Living on Swiss Time: November 2007

26 November 2007

Thanksgiving in Zürich

I made my

first Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday! We had the most of the usual trimmings with the turkey: stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and pie for dessert. I was pretty nervous about making the stuffing since Nana and mom make a very tasty one; but, thanks to their tips, my stuffing came out pretty much the same as theirs! The only problem we ran into was that our turkey took longer to cook than our recipe had indicated.

The next day we decided to start baking some Swiss Christmas

cookies. We spent most of the afternoon making Brunsli and Mailänderli. I still want to try the Zimtsterne. They look quite good in the grocery store, and I really like cinnamon.

20 November 2007

Expovina

It's often quite hard to tell the progress you make when learning a new language. Last week, though, I had one of those days where I actually could compare what I can do now with what I could do a year ago. Of course, I have a long way to go; but those small successes sure are nice.

Last year, Doc and I visited Switzerland in early November, and we went to a wine expo in Zürich. I had just started a weekend German class in D.C., and could not understand, much less, speak with any of the folks working at the various wine stands. Last week, I went back to Expovina with some friends and enjoyed trying various wines. Best of all, we managed just fine in German.

14 November 2007

11.11 11:11

Every year 0n November 11, Guggenmusik bands gather at Hirschenplatz in downtown Zürich, and at precisely 11:11 am they start playing music. The band members are decked out in their carnival attire and stop in squares and restaurants and play music and drink. I've heard music that runs the gamut: songs from Phantom of the Opera, the Gin Blossoms, Elvis Presley, and Tina Turner, as well as folk music. The bands play throughout the afternoon and into the night, and then they are not seen or heard from again until Carnival. This year, I went to the Elftä Elftä Elfi Elf festivities with Doc's mom, aunt, and cousin and had a great time listening to the music and practicing my German.

Chinese Food

Last Saturday, we decided to make wontons and shao mai (steamed dumplings with a pork mixture in the center and egg, parsley, and ham in the pockets). It took a few hours to make the dough and the fillings and then form the dumplings, but it was well worth it!

Doc cooking the wontons

Our shao mai

07 November 2007

Vienna

Last Thursday was a holiday for Doc, so we decided to head out of town. We opted to go to Vienna for a long weekend. I've always wanted to go there to see the Schönbrunn and the art museums, as well as eat lots of cakes. The city was just as beautiful as what you see in photos; but, I was really disappointed by the lackadaisical approach to crime and disorder issues in one of the city's main U-Bahn stations.

The food options were really good. We enjoyed a Viennese dinner with slightly fermented grape juice (called sturm) at a Heuriger in Grinzing, a town on the outskirts of Vienna. We also found an Australian pub and a great Japanese restaurant. Doc had a yummy noodle soup, and I had fish and veggies--and even managed fine with chopsticks! I've been quite nervous about that and have been practicing since Doc and I are taking a two-week vacation to Japan in the spring. Even the falafel sandwich that I bought at a stand on the street was tasty. The deserts were fabulous. We had various chocolate cakes, including one with layers of chocolate creme, one with some marzipan, one we think had rum in it, and the famous sachertorte. Even though the sachertorte is made from my two of my favorite things--chocolate and apricots--and the combination is usually outstanding, the sachertorte, surprisingly, was just average. The dessert I ended up liking the best had yellow cake, eggnog cream, and white chocolate. I really wish I knew how to make that one!

While in Vienna, we visited the Schönbrunn Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Hofburg, the Austrian Parliament, the Kunsthistorishes Museum, Belvedere Palace, and the Hundertwasserhaus. Here are some of our photos: