Things That Make Me Happy

It is a wonderful Sunday afternoon, and for once, I am actually not writing from Zurich. After some very intense weeks, I am taking a break at my parents' house this weekend, just relaxing and enjoying people and things that are good for the soul. No work, no schedules, no running around as usual.

I would like to share some of the things that are making me happy now.

Rose bushes surviving in the snow.

New boots.

Assembling ingredients for newly-created recipes.

A stack of cards ready to be sent to friends.

Praying by candlelight.

Massages.

Love poems (and hopefully their traslation!)

Räbeliechtlizum

After a quite relaxing day, last night I met up with my friend to go attend the parade in Richterswil for Räbeliechtli (sorry, link in German or French only). My friend was telling me it's quite a traditional event in the German-speaking part of Switzerland: basically, people carve out and decorate turnips, and then add little lights in them - sort of like what people in the US do for Halloween with pumpkins, although the underlying reason to celebrate is much different than that. In Richterswil the whole city participates to the event by turning off all the lights and putting out decorated and lit turnips, so it is actually quite nice to see.

We saw the parade, then walked around and ate many traditional goodies, such as sausages, schoggi praetzeli, raebe suppe, and lots and lots of gluehwine. We laughed, enjoyed the festivities, and bought some decorations, and we could just feel in the air that the country is already getting ready to wink at Christmas. I had a wonderful and relaxing time, not to mention the fact that I thought it was really interesting to get to know yet another side of Switzerland.

Afterwards, we ended the evening with a couple of glasses of good Spanish wine at D-Vino (very cool choice of name I think: "di vino" in Italian means "of wine", but "divino", one word, means "divine") where we met and conversed with some interesting personalities...

But that is another story...

Fondue

I finally made it back to Zurich for a few days, and I must say that it feels good to be home. I am quite excited at the thought of staying up to write until the early hours of the morning, sitting on my couch under a blanket, then sleeping in and just spending a couple of days without schedule. To be honest, I do have a few things planned, but they are very relaxing and loose evening plans, and I left both weekend days purposefully empty to just do what I feel.

I was invited to spend a pleasant evening in the company of good friends, sharing wine, lots of laughs, and fondue. I had had fondue before - not in Switzerland though - but I must say that this time was quite different: various cheeses mixed with wine and seasonings, coupled with kirsch liquor and crunchy bread made for an excellent meal, but it was the special, relaxed atmosphere that really melted away the stress of a few very full weeks. The wine, meats, and sweets blended together with amazing conversation, touching all corners of the world and bringing our minds to unexplored places.

I experienced the essence of Swiss hospitality: a combination of tradition, relationships, and warmth, the perfect balance between old and modern, and a breath-taking view of the lake and the lights of Zurich. With my eyes glancing at the past and my feet walking decisively on the path to the future, tonight I happily welcome the pleasant feelings and the challenges of my new life in Switzerland.