Twissted Swisster

Winter Sports: Skigibi

2010-02-07T13:06:00.003+01:00

Example of a homemade Skigibi

On the most exciting aspects of moving to Switzerland for a kid that grew up in the flat lands of the midwestern United States is the prospect of winter sports. In the words of some British friends, 'Proper' skiing as compared to the stuff in Wisconsin and Michigan.

I am by no means very talented in winter sports. I have played a little hockey, and managed to learn to downhill ski. I have even taken up snowshoeing this season. And the sledding here is fantastic! One type of sledding I haven't had a chance to try yet, and I'm not sure I want to is called Skigibi in Swiss German. It is pronounced something like 'SHE-gi-be.'

The concept is to take a single ski, screw a seat to in and ride it down the mountain. Sounds crazy. Over the weekend when we were at Rigi I actually saw two people with Skigibis and I just had to take a picture.

A Swiss friend of mine told me that these things were likely invented in the Berner Oberland. She mentioned that she thought they might have even originated from Adelboden. Every year in Adelboden there is a annual skigibi race and it is puported that last year some guy hit 137 kph (85 mph) on his skigibi.

Would you be brave enought to try your luck? What winter sports are you planning to attempt for the first time?

Snowshoeing at Rigi

2010-02-06T21:01:00.002+01:00

View from Rigi Snowshoe trail

This morning we decided to get up and head to the mountains on the train for an afternoon of snowshoeing. The trip started well with a surprise. The train ride to the top was much less than expected because as of December 13th 2009 you can now use a GA for the Rigi Bahn.

Rigi is one of my favorite views in the summer but we had never been there for the winter season. I was not disappointed by the winter view. The snowshoe trails were marked but a lot of the portions of the trail looked like no one had trekked on them yet. In some places we were cutting the trails ourselves walk from marker pole to makerpole.

After a good 2 and a half hours of hiking we finally fished the number 3 loop and returned to the upper train station at Rigi Kulm. We visited the resturant for a nice big dish of Alpener Maccaroni one of my favorite winter time dishes. After that it was lights out. I feel totally drained this evening. But drained in a good way. I know I will sleep well tonight. For now, I am just fighting to stay up so I don't go to bed to early.

Guten Morgen Sonnenschein

2010-02-03T19:35:00.002+01:00

Any fan fan of German reality TV will undoubtedly be familiar with the song Guten Morgen Sonnenschein. It has become the anthem of early morning cranky wake-ups.

The song is extremely catchy and after some looking on youtube I found the version I was looking for by Nana Mouskouri

Do you have any songs in German or another foreign language that stick with you despite the language barrier? leave a comment.

My New Lieblings TV Show: Bauer Sucht Frau

2010-02-01T19:52:00.003+01:00

I am addicted to Bauer Sucht Frau. Yes for those of you that know German it is 'Farmer Seeks Woman (wife).' The show is two weeks into the 2010 season and it is one of the best reality shows I have seen in a long time.

The premise of the show is quite simple. They find a bunch of mostly middle aged single farmers. Give them a couple of women to pick from, and then let the women stay with the farmers for one week on their farm. All the time they get to feed the pigs, shovel muck, and bond with the farmers.

The video clip above is from a previous season but it gives you a good idea of what the show is about. It is great because all of the dialog is basic conversational high German. It is a great way for me to practice the language.

This season I am really rooting for Farmer Bruno and his Frau Anja. They seem like a fantastic pair. Last weeks episode they pulled Bruno aside for one of those classic one-to-one interviews where the reality star speaks directly to the camera. He goes on to say something like 'She fills the emptiness I have had on this Farm, she cleans the entire house.' I love that line.

I give Bauer Bruno a lot of credit, he knew his farmhouse was a mess, so he rented an RV for Anja during her stay so she wouldn't have to be subject for his old musty ole farmhouse. For those of you watching the series who don't want a spoiler make sure not to do a search for Bruno & Anja, it looks like the final outcome of their relationship is already out there in public.

Show times on station RTL, 16:45 on Sunday evenings.

Virtual Tour: Limmat River Promenade

2010-01-31T19:43:00.002+01:00

We had such a great snow fall over the last weekend that I decided to hike around town to capture a few more winter scenes for the Baden virtual tour page. My with these tours is to give anyone out there considering moving to Switzerland they will have a few pictures of small town live in Baden.

