Pack an adapter...

If you go overseas, you are likely to encounter a different power socket from your home country's. It wasn't a big deal for me about 10 years ago (I wouldn't take my hair dryer, for instance; and my sister had given me a battery-operated alarm clock) when I would travel for fun. Now, it's a different story. As I often travel for work, I have to bring my laptop. Plus I am always with my mobile too. Moving to Switzerland meant that we left our electronics in the US and purchased many adapters to take care of our electronics needs.

Before my first visit to Switzerland, I thought European sockets were all the same. Then I took my first business trip there, to Geneva, and discovered that I was completely wrong!

Power socket in Switzerland

So my EU adapter didn't work, of course. I hadn't bought the worldwide adapter at the airport (priced at over $80, I couldn't justify it) and just relied on using the office's power cords.

After moving to Europe, and (I thought) well equipped with both the European and Swiss adapters, I later went onto a business trip to Italy, and encountered a completely different power socket, which made me laugh:

In Italy

 
I think I'm going to have to get the worldwide adapter after all.

A Swiss lunch

We were invited by friends to lunch on a very cold but sunny Saturday. The restaurant was in a nearby canton, just a short drive away from Geneva. We were told that it was known for three things: fondue, Malakoff, and saucisse dishes. We are, of course, familiar with fondue. And big fans! Malakoff is a fried cheese ball, and Ryan loves sausages, so we already knew before stepping in to the restaurant that we'd be in for a treat. The restaurant is near several vineyards.We've made a point to look for local wines when we're in the supermarkets.

A frozen vineyard, Canton Vaud

The restaurant was very cosy and we were quickly seated. Our hosts told us their recommendations, and we started with a Malakoff each, and a bottle of white wine.

Malakoff

The Malakoff is served with a cabbage salad and a gherkin. For history buffs, the name Malakoff is supposed to have come from the soldiers of the French Vaudois army who stormed the fortress of Malakoff during the Crimean war - they named this dish in memory of their victory.

Then it was onto the next course. Being as brave as I am and not afraid of too much cheese, I had fondue. Delicious and simple, we could taste the wine more as we got to the bottom of the pot (we all ate fondue, but alas, could not finish it!).
Ryan had the Saucisse aux choux avec papet Vaudois. Roughly translated, that is a sausage (mixed with cabbage) and a potato / leek dish. He was very smitten. If he's quiet, he likes his food a lot. And he was pretty much silent when eating this!

Finally, we had coffee and I tried the Oriental orange salad with liqueur and lovely vanilla icecream.

The lunch was so decadent. We don't eat like that all the time, so it was a wonderful experience!

Siberian Cold Front

Cold ride

This week, Geneva had a good snowfall. It was so pretty when it happened. And then it got cold. The Siberian Cold Front landed, and it's staying for a while. It's hard to wait at the tram stop for 5+ minutes when the wind chill is cutting through your face!
Amazingly, the weather didn't stop protesters the other morning:

It's interesting to see that the roads and sidewalks are not plowed the same way as in the US:

Braving the commute to work

There's a lot of ice on the roads, at the tram stops, and on the sidewalks. You just have to take it slowly.

Some pretty shots around town:

Going to the market

We love going to the market on Saturday morning. The earlier in the morning the better, actually. It's so different than going to a supermarket, or a smaller grocery store. We get to practice our French with the vendors, and use our spare Euro change. More often than not, the vendors switch to English for us, but we still answer them in French!

We go to one in nearby France, just over the border. There are a couple of markets in Geneva, but we prefer to go to France, due to the choices and the lower cost (typically).  Ryan usually has his key food items to buy, and I have mine. The streets are closed off to traffic, but nearby parking is fine. There are plenty of places that offer samples of cheeses, meats, olives, or breads that usually drive us to buy away!

We always buy fresh bread, and one time we tried a local sweet pastry, filled with apple:

There's always an assortment of olives or dried fruits that we cannot resist, and we try to get new things whenever we go.

Ryan cannot pass by the saucisson stands (cured sausages) without buying something.

There are also clothes, shoes, bags and other stalls in the market, but we usually pass those by with not more than a glance, as we enjoy the food section much more.

This is what we bought on our latest trip to the market. We got an olive bread (pain d'olive), local cheese called Tomme de Jura, saucisson, a cake with a local liqueur, and olives with garlic and parsley:

 

Everything was very yummy!

Fête de l'Escalade

Last weekend, we attended the L'Escalade festivities. L'Escalade is the celebration of a defeat of the Duke of Savoy's troops in 1602. The name of this festival is taken from escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls. This is an annual event held in Geneva, and it goes from Friday to Sunday night, around the 11th and 12th December. We did not know what exactly to expect, so we read the English brochure on the event, and planned our weekend accordingly. 


We spent most of our time around Place du Bourg-de-Four.  It was very crowded, but we managed to walk around with some friends and check out some of the activities. First, was the parade of soldiers firing muskets: 

Next, we found a stand selling vin chaud, or hot mulled wine. Perfect for walking around on a cold day! We then we went to the Passage de Monetier, a tiny passageway between buildings that is only opened during the L'Escalade weekend. 

We went into a cafe near Place du Fourg-de-Bour and had a coffee. At one point, three children came in, dressed in 17th century costume, playing the flute and telling the story of the 1602 L'Escalade in old-French.
 
When it got dark, the lights really made this part of town look delightful. 

We wandered around some more, ending at Place du Molard and its big Christmas tree:

Sunday was the big parade. We were tipped by someone to go to a small cafe, Cafe Demi Lune, for a drink and snack at least an hour before the parade was to start, then go to the street just before 5pm. It was great advice, as it was the perfect location! 

Children were selling little kids lights in balls for 5 CHF:

This was just before the parade started, so the children who had one felt part of the parade, while the kids without looked on with envy. 

This is looking down to Place du Bourg-de-Four, just before the parade started. You can see the cathedral in the background. 

After the parade passed us, the participants sang the L'Escalade song in the Place. 





















We ended the day with Ryan smashing the marmite, a chocolate tradition of the festival, to represent the act of Mere Royaume throwing a cauldron full of hot soup at a French soldier climbing up the city walls. 

 
This was a wonderful weekend!

Chocoholics

We've always liked our chocolate, but moving to the land of chocolate has made us eat noticeably more than we used to! Switzerland is allegedly the topmost chocolate-loving nation (though I bet other countries would disagree), and has the highest per capita rate of chocolate consumption worldwide, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_chocolate)! I feel like we are personally helping Switzerland win!

Here is what we typically face at your average grocery store in Geneva:

 I could not fit the entire chocolate section in this picture. And I actually had to take this very quickly, as this is, not surprisingly, a very busy part of the store!

Ryan has a preference for dark chocolate, I think the darker the better. I go between milk and white chocolate, but I'm really not that discriminating. We do try to buy more Swiss chocolate than chocolate from another country, and we are stocking up on Swiss chocolate to give as gifts to our friends and family in the US.

Toblerone is of course a well-known brand in most countries, and you certainly can't escape it here!
I found this tasty delight at the restaurant where I have lunch on weekdays:

Yes, a pastry filled with gooey Toblerone goodness. Makes me think of pain au chocolate, which I have loved every since I was much younger, visiting my family in France.
Ahh, chocolate! I could on and on and on...

Saint Nicholas visit

I went to Germany on a business trip, and was staying the night of 5th. December in a hotel. I was told by my Germany colleague that in Germany, children clean and polish their shoes or boots, and put them outside the house on that night. In the morning, if their shoes/boots are really clean, they would find presents, such as chocolate, in them.
Well, the next morning, when I left my hotel room, I found that St. Nick had paid me a visit, even though I hadn't left my shoes outside the hotel room:

I found hotel slippers and a couple of chocolates outside my door!

That night, I flew on a Lufthansa flight, and instead of a typical sandwich and drink, they told us the story of St. Nick and then gave us little chocolates, cookies and a Clementine, in a St. Nick sack:

As a visitor, it was nice to be included in Germany's traditions, twice!