Our Great European Christmas Vacation- Switzerland

December 24, Christmas Eve, started out with a REALLY early wake-up.  We were out of the hotel by 5am and off to the airport, London City Airport.  Remember the rain I talked about in the last post?  The blowing rain that turned my umbrella inside out and made me scream some curse words in the middle of Trafalgar Square?  Well, that rain prevented a good number of planes from landing during the day on the 23rd and flooded Gatwick Airport (not our airport, but sent some stranded travelers over to our airport).  Our early morning in the airport was the first time I realized that it was Christmas and that people were traveling to be with their families.  It made me a little upset that the weather had ruined so many holiday plans!  Fortunately for us, our flight was one of two that made it to the airport the day before, so we were ready for takeoff at 7am.

We flew south and landed in Zurich, Switzerland around 9:30am.  We both slept the entire flight and missed our free breakfast...darn-it!  After collecting our bags and navigating the train into downtown Zurich, we began the walk to our hotel.  We were a little early for check-in, but our room was ready, so we were able to drop our bags in our room, freshen up a little bit and get to exploring the city!

Hotel Alexander, Zurich

Kevin was starved, so we stopped just outside our hotel for a to-go pizza.  Then I was ready to bee-line it over to the train station for the Christkindlimarkt.  When we arrived, we happened to catch a parade of young guys banging on cow bells that circled the market and left.  Kevin chased them and here's the result.  The leader had a whip he kept slapping in the air that was REALLY loud!

We spent a good amount of time weaving in and out of the Christmas booths.  I got some mulled wine, that I didn't really enjoy, but drank anyway.  We admired the huge Christmas tree covered in Swarovski Crystals.  (Too bad they were so expensive!)

We purchased a few gifts, had a little marshmallow/chocolate treat, and then we had the sausage!  It was AMAZING!  Sausage and bread and mustard, oh my!

We also went ahead and purchased tickets for our train ride the next day.  We eventually left the Christkindlimarkt and made our way back to our hotel.  We dropped our loot and headed out towards Lake Zurich, admiring the landscape along the way.

Can you spot those alps?

We wound our way up to the top of a hill and found ourselves face to face with the largest clock face in Europe..and enjoyed the view from a park.

Zurich was so beautiful!

Unfortunately, the spot we wanted to celebrate Christmas Eve dinner was booked, but we REALLY wanted fondue, so we walked outside the hotel, took a right and ended up in the closest restaurant possible.  We enjoyed farmers fondue for two (bacon, onions, wine, cherry grappa, garlic and seasoning) and couldn't eat it all!  It was SO MUCH CHEESE!

We cuddled up in our room early and fell asleep watching TV.  Santa was coming!

Christmas Day, we woke up and got ready for the day.  When I got out of the shower, Kevin had decorated with balloons for my birthday! :) YAY!  We went down for a really good hotel breakfast and packed our bags before heading to the train station for the trip to Interlaken.

It was a rainy day, so we were happy to spend the time on the train, dry!

We arrived in Interlaken, walked to our hotel to check in, briefly checked out our room and then started the desperate search for lunch.  We weren't really going to allow ourselves to have true Italian food yet, since we were still in Switzerland, but it looked so good and we were starving!

We had no plans, so we began to wander around the town!  We found the casino and a spa that was closed, it was Christmas Day after all.

We strolled along the river marveling at the alps and stopped at what we thought was a gondola up to the top.  Unfortunately, it was closed until April, but they featured a zoo, so we continued on up the hill and found these crazy billy goats caged up.

We hung out with them for at least an hour before wandering back down the mountain.

Since it was my birthday, we stopped in a Swiss chocolate shop and purchased a few treats.  We made it back to the hotel and phoned the family for Christmas before celebrating my birthday in the room. 

Eventually, we went out again for dinner.  We REALLY wanted to eat at this Mexican restaurant I had found, but they were closed, so we settled on a chalet.  Kevin had raclette (basically melted cheese with pickled vegetables) and I enjoyed a salad!  It was our first reasonably priced meal in Switzerland and was really good!

The next day we woke up and it was SNOWING!!!  YAY!  What a Christmas treat!

 

The day was all about the skiing!  Early morning, we got up and took the train to Grindelwald where we rented our ski equipment and clothing.  We stopped to eat lunch where I had the best mac and cheese I've ever had in my entire life.

Then we took another train on up to the top of the ski resort.  The train took 30 minutes to get to the top.

When we got off the train there were about 30 runs you could take just from there.  Since Kevin had never skied before, we stopped by the bunny slope first before tackling a blue.  <<Let me interject to let you know that a blue run in Switzerland is like a black diamond at home.  I've skied before and while I'm not the best in the entire world, I can get down a hill.  This was VERY different!  The snow was blowing in all day long, hindering our view and distorting my vision and the hills weren't so easy!>>  We skied for about 2 hours and then stopped for some hot cocoa at the lodge.  

Then it was a 30 minute train trip back down the mountain to Grindelwald and back to the ski shop to return our gear.  Then we took another train back into Interlaken!  It was a really fun day and just so cool to be up in the snowy mountains!

For dinner, the Mexican restaurant was open!  YAY!  So we indulged in nachos and a burrito for 75 Swiss francs (around $85)...I told you it was expensive, but it was DIVINE!!

Then it was back to the hotel to pack up and get a good night of sleep!  More adventures to come!