The promenade along the Limmat river here in Baden is one of my favorite place to relax. A stroll along the river after a snow, or in a summer evening after dinner is the perfect way to relax. The promenade is also the perfect path to take between my apartment and the thermal baths which are located next to the promenade on the north end of town.

Check out the new Limmat promenade virtual tour to take a look around.

Snowshoeing: The Day After

2010-01-31T17:59:00.002+01:00

Snowshoe Trail Near Amden/Arvenbuel Switzerland

Yesterday we did a 2 hour snow shoe trek through the alps near Amden Switzerland. The weather looked a little foreboding as we were taking the post bus up to the top of the mountain. The area had just gotten about 8 inches of new snow the previous night, but no worries, the bus had chains on the tires and I am sure the driver was well experienced.

This was the first time I was ever snowshoeing. It is a really great time if you are hiker and want to get out in the snow. The blue trail leaves from Arvenbuel and is a 2 hour loop. As you can imagine the 2 hour loop with me and my camera meant we took a bit longer.

At the end of the trip the group of about 10 of us found a Switzerfamilia feuerstelle to make some fondue. The first 8 to get to the fire pit dug out the fire pit from under about 3 feet of snow and then lite a fire and began about 30 minutes later just in time to enjoy the fondue.

Everyone had carried about bit of the meal on the hike including some wood. I was carrying the 3 package of fondue cheese. So although I was a bit late we could only make 1 batch of cheese at a time in the pot so it worked out well that I was a little delayed.

This morning my legs were killing me. I couldn't believe how exhausted I felt after truding through the snow. Some parts where I stepped off the trail I found myself waist deep in snow. With all the sore muscles today we made a trip to the Thermal Bath in Baden for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day for the baths. Snow was coming down like crazy while we were outside in the 35 deg celcius (95 F) swimming pool. What a way to end a weekend.

I will be looking for more snowshoe trails for sure. Do you know of any in Switzerland? Leave a comment.

Buying Snow Shoes

2010-01-28T20:14:00.002+01:00

Everybody should buy snowshoes. Makes sense right. Okay, so maybe not, but today I got a pair of snowshoes. It felt a wee bit like a total impulse buy but what the heck.

I do actually have a need for snowshoes. Well, maybe not a need but rather a desire. We are planning to go snowshoeing with some friends on the weekend. The idea is to head to the mountains, hike around until we find a nice spot and then make some fondue somewhere. I am not really sure how this is going to work other than I have been told that one person is buying all the stuff and then we are going to split up all the stuff and each carry a bit of the lunch for the hike.

I sure hope I'm not the one that gets stuck carrying the fondue pot. Apparently this is a logistically proven feat. This group of friends did the same weekend trip last year so it should be interesting if nothing else. We'll be hiking through the Amden resort area.

If you are looking into shoe shoes I can tell you in Baden they cost about 35 CHF for a weekend rental. If you want to buy them from the local sports outlet store in Tagipark the prices range from about 100 CHF to 300 CHF. Seems like you can get a good buy at the lower end of the scale.

Hiking in the Woods

2010-01-24T17:34:00.003+01:00

Today we went for a hike through the woods not far from our apartment. We live the area north of the Alps so believe it or not we don't get too much snow here. Most of the snow will fall in the mountains and nothing other than a grey fog makes it as far north as our town. That means a walk through our little piece of Switzerland at this time of the year is usually covered only lightly with traces of snow.

It was much warmer out today that I had anticipated. Once we got moving, I took of my hat and gloves and unzipped my jacket to enjoy the fresh air. Or course part of that could have been the uphill hiking as well.

I did notice that it is staying light a little later now. Even at just before 6:00 in the evening there is still a faint bit of light in the sky. Just enough to see the outlines of the distance hills.

To night we are going to watch a recorded episode of Bauer Sucht Frau, but I'll leave those details for another post

Sledding at Flumserberg

2010-01-22T21:31:00.002+01:00

This week I made a trip to Flumserberg for a little sledding. Maybe 'little' isn't quite the right way to put it. For a guy that grew up in the flat lands of the Midwest of the United States a sled hill that requires a ski lift is definatly not little.

If you have a chance to try sledding at a ski area in Switzerland you'd be foolish not to try it out. It is like nothing else. Taking the lift up to the top, and then the bone rattling ride done some long forgotten mountain road that slowly disappeared as this seasons snow erased it from the face of the mountain is a real thrill.

