Christmas, New Year: 2007

Holidays are usually really great or a letdown, since both of our families are small and we've lived faraway. I'm musing why so many Christmases, Thanksgivings, etc. were spent in rented cottages, as a lead-in to Saas-Fee, a village/valley next to Zermatt (Matterhorn) - about 2 hours drive. Sufficient snow isn't a guarantee in December unless you go to places like SF, where other Europeans also converge and ski instructors speak 4 languages. The village has no cars; you park below and electric buses take you around. Not a glitzy resort, but mostly traditional Swiss 3-star hotels, where we ate half-board, breakfast and dinner.
We stayed at the Waldesruhl, the big one on the right. The kitchen was always open, so we ran a lot of mulled wine upstairs.
We really loved half-board, where you kept a table and your unfinished bottles of wine and water. Saas-Fee is Swiss-German, so it was a nice language and food switch - we returned to the land of rosti (hashed browns), which was served in many ways: mixed with veges, topped with a fried egg, cheese, etc). Breakfasts were simple but tasty; dinners were great. Christmas Eve was Roast Turkey and Christmas was a traditional fondue Chinois - a Swiss version of an Asian hotpot meal - thin slices of beef and chicken cooked in broth and dipped in sauces.

The Japanese version (nabe) would've had tofu, seafood & vegetables, without mayonaise-based sauces, but it was yummy. They served it with fries (btw, ALL french fries here are made with Yukon Gold potatoes; they're always yellow). The 5 course meals stretched Michael and Jack's limits, so I started carrying dessert to our room.
Saas-Fee is basically on a glacier surrounded by several peaks, so dress warmly! Beautiful vistas and restaurants at the very top - highest restaurant in the world, apparently.
We stayed at a fantastic family-run chalet with a great "family room" (can mean anything) with solid pine furniture with a view onto the valley. We were next door to the kid's ski school,
where Michael conquered the snowplow.

Jack had a tremendous kid's club (freshly pureed vegetables & juices, endless activities, play, cooking) THAT COULD'VE RUN ALL DAY & CAME INCLUDED. Jack loved sliding on his saucer, which he would drag up a small slope, turn, flop down, and slide away.

We had a small present opening later on the 25th, starting with stockings - chocolate reindeer.
Carolyn and I also took lessons. It was fun to go beyond the snowplow.
After 5 days, we swung by friends, Debby and Udo's, for a late Christmas.
This is from the driveway to their chalet in Gryon.
Michael & Jack made a beeline for the playroom. Michael has been cooking here for 3 years running.


New Year's Eve.
I have no pictures to post, but can only report that we celebrated the Spanish way: at midnite, we gathered downstairs back at home in Lausanne and were served a bowl of 12 grapes & a glass of champagne. With eyes fixed on the scantily clad hostess broadcasting from the main square in Madrid, we swallowed a grape with a fever-pitched, giddy sense of joyful duty, at the clanging of each bell. After all 12, we raised a glass and everyone starting exchanging hugs and kisses, calling friends and relatives on their cells. I can't imagine this having any meaning in another context.

We cooked Japanese food the next day, after having sushi the night before. Found a tremendous market - tiny but packed with every imaginable ingredient. Splurged and bought some dishes, too, because I, for one, cannot imagine eating Japanese food without decent pottery or china.

Bowl of 12 grapes + champagne = Spanish New Year.
Handpainted ceramics = Japanese New Year.

Different gear for our respective, cultural liturgies. In the end, it's about people, collective memory.