & lemons, star anise, honey… that smell… hmmmm!
Heating up the mulled wine, soaking the sugar cone in 80% (flammable) rum and matches were doing the rest… spectacular flames. Melting sugar dripping into the pot. Wonderful to watch while having the film the “Feuerzangenbowle” projected to the wall – what an event. For most of our guests the first Feuerzangenbowle (now big fans of it).
A beautiful & delicious evening. Happy 3rd Advent!
Cinnamon. Oranges. Rosemary. Cloves. Cranberries. Nutmeg. It’s smelling wonderfully everywhere. Christmas markets. Street food (everybody is cooking deliciously at home). Our home. The Office. Wonderful Christmas smell everywhere.
A little Christmas get together in the office: amazing cookies.
We enjoyed being crafty this weekend: Our kitchen is smelling lovely from making bee wax candles followed by baking cookies: cinnamon & chocolate flavors.
Mulled wine. Mmhhhhh. Oranges.
Christmas tree needles.
Candles. Red & beautifully smelling. A wood fire. So cozy.
The day after Nikolaus… Cappuccino with Nikolaus for breakfast… he didn’t last very long, sorry. But was very tasty.
Now watching “love actually”. A bit of Christmas kitsch is a must. Happy 2nd Advent y’all!
Christmas Market. Mulled Wine. Cookies. Winter coat. Boots. Candles. Happy people. Beautifully decorated houses & homes. Raclette. Sofa. Duvet. Lebkuchen. It’s the season. Counting until the Christmas holidays…
Nikolaus invention in our canteen.
Minus 6C degrees in the morning. Frozen car window screens. Blue sky. Sunshine. It’s perfect. It’s December. It’s the season. (For me one of) The most wonderful time of the year has started (I successfully ignored all the Lebkuchen and Spekulatius you can already get in the stores since August). It’s December. It’s time to enjoy the magical season.
amazing decoration at the Christmas market.
It’s the time of rituals. Rituals which make us feel like children again. Time for family traditions. And new traditions. Own traditions. I’m excited like a little kid. We haven’t had Christmas in Europe for a long time. You might be able to imagine my “deficit”… I cannot wait for the Christmas market (or the Sternle market how it is called in Swabia) and mulled wine (the white one is amazing) and a chocolate Nikolaus and Lebkuchen… the house decorating is on-going including one of the bigger challenges: convincing my husband that Christmas time is the best time of the year! We will have our own Christmas tree (actually it’s two) – the first time since we met.
tree no.2 – klein aber oho!
We are following American traditions and the tree is already set up (thanksgiving). I love it. I cannot stare at it often enough. I wish I didn’t have to go to work but would have enough time for baking cookies, enjoying all the wonderful Christmas markets and sit with candle light and a cup of tea at home. Happily.
And the all time favorite (or most hated) song is back: “Last Christmas” in all radio stations and at home on the vinyl (and CD). Around the clock. Hubby hates it while I am loving it and cannot get enough (it’s limited time, you know. It will be over soon again).
The most wonderful gift to myself: preparing Christmas: decoration, advent, wrapping gifts while listening to Christmas songs, enjoying a cup of tea and reading my daily advent calendar. Making plans what to cook at Christmas. I enjoy slowing down, clearing the mind, thinking of the past 12 months and writing & posting our obligatory Christmas letter.
Raclette
I like to walk around and see how everybody gets ready. The nature for winter and the people for Christmas. Every day a new tree is light. A new star in the window. A new lantern with a candle. And tomorrow it’s St. Nikolaus day!
surprising my work colleagues from China and Portugal.
Preparing for the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas! (My secret: the earlier you start the less stress you have. When all others wake up and freak out, I am finished and can enjoy my cup of mulled wine).
What you need to know: my husband is not a very big fan of Christmas (I cannot understand it… but that is a different story)… and sorry but I have to ignore that this year. Because I am loving it. I am excited. I haven’t had a classic German Christmas in 8 years. You might imagine my “deficit”.
The preparation has started a couple of weeks ago and is on-going. The decision pro Christmas tree was made by me (he kind of agreed and even suggested to carry it up to our living room. Yeah!). We have never had our own tree since we met. This year it’s about time.
So many choices to make. So many wonderful things to choose from. So many decisions to be made: LED lights vs. wax candles vs. normal clip lights. Once the decision is made pro electronic clip lights, the next one is about the color: warm-white, yellow-white, or whatever other white? Or how about single electronic candles you clip on the tree and while you can chill on the sofa your remote control is able to change your lights into “full light”, “flickers” or “off”. Quite impressive.
The story continues: which color for the ornaments? Gold, modern navy blue, green, classic red or silver? When is the right time to buy? Will even more beautiful things come into the shops? We also need a tree stand and a tree skirt (that’s very American).
And finally and most importantly: it’s time to find a tree (since I couldn’t decide for one color ornaments we will be having 2 trees. One big and one little one. But psssst. Hubby doesn’t know yet). Today was a beautiful Sunday to go with friends and find the most beautiful tree (this is our first time to find and cut the tree by ourselves. So far we have onlz seen this in films). We had so much fun walking with our Wellington boats around looking at all the trees to find the perfect one for our home.
It didn’t take us long and we found it: no. 1627234.
Our first cup of Gluehwein this year and well deserved.
The song “driving home for Christmas” has been in my mind since days… it almost didn’t fit in our mini. But we got it safely home.
Soon we will set it up (following the American traditions after Thanksgiving) and put up all the wonderful ornaments. I love the season! Happy Holidays!
Our friends got a beautiful one, too. She’s right!
Stuttgart547 