I just love the exhilerating feeling of riding a davos sled down the steep trail, all the while trying to avoid the big ruts that can send you flying 3 feet into the air. The little dips that can launch a person airborne are great fun for the kids, but for a grown man, they can be a bit painful if you aren't careful.

I managed to squeeze in 3 runs down the mountain to the tannenheim ski lift. The first run was about 30 minutes while I learned the trail. The second two I made in 15 minutes each. I managed to crash only once after I launched myself in the air and landed flat on my backside just before sliding about 20 feet and coming to a stop. Yes it hurt, but oh it was so fun.

I was walking a little funny the next day, and did make a trip to the spa for my sore muscles, but I am feel pretty good today. Maybe I'll even be foolish enough to do it again!

Moving Your Books

2010-01-18T22:21:00.002+01:00

I have been reading a crazy number of books in the last couple of weeks. Something must be wrong with me. It is like moving to Switzerland has encouraged me to want to swallow hundreds of pages of text at a time.

While I do like to read, the last couple of weeks has been nothing like my normal reading pace. That got me to thinking what did I do before about English books, where did I get them and how did I survive?

A lot of people take the obvious route of buying then from big box online stores like Amazon.com or the book depository site out of the U.K. but what if you are local and you like the challenge of the hunt. Here are some options.

1.) Check a library

Some local libraries stock English language books. I was actually surprised at the number of English language books in the Baden public library. It isn't a huge number, but if I was really in need of something to read I am quite certain I could find something.

2.) Find a Brokenstubi

A lot of the second hand stores will have a lonely single box of books written in 'Fremdsprache.' Dig around enough and next to somebodies Abbreviated History of Europe college text that they thought would be useful on their work abroad adventure you might find a novel or two you might want to read. It is a fun hunt if you like that kind of thing.

3.) Find some Friends

I have found a really good way to find books is to find friends that read and swap books with them. In particular I have some colleagues at work that are avid readers. We have started a 'library' at work. Essential if you finish a book and want to share we have a dedicated shelf at work where you can leave it for the next person. We don't track check-ins and check-outs but with a critical mass of contributors we have a pretty sizable collection to select from.

4.) Look for Books While You Travel

When traveling Europe it is not uncommon to wander across an 'English' bookstore in major European cities. While they are rarely on my list of must see sites in Warsaw for example, I would not pass up an opportunity to browse the titles if I spotted a store.

5.) Import them

The most obvious place to get English books is to bring them from an English speaking country. I have started a new trend of buying second hand books in the U.S. Enormous quantities of them. And then testing the baggage limits of international flights. All the airlines say 50 pounds for international flights so if I haven't reached the limit when I am traveling back to Switzerland I got to my pile of books and pile on the weight until I hit the limit.

Happy reading to all of you.

Moving to Switzerland and Finding A Place

2010-01-16T10:51:00.005+01:00

I was talking to a friend this past week who is looking for a new place to stay. The discussion we had took the usual route for those that are looking to move. The back and forth about where he was looking, how big of a place he was looking for, and on and on.

Then came the common final sentence uttered with a depressed tone, "yeah, but there is nothing available."

This is a common theme when looking for housing in some of the bigger markets in Switzerland. The fact that new building is greatly restricted means there are a lot less places to live. People that find a place to live typically stay put as well unless there is a really good reason to move. Case in point, my neighbor has been in the same apartment for over 30 years.

So if you are moving to Switzerland or just looking for a new place let me share some ideas to get you started.

1.) Homegate

Check out the homegate.ch website to look for a place to live. Your best place to start is always the web and this will at least give you an idea of the prices you might expect for your target area.

2.) Talk to Your HR Department

If you are working at a larger international company and people are coming and going all the time talk to your HR department to see if anyone is moving in the near future. If you can find someone that is leaving in a hurry you might find a nice place before it goes on the market.

3.) Find a Relocation Service

Again, your HR department might be able to help. You can also just stop my a local real estate shop and ask one of the office staff for help. If your German isn't up to speed yet try a search for 'immobilien schweiz'

4.) Ask Your Friends

If you are already in the country and looking to move or know people already in Switzerland tell them you are looking. Spread the word, the more people that know you are looking and know what you are looking for the more help you will get.

