aka....Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a wonderful New Years; we did! Yesterday was a solid day of skiing and then a feast of saurkraut, porkchops, spiced apples, beer, chocolate cake and ice cream...champagne....fireworks....110% perfect!
Before I jump ahead to last night, let me fill you in on what has been going on this past week. As we said in the last blog, Josh got in on Christmas day, and we basically just hung out in Zurich and relaxed, ending the day with an excellent Raclette for dinner. Then on the 26th we went to Saas Fee and Zermatt (two small towns in the southern west part of Switzerland near Italy). We left at 6:15am and took the train to these two towns. Zermatt was first on our agenda and the main attractions to this town are the "quaint-ness" and the huge Matterhorn mountain that seems to "stand alone". The other cool thing about Zermatt is that it's a car free town. You get off the train and have to walk everywhere. The hotels have mini taxis that can pick people up, and some even had horse and carriages to take you from the bahnhof (train station) to your respective hotel.
Anyway, we were hungry when we arrived (imagine that!) and found a great fondue restaurant. The food was delicious and after we warmed up for a bit, we went out to explore some more. We walked up toward the ski slopes and hiking paths. We lucked out because we got some pictures of the Matterhorn just before it started snowing and the clouds moved in, stealing our view of the top.
After our walk we grabbed a beer at a local pub and then jumped back on the train to the Saas Fee area. Our hotel was just outside the city of Saas Fee, in a town called Saas Amagell. The location was perfect as the bus stop was right in front of our hotel.
We had done what they call "half board" at our hotel, meaning our evening meals were included in our price. So, that evening (the 26th) we sat down to dinner and over the course of the next few days we realized the whole set up was like being on a cruise. We always had a certain table and the same people always sat by us. Plus we had the same servers every night too! Kind of funny. Anyway, dinner was good and we went to bed very full and satisfied.
Sunday morning (the 27th) we all ate breakfast at the hotel and they had a great spread going on...eggs, breads, cheeses, etc. The plan for the rest of the day was that Josh and I would ski and Aggie would hike to Saas Fee and then take snow boarding lessons that afternoon. Unfortunately, the instructors were all booked up so she ended up just hiking in the area and then met up with us later that afternoon.
When we got back to the hotel, we sat in the sauna room for a bit - which was fantastic! Then we showered up and had a great dinner that evening at the hotel. The next morning we woke up, had another solid breakfast and then headed out. We got back to Zurich around 1pm. Later that evening our friends, Matt and Brandi, stopped in (friends from London). They were doing a 2 week excursion across Austria, Switzlerland, Italy, and France and stopped in to Zurich on the way.
We went to the Zeughauskeller, a traditional Swiss restaurant, that evening. The food and drinks were delicious and we topped the night off by watching a movie back at our place, "Super Bad". It's right up there with "American Pie"....bad boy humor.
Matt and Brandi left the next morning and the three of us just layed low and hung out around Zurich again. We went to Aggie's posh gym, walked around in town, etc. That evening, again we vegged on the couch and watched a movie, "The Notebook". Talk about a tear jerker!
The next day, I woke Aggie up singing "Happy Birthday" to her. Ha, ha!! A side note, I know she has gotten many calls and email wishes from friends and family over the past few days....and it means a lot to her, especially being so far away from home....and because she reached a milestone...the big 3-0!
On the 30th, we went hiking in the Uetileburg area just outside the city (please refer back to the previous blog: Sihlbrugg Hike to see it in the summer time). It was sunny out but there was more snow then we thought there would be on the path. Other hikers were out too so we knew we weren't crazy for walking in the snow! The hike was definitely intense in some parts and the views and sites were awesome!
Later that afternoon we made hot cider and chilled for a bit...then we went into town and went to a pub to watch some football (soccer). We picked up Chinese for dinner and ate it while watching our Friends DVDs.
On New Years eve, Josh and I went skiing all day in Flims-Laax and Aggie stayed behind to catch up on things around the apartment. We had a great time on the mountains and had a delicious dinner awaiting us when we got home. We ate, hung out, then headed down to the lake for the fireworks.
The fireworks that they do in this city are ridiculous! First off, they started them around quarter past midnight. Leading up to that, people are setting off their own fireworks shows anywhere and everywhere. We got down to the park area and started walking through the grass to the lake. Long story short, we cut up to the sidewalk as fireworks started going off around us at all angles. It was kind of what I think walking through a landmine field would be like - I'm not joking! The craziest thing is there are really no cops around but everyone is calm and just normal about everything going on.
We popped open a bottle of chamagne (as were most people around us), cheered, and then watched the spectacular fireworks show. Then, we walked home and crashed. Today, Aggie made up a solid breakfast and then we took Josh to the airport for his 12 noon flight back to DC. It was so much fun having him here and we loved every minute of his visit! Safe travels home Josh and we love you!
Happy New Years to everyone. I'd also like to send a shout out to Big Fred for his 53rd birthday today! We wish you all much joy and happiness in the new year....
