Riana - ski field was Grindelwald. Everyone else - (and I mean else, because Riana is not included) thanks for the sympathy. Bek's bruise is also looking much more impressive now. :)
This blog is covering the last couple of days, not including today because we want to keep the countries separate.
So, after our somewhat painful skiing experience (not so much for Bek), we headed north past Zurich to Schaffhausen, where the lovely Zimmerman family were so welcoming in letting us stay the night. The mother, Elfried, and daughter, Sarah, spoke excellent english, and Heiri the father understood but spoke very little English. They were very hospitable - treating us to traditional meals including melted cheese (very awesome), which involved a little o
ven on the table and slices of cheese placed in the oven on individual spatulas. You then add spices, or pickles, or potatoes to your cheese. So yum! We felt like part of the family, especially when they took us to church (I know, twice in one trip!) and even translated most of it from Swiss German. But it's easy to get the idea when you are around brothers and sisters. We even recognised one of the songs - Shout to the Lord, but in German! We had a fantastic time, and were very sad to leave.
ven on the table and slices of cheese placed in the oven on individual spatulas. You then add spices, or pickles, or potatoes to your cheese. So yum! We felt like part of the family, especially when they took us to church (I know, twice in one trip!) and even translated most of it from Swiss German. But it's easy to get the idea when you are around brothers and sisters. We even recognised one of the songs - Shout to the Lord, but in German! We had a fantastic time, and were very sad to leave.The family took us to see Rhein falls - a fantastic waterfall of the Rheine river. So amazing! Very loud, too. But awesome to see, and after we had seen one side you can walk across the bridge to see it from the other side - at this point the fog had set in so heavy you could barely see a few meters away, but it was still very beautiful.
Oh and also the breakfast - a very cool tradition called 3 King bread, which a Swiss fam
ily will have for breakfast on the 6th January every year. The bread is baked in sort of a flower shape, with 6 buns on the outside and one in the middle. A small plastic King is baked in one of the outside buns. The tradition is to celebrate the 3 wise men who searched for baby Jesus. Each person gets a bun, and one person will find the King in theirs, which means they are King/Queen for the day! Naturally, the kids love it, as this means they can get out of washing up, or cleaning their rooms. I was Queen for the day, but Bek didn't pack for me or do my chores :(
ily will have for breakfast on the 6th January every year. The bread is baked in sort of a flower shape, with 6 buns on the outside and one in the middle. A small plastic King is baked in one of the outside buns. The tradition is to celebrate the 3 wise men who searched for baby Jesus. Each person gets a bun, and one person will find the King in theirs, which means they are King/Queen for the day! Naturally, the kids love it, as this means they can get out of washing up, or cleaning their rooms. I was Queen for the day, but Bek didn't pack for me or do my chores :(We flew from Zurich to Rome yesterday, and Rome FCO airport was an experience in itself. There were hundreds of people everywhere, and everyone smokes! We were in a cloud the whole we were waiting for a taxi, which was a while. Taxis came every 30 seconds, but there was a long line. Oh and the driving - it's not so ba.. ARRRRGGGGHHHWE'REGUNNADIE!!!! Well, at least the drivers seem to be somewhat reasonab... BEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! BEEP BEEP BEEP! **#@&^^!! (In Italian) Well, it's just better if you close your eyes. They drive very very fast. It seems to be an insult if you are only going 10km over the speed limit. And they seem to feel the need to park wherever they like, including on the footpath, or in a park sideways because they can't fit the normal way, or just plain old parking in the middle of the road. Not really exaggerating here.
We eventually made it (alive, but definitely ahead of schedule) to our hotel, which is quite nice, but the shower ought to be upsized a little. Definitely not Johnstone sized, it is smaller than a phonebox - not even a metre by a metre. Everyone is very friendly here. Our Italy tour is on the next blog.
Love,
Bek and Belle
Ok, well let me try again. *clears throat*
ReplyDeleteOh no! That's terrible! I feel so much sympathy for you right now that I just cannot explain. If only there was some way for me to take all your pain and humiliation on myself, leaving you booboo-free and ready to enjoy yourself to the enth degree.
How was that? Do I get a mention now?
How yummy is Raclette!!! I love the individual spatula's and tiny oven. So wonderful:)
And I was always excited to find the King. Being the youngest cousin and a visitor from a foreign land, the Aunts always made sure I got it. Hehe.
Be safe in Italy. Keep count of how many ambulances you hear in an hour while in Rome. I think Es and I got up to 15?
Anyway, gotta head to work. Hoping the road isn't underwater on this lovely day on the UNshine Coast.
I bet it was wonderfully refreshing to be staying in a home rather than a hotel for a bit :) Wonderful tradition too! How fun! Before Christmas I was working in this european bakery in Nambour and the baker made bread in the shape you described. now I have a wonderful story to attach to it!
ReplyDeleteYEs the parking is RIDICULOUS In Rome. And all the cars are so small!! Rome is so fun and buslting.Ahead of schedule, that is a nice change.
And as to Riana's post, yep pretty sure it was around the 15 mark. Like i say Rome is fast paced yet at the same time manages to be utterly lazy. You can probs guess it was one of my highlights :)
So please continue to have a ball, be thankful you are not home and I shall await the next post eagerly xx
Hi Bek and Belle.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Rhinefalls. There was a little boat that went right up to the bottom of the falls and you got all wet from the spray in the air. I never made it to Rome but we took the Bernina Express train from Switzerland to Tirano Italy and stayed there for about an hour. Mum went to the toilet just as we entered the town and the train tracks go right down the centre of main street, and just as mum came out of the toilet we saw a wet puddle behind us on the street!
Tragically earlier today my free one hour massage was cut short as the entire building was evacuated :( We've been having torrential rain here for weeks, Wivenhoe can't take any more water and the Brisbane river is now in flood. They're expecting 6500 houses to be underwater by thursday as the river hits 5 meters (bigger than the 1974 flood!). Toowoomba had a freak inland tidal wave hit yesterday and is a disaster zone. Hope your family is ok. Gympie and Caboolture are islands and the Bruce Highway is cut in several places. We're all fine here in the Redlands but obviously dad can't go to work and a lot of the shops are selling out of food. But we did win our netball game tonight by one point in the last 5 seconds! Woo hoo!