Do you have any other secrets to finding a place? leave a comment to share with the rest of us.

Looking for A Combi

2010-01-12T22:23:00.002+01:00

I'm not actually looking for a Combi. It's just a word that I really like. I am not sure if it is a German word or a British English word. I can say it is used on German websites.

It is such a great word. I was thinking of a friend of mine who drives a Subaru. Or last time I talked to him he did. It is at least 5 years old now, probably more and I have to believe he might be looking for a new Subi Combi.

So what is it? If you haven't figured it out it is a something will call a station wagon, or wagon for short in U.S. English.

Does anyone know the roots of this word?

New Baden Switzerland Virtual Tour

2010-01-10T23:07:00.004+01:00

On of the most difficult things about the decision to move overseas is trying to understand what you are getting into. If you have not had a chance to visit a city how do you know what it looks like? Yes in the internet age you can find pictures all over the place but even pictures don't really give you a sense of a place.

I remember when I was first reading in the guide books about this far off place called Baden, Switzerland and trying to imagine what it might look like.

For those that are pondering the same question I'd like to give you a chance to take a look around. I have just completed the beginnings of a virtual tour of Baden.

I hope the interactive images will give you a better picture of the town that I call home.

In the future I would like to expand the collection of tour sites. If there is something you'd like to see in Baden let me know. I'll add it to my list and when I have time I'll try to head out to take some pictures. For now I've put a link in the side bar for Baden Virtual Tours so the images will always be within easy reach no matter where you are on the site.

Happy touring....Click here to start your tour..

Interactive 3d Tour of Baden

2010-01-08T23:59:00.004+01:00

Spherical Projection Used to Create a VR

I have been working on a small project for the last 4 days. My wife will surely tell you that I have been doing nothing but hovering over the computer as I was trying to learn a bit about creating interactive panoramic VR images. Well, its Friday night, 12:00 am and I finally got my first one working properly. Excellent! Here is a link to the VR image of Baden's Christmas lights. Click on the link to open the file, then make sure you click and drag on the full screen image to 'look around'.

Back In Switzerland

2010-01-06T23:16:00.003+01:00

The holiday season if officially over and I am back in Switzerland after a two week trip back to the U.S. As always it was nice to be back in the 'homeland'. I enjoyed the food, family, friends, and most importantly the English.

As this we arrived in Switzerland just yesterday I am still fighting the jet lag a bit. It is now almost 11:00 pm in Switzerland and it feels a bit like mid day to me. I won't be surprised if it takes me a bit of time to fall asleep this evening.

That means my morning wake up call at 7:00 will be a little harsh. The alarm going off right in the middle of the night U.S. time is always a bit jarring while I am adjusting back to the European timezone.

For me it is always about 3 days until I am back to normal. That means I should be in great shape to enjoy the upcoming weekend.

A quick inventory of things I brought back this Christmas

Cherrios
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
Books, lots and lots of books
Dramamine
Tums
thermal underwear
A couple of picture frames for American sized prints
a host of other small odds and ends

If you care to share, what do you usually bring back? Post a comment.

Eating

2009-12-30T01:57:00.002+01:00

I have been eating too much. Hamburgers, ham, pie, pho ga soup, stir fry, chicken caserole, macaroni and cheese everything in sight. It is terrible. At one point it was about 3 days in a row of constant food comas. I was bearily able to keep my head off of the pillow because my stomach was too full.

All the joys of returning to the States for the holidays.

I have hit most of the require stops. Although I think KFC and White Castles are still on the must visit list.

Yesterday morning I was feeling really guilty about it. I did manage to get my butt outside for a jog. I t hink it was about a 4 mile run. A well needed return to fitness in this season of sedentary life.

Snow In Baden

2009-12-19T17:00:00.002+01:00

The holiday season is underway in Switzerland. Last night we kicked off the celebration with a evening of fondue, kirsch, and prosecco with our Swiss neighbor. It was a great way to start the weekend and the vacation period leading up until Christmas.

We work this morning to find our little village covered in snow. It was the perfect day to hike up the neighboring hill next to the town and get a photograph of the town center covered in snow.

For lunch today we also stopped in the bahnhofplatz in the center of town where there was a small fire ring and a concession stand selling famous Swiss Cervelat sausages. For two francs each you get a 3 foot metal pole and a raw sausage. Ten minutes later all the while warming myself by the fire I had a roasted sausage for lunch. That was probably the deal of the century. Where else in Switzerland can you get lunch for 2 francs?

