I know it has been a few weeks since my last post... Things have been busy and with the Holidays upon us I have been trying to get everything settled early. Most of the gifts are bought (and shipped), the tree is up, cookies are finished and our plans for the holidays are settled! Now I can relax and enjoy the season ahead of us (and post a fresh blog).
As part of enjoying and experiencing the holidays in our newly adopted country, I/We have done some wandering around...
- A day trip to Milan to visit with an old friend from Rome.
- A visit to Montreux to see the festive holiday market.
- An amazing day in Geneva for shopping and lunch.
- A great day in Zurich for the Holiday market and an amazing restaurant find!
- And still more wandering around our hometown of Lausanne (and their holiday spirit).
Let's start at the beginning and a wonderful day trip I took to Milan for a visit with a friend from Rome. A few weeks back my friend Zaven had some meetings in Milan and he asked if I wanted to come hang out for the day. So I hopped the train and 3 hours later I was wandering around the majestic city of Milan and having a nice lunch with a friend...
 |
| My bullet train to Milan... |
 |
| ...& hanging out by the Duomo! |
 |
| Still love the simplicity... |
 |
| ...and architecture of Italy! |
 |
| My favorite graffiti artist - new work! |
 |
| And some shopping at Peck's! |
In direct contrast to Milan I then took a day to visit the Christmas Market in Montreux. To my surprise, I was not expecting their theme for this year... Smurfs? Yes, I said Smurfs...all along the lake were topiary Smurf sculptures. Odd but fun! Take a look!
 |
| Welcome & Merry Christmas! |
 |
| Little shops of homemade goods... |
 |
| Papa Smurf... |
 |
| Smurfette... |
 |
| Ball-n-Chain Smurf... |
 |
| & Roger Federer Smurf! |
 |
| Even with the Smurfs...the colors and feeling were festive and Very Holiday Oriented! |
 |
| Lite Trees everywhere... |
On the weekend Tom & I decided to complete our shopping in Geneva (well, do some shopping and have lunch). We hopped the train for a brief 40 minute ride to the center of Geneva... We were surprised to see that though there was some decoration it turned out not as much as we had hoped for. We ate at a wonderful Italian restaurant we stumbled across on a previous visit and finished shopping for Tom's office! All-in-all a lovely day with my honey!
 |
| Cartier decked out for Christmas... |
 |
| Other fun decorations along the way |
 |
| Holiday Tree!!! |
 |
| Holiday Tree??? |
 |
| And a subtle rainbow over the Jet d'eau! |
To top off our holiday wandering, yesterday we went to see the Holiday Market in Zurich - again, another train ride and voila we were there! One of the high-lites of the Zurich Holiday Market is the huge Swarovski Christmas tree - decorated with all Swarovski Christmas Stars (from throughout the years). One of the many things I like about Zurich is that, in comparison to Geneva, they know how to decorate for the holidays! Lights hanging all over, all the stores decorated and live trees for sale on the streets!
The most spectacular thing was a new restaurant find! While living in Italy, Tom & I had the pleasure of visiting Castello Della Sala Wineries (many of our guests had the pleasure too). Castello Della Sala is part of a large family of wineries under the Antinori Family. We have enjoyed many of their wines for a while now but we did not know they had restaurants as part of their portfolio. While walking through the streets of Zurich, actually looking for my family namesake coffee shop (I'll explain later) we stumbled across a cute little restaurant. We recognized the name Cantinetta Antinori but did not put two-n-two together until we were sitting and ordering wine. I thought it would be nice to have an Italian white, Gavi di gavi, that we have not had in a while (and Switzerland does not sell it)...when the waiter said 'Sorry, we only serve Antinori wines'. We then realized the connection and we were delighted! We enjoyed a wonderful bottle of Castello Della Sala Cervaro, we dined on a mouth-watering Burrata Caprese Salad and then the most amazing Tagliolini with White Truffle from Alba. All I can say is that we left lunch in a Food and Wine Coma (Whatta way to go!)
 |
| Tom enjoying his truffles (but not the photo) |
 |
| The always lovely... |
 |
| ...Swarovski Tree! |
 |
| The Christmas Market Zurich! |
 |
| Welcome! |
 |
| Fresh cut trees... |
 |
| ...and everything holiday lite! |
Now back to my comment about 'family namesake'. Three years ago while visiting Zurich I ran across a small cafe called Al Leone. Last I was there I begged, pleaded and paid the staff to get a shirt for my Mom. After showing them my ID and a little pleading - they were kind enough to sell me a shirt that I gave my Mom. So, after our most excellent lunch we decided to have coffee there...
 |
| Me at Al Leone's... |
 |
| ...they've upgraded - a Dom Bar! |
Well - I think that is enough of our travels for the moment. There will definitely be more to follow.
Our upcoming schedule will get a little busy...
- In 10 days it is Christmas! A lovely Christmas lunch at the Beau Rivage and quiet times at home!
- The day after Christmas we leave for a week in London (with a lovely stay at 45 Park Lane and tickets to West End theatre (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory & The Book of Mormon) & lunch with friends Simon and Jackie!
- Then back to Switzerland for New Years and back to the Beau Rivage for New Years Eve Dinner
- Lastly, 7 days later - we are headed back to the US for friends, family and good coffee!
Wow, now that I write it out - it is a lot but should be 'brilliant' fun!
On the home front...
All is well! The presents are wrapped and the cookies have been given out! Our tree is up and decorated with the ornaments collected during our travels...
 |
| Our tree! |
Work is starting to slow down for Tom as many of the people he works with start going on vacation this time of the year.
Pottery is also slowing down. I have one more week then the shop closes for the holidays. I have finished off a few more things - but the rest will need to wait until 2014!
 |
| A new bowl in blue & silver... |
 |
| ...& some decorative plates! |
 |
| And my newest project... |
 |
| ... Jigsaw Puzzle Trivets! |
Other than all that - it is just cold here. We have a had a few dustings of snow but no accumulation to date. The temperature have basically hovered around 0-3 degrees C.
Ok, enough from me -
Tom & I would like to wish everybody the Happiest of Holidays and Brightest of New Years!
We love and miss you all!
I will leave you our Christmas Wish (and card this year)
Ciao for now!
Ron & Tom
