Switzerland: A Holiday Recap!

Having a European partner means that we switch off the annual holidays with our families. Last year, we spent Christmas in New York and California with my parents, so this year I experienced my first Christmas in Switzerland with Steven's family. Instead of sunshine, I had snow, which made for a wonderfully white holiday. I also ate a lot of cheese fondue, a winter dish loved by the Swiss. So here it is, a little late, our Swiss Christmas recap!

Steven and I spent a week in the small ski village where his parents live, Villars-Sur-Olon, located just outside of Lausanne in the French speaking side of the country. It's perched on the side of the mountain, full of snow and just straight out of a Swiss postcard.

During the daytime we did a lot of active stuff like teach me how to ski, tour the Christmas markets and take daytrips to other small villages throughout the Alps. It was really charming to see the difference in chalets between each village. I especially loved the intricate cutouts of the shutters, the detailing was beautiful.

We celebrated Christmas twice, per Dutch culture we had regular Christmas (December 25th) and Second Christmas (December 26th).

Getting together on these special occasions is truly an international fair, at the dinner table Dutch, French and English was spoken. I did a lot of listening, but it wasn't anything that wine and grandiose hand gestures couldn't solve.





After such a monumental year, even though thousands of miles away from home, it was the sweetest way to spend the holidays and kick off 2013! x

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