We rounded out the afternoon with a stop at at small table manned by our neighbor just up the street where she and a few collegues were trying to raise some money for a local club. They were selling traditional Glühwien (mulled wine) and roasted chestnuts. We got introduced to my neighbors friends and made some small talk in German while we enjoyed the snack.

Resturant Colopic in Düsseldorf

2009-12-07T20:35:00.003+01:00

My wife is in advertising. She always says that low brow humor does not have a place in a really 'Creative' ad agency. Maybe, but I don't really care because it still makes me laugh.

Here is a sign I spotted in Düsseldorf last weekend. Yes its low brow toilet humor, so sorry but I'm still chuckling about it.

We made the trip last weekend to visit a friend that moved from the US to Germany. She is just getting used to the expat life. It was fun to catch up with her and hear about all the tough challenges she is facing as she adpots her knew life. She is of course facing the same things we did when we got here. I know exactly how she feels.

International Business English Can Be Feary

2009-12-01T20:37:00.003+01:00

I really like working in an international business environment. Every day I work with people that are amazingly talented with languages. I'm sure about 90% percent of the people I am working with are conducting daily business in languages other than their native languages. As a result there are often times when you hear a phrase in 'International English' that is not quite right to a native speaker, but is understood. Often times these little phrases will induce a chuckle.

Here are 5 of my favorite international business English phrases.

I remember you next Monday is a holiday so I can not make the meeting.
Please precise the job description on the form.
Would you like a window seat or an ale.
That was so feary I almost screamed.
I think he has a case of the pork influenza.

To those of you that have made such mistakes, kudos to you. It takes courage and a whole lot of energy to speak in a foreign language all day at work and you are certainly allowed a few mistakes. For that I truly have to commend you.

Do you have any good international business English phrases? Leave a comment.....

Christmas Tree Is Up

2009-11-30T18:08:00.003+01:00

This weekend we got the tree up. As we always do, we put it up a bit early so we can enjoy it before we make holiday trips home. We got a tree as always at the jumbo, this being the smoothest bus ride home yet. I finally have a good process down for getting the tree home on the bus. Pick it up at the jumbo, strap it to my pull shopping cart, and drag it home.

I was a bit worried about not having enough lights since the little Italian Christmas lights are so expensive. As I approached the bottom half of the tree I was dreading I would run out. At 20 USD for 100 lights it is quite a shock to have to pay so much. My wife pulled the unused set of lights out of the Christmas decoration box all the while telling me not to worry, we had plenty of lights. To my surprise I had invested the 20 bucks last year in a set of lights that I never even opened.

I know we put our tree up early, but its after Thanksgiving so I somehow feel justified in having it up.

Balconies of Barcelona

2009-11-29T12:05:00.002+01:00

Balconies in Barcelona

I have posted before about windows being a view into the lives of the people that live inside a building. I think balconies offer a similar perspective. Seeing peoples laundry, plants, and tables and chairs gives you a perspective on the the lifestyle of the people that live in the building.

When we were in Barcelona there was an apartment building right across the street from our hotel. Each morning when I would wake and look on the window there would be different laundry hanging. This image is just one the series. I'll have to put a few of them together and see what I get.

I have been a little slow to catch up on going throught my photos this month. I really want to get through them so I can start on my yearly travel book that I like to make. It usually takes be about 2 weekeneds to finish the book and I need to order it before I make the trip home for Christmas so I guess it is time to get started.

Weekend in Barcelona

2009-11-25T22:33:00.002+01:00

I had a business trip to Barcelona on Monday and Tuesday so we decided to go a bit early and spend the weekend wandering around from one resturant to another enjoying the local cuisine and culture. It was a great way to relax and get away from the gray Swiss weather.

Not much to say about the trip right now, other than it was alot of fun and a good chance for me to practice a bit of my extremely rusty Spanish.

Raebechilbi Richterswil 2009 (Turnip Festival)

2009-11-15T11:45:00.003+01:00

Turnip Lanterns at Tabebechilbi Festival

This Saturday night marked the Raebechilibi festival in Richterswil. The annual festival is a celebration for the local community to carve turnips and put tea lights in them. A similar tradition to the American pumpkin carving around Halloween I suppose.

