In to the Past - and a Happy New Years!

So due to the lack of consistant internet on my travels, I have been unable to post as regularly as my culinary experiences arise! Which is both a good thing and a bad. So here is a small tidbit from a day that I spent in Switzerland - when my mom read it she couldn't stop laughing, so I decided I should share it. And now presenting:
Eating like a German but Dressing like a Welshman
A wise professor told me this story while I was in Clermont. There used to be this duke of something or another in Germany that had a brother that moved away and married a woman in Welsh. The first brother (who was still in Germany) was writing to another German to talk about his brother, he was saying that even though he was living in Welsh, he was still eating like a German! And German’s can’t fit into the clothes of a Welshman, so he was spending a lot of money to both be eating like a German and dressing like a Welshman! And that is exactly how I feel today. It started off with me sleeping in late, waking up leisurely then eating breakfast, which I was told is supposed to be brunch, so I figured we would not be eating much until dinner. Oh how I was mistaken. After a well missed breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast (and for the record, no one looked at me funny when I made a sandwich of my toast and eggs!) then I was told to try this little brioche bread thing that was surrounding a bologna of some sort, then a jelly went on top. It was good, but I couldn’t tell you what was in it. Then I had a couple slices of this whole grain bread with a homemade strawberry jelly. It was delicious! Then we sat around and talked for a while around the table. It felt like home on Saturday mornings. The Christmas tree was also being set up at the same time. It was really nice to be in a home close to the holidays because my French host family didn’t really decorate for the holidays this year, I think something like they weren’t having any parties so why bother?
Anyway then Adrian said that he was going to the cabin for a couple days with some friends to go snowboarding, but also that his car couldn’t make it in the snow, so his mom was going to drive them. This is when I got invited along! It was such an experience to be in a car driving through the Swiss mountains with 3 boys! They were all such characters, and very funny even though they didn’t speak much to me. But it was ok because I had a good time anyway. Then half way there we stopped at a MacDonald’s. Being still full from breakfast, but also not wanting to be rude I asked just for a small French fry. Their portions are bigger in Switzerland than in France!! So while Sue did the grocery shopping for the boys, we all ate MacDo.
After getting back into the car to drive the rest of the way in semi-white out conditions! It finally felt like December when there was snow in the air and the cars were spinning out of control. Ah Home. Then after French fries I was handed a croissant with chocolate in the middle. Now, you all have heard about how good Swiss chocolate is right? It’s better. It puts our chocolate to shame! So then we finally got up the mountain (had to cross the ski path even to get up there!)
Then we dropped the boys off and it was just me and Sue to ride to Miriam’s horse show. But unfortunately with the weather we were just in time for “half time” which was an aperitif! Of hot mulled wine and little finger foods, in the middle of the arena! You would never see something so classy in an American barn! Then the riders started again and we all went up stairs to warm up before Miriam had to ride. I was then asked if I was hungry, at this point I was still full from the on going eating that had been happening all day, but I figured this was dinner so I said sure to the “menu” which turned out to be really good for barn food! It was this meat in a gravy sauce, steamed veggies (one that apparently doesn’t grow in the US) and then this flour egg mixture that is boiled, or fried, I wasn’t quite sure what it was. But it was good with the gravy from the meat. Then I watched the horses for a little while. It really made me miss horseback riding, it’s been such a long time for me! Finally Miriam won though! So that was good, and she got the trophy and a present and a ribbon. It was a lot of fun, and we went back up stairs after putting the horse away to talk to everyone. We were talking and I was handed another mulled wine. It was really fun, even though I couldn’t under stand a word of what was going on, it was really interesting to see all the people and how they interacted with each other. It was very different from French culture. For example, everyone was smiling all the time, no serious faces, also they were much louder than the French can get. And it was just a completely different atmosphere. It was a lot of fun.
Unfortunately what did me in was then they yelled that there were free bratwursts. And Sue said I just had to try one. It was good but I don’t think I will be eating for a week! It was a lot better than any hot dog we get in the states. SO finally after talking some more, we started to head out, which is always a process in a group of people who like to talk! But it was fun, we said good night to Bootie Call (the horse by the way!) and we packed up the car and left for home.
All in all, it was a really amazing day, even though it was too foggy to be able to see the mountains clearly, that just means I’ll have to come back some day!
Peace, Love and Happy New Years!