December: Helsinki and Zermatt

Helsinki

Helsinki, Finland is not somewhere anyone would ever choose to go in December. The sun rises around 9:30 am and sets around 3 pm, and it’s almost guaranteed to be raining during the hours in between – slushy, almost frozen rain. But, we didn’t decide to go to Helsinki during the first weekend in December because we thought it sounded like a good time (we’re not THAT dumb). Andy is now working remotely for a company headquartered in Helsinki and had to spend two weeks at the office for training. Two weeks is kind of a long time to be by myself in Switzerland - this place is still a “foreign country” as far as I’m concerned – so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and see my husband and see Helsinki for the weekend.

Because we were there in December instead of say, July, I really don’t have much to report back about. We spent the majority of the weekend inside restaurants, bars, and shops and only ventured outside once to visit the Suomenlinna fortress: http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/ . It’s a now uninhabited sea fortress, accessible by ferry, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apparently it’s a great way to spend a summer afternoon, walking around, having a picnic…

 

  

  

  

Not so much in the winter time. 

We did have an amazing dinner Saturday night – if you ever find yourself in Helsinki, definitely check out Ragu: http://www.ragu.fi/ . It’s a set menu that changes every week or so, you just decide how many courses you’d like. So fun, and so good! 

Maybe we’ll try Helsinki again in the summer, but regardless, it was a fun and memorable weekend together. 

 

  

  

  

L’Escalade and the Montreaux Christmas market

December 11-13 was the celebration of the Escalade in Geneva – similar to Halloween, children dress up in costumes, there’s a lot of candy, and there’s a big festival in the historic city center. The story goes that in 1602, the Duke of Savoy tried to surprise-attack Geneva and scale (“escalade”) the city walls. Luckily, a woman named Catherine Cheynel happened to see some of the attackers while she was making soup…and she poured a giant cauldron of hot soup on them, caused a big ruckus that woke up the Geneva militia, and saved the day.  In memory of this moment, chocolate pots of candy are smashed like a pinata, and everyone eats vegetable soup. The historical district of Geneva is filled with parades and people in historical outfits doing historical things. I spent an afternoon with my friend Shannon just walking around and taking it all in. 

 

 

  

  

  

Christmas markets are a thing pretty much all throughout Europe, so we figured we should visit at least one to see what it’s about. It’s basically a craft fair, very similar to the Nutcracker Market in Houston - lots of individual stalls or huts selling handmade goods, jewelry, Christmas décor, etc. The one in Montreaux is one of the bigger, more well-known markets in Switzerland, and it’s only an hour away from where we live. I’m personally not really big on craft fairs, but I DO enjoy vin chaud (mulled wine) and all the other delicious goodies offered at Christmas markets. It was a festive way to spend an afternoon. 

 

 

Zermatt

Ah, Zermatt. 

It was awesome. If you consider yourself a skiier, sometime in your life, you gotta go to Zermatt.

We took the train from Geneva, about 3 hours, and stayed in a VRBO apartment right in the town of Zermatt. The town is absolutely adorable – so very Swiss and Christmassy.

 

Unfortunately, it hasn’t snowed much this season, so the slopes were a bit icy. Aside from that, this could easily have been the best skiing we’ve ever done. The whole ski area is above tree line, so you’re surrounded by panoramic, breathtaking views on every single slope.

 

The food in Zermatt is also incredible. The restaurants in town are great, but eating lunch on the mountain is really amazing, and nothing like eating lunch while skiing in Colorado. Last year, Andy and I usually opted to pack sandwiches and thermoses of soup rather than go for the overpriced, cafeteria-style burgers and chili at Keystone. In contrast, the restaurants on the mountain in Zermatt are full-blown, sit down and enjoy a nice meal-restaurants. We had gnocchi, grilled fish and vegetables, caprese salads and risotto…it was lovely. 

It was strange to be skiing just the two of us on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day rather than spending it with our families – we missed them a lot, and FaceTime just isn’t the same. Nonetheless, it was an incredible experience, and we made some wonderful memories for our little family of 2.