The center piece of the festival is parade for the children to carry their carved turnips through the streets of the town. During the parade all the local homes and shops display thousands of carved turnips, each one glowing brightly. Literally every windowsill and roof awning is lined with hundreds of glowing turnips.

Just before the parade starts all the locals are up on ladders lighting the candles that have been set out during the day. It was really amazing to see all the glowing veggies as a loud cannon sounded and all the street lights in the city were cut to announce the beginning of the parade.

In addition to the children carrying there personal turnips, often hanging by strings from a stick some local community groups also created enormous parade floats for the celebration.

The floats themselves were often times nothing more than huge boards strapped to farm wagons. The boards had pictures painted on them in black and white and then hand hundreds of turnips with candles afixed to the white parts.

As is always the case with such festivals many of the floats were political or were representative of recent news. There was one celebration Bolts news world record for the 100 m sprint, 9.58 s. There was a tribute to Michael Jackson. There were two tributes to Snoopy. I don't know what that was about but maybe someone else knows.

One local cultural custom that I can not get over in Switzerland is that fact that they charge and entrance fee to attend parades. I am used to parades being free. You line up in the street and watch the floats and bands go by. Here there is a little bit different mentality here. As we got off of the train we were confronted by hordes of people selling plackets as then call them here. These are little trinkets or medallions on a string that you are supposed to buy and hang around your neck indicating you paid the obligatory 6 Francs to stand in the street.

I have never really seen anybody checking for these medallions, most Swiss are very good about following the rules. However, this time as were were standing waiting for the parade in the drizzle there was a women walking the parade route and checking that everyone had there placket. If you didn't have one she would be happy to sell you one.

This year the parade started around 6:30 and lasted about 1 hour. There were some food booths and hot drinks available as well. It was definitely worth the trip if you are close to Zurich and looking for something a little out of the ordinary.

Subway Opens In Baden

2009-11-13T21:20:00.002+01:00

Today was my first trip to the new Subway in Baden. I was inspired to stop by after a recent phone call with Mother. After having visited Switzerland twice she has enough experience here to understand about the only 'Americana' you get get here is MacDonald's. So when I told here there was a Subway coming to town she rightly asked, "Why would Baden need a Subway? It is such a small town, I can't imagine why they would spend all that money on public transportation."

So Let me give you my critique. The Subway sits on the south end of the old town. Just a stones throw from the clock tower. I went for lunch today only after another American colleague of mine suggested we check it out for lunch.

The place is just a little bit larger than a University dorm room and has about 4 tables. I guess that suits the lunch crowd well. I had completely forgotten the place was a short walk from the school. Showing up at shortly after 12:00 on a week day was not a good idea as I was competing with the local school kids to get my "Ham und Turkey auf honey oat."

A 15 cm sub (6 inch) will set you back about 6 Swiss Francs ($6). I decided to go with the value meal. That included a 30 cm sub (foot long) a medium drink, and a bag of chips. I was treating so I picked up my friends tab as well. Total cost for two foot long value meals plus a cookie, $36. Yes my American friends, scream in horror, that is about the same price as you would pay in the U.S. to cater an entire Superbowl party using your friend Vito down at the local Italian deli.

The good points, the sub tasted great. It was made on that wonderfully soft and delicious American style bread that the Swiss seem to cringe at. I had my choice of American style sandwich toppings. Things like tomatoes, onion and green pepper. I guess that is hard to understand unless you've tried to order a sandwich in der Schweiz. If you have grown to love the Swiss version of the sub, worry not my young Swerge. You will be offered the option to include slices of hardboiled egg on your sandwich.

The best thing about the Subway by far was the soda fountain. It is the only place in Baden that has a soda fountain. The only downside, no ice machine. Yeah, I know its rough but you gotta roll with the punches sometime and take what you can get.

Hotdogs & Raclette

2009-11-12T22:34:00.001+01:00

Raclette Cheese

I definitely do not eat raclette & hotdogs together. But believe it or not they do have something in common. Strangely enough they are my two most popular selling food photos lately on a stock photo website that I contribute too.

Yes, this photo was staged at home just before we gorged ourselves on cheese. I just love the wanderschlumpf shirt (a.k.a. brownies) that my wife found a flea market that we used in this picture. It really makes the photo.

So let the ski season begin and be sure to have a bit of Raclette at the ole' ski hutte.