We love the snow. I didn't know we loved the snow, but since Thanksgiving it seems we have had more days than not with snow on the ground, and we are not sick of it yet - not even close. I think back on my childhood now with a sense of deprivation: all the snowmen I never got to make; all the missing snowball fights; the snow angels that never got to be. I did have a few trips to the snow when I was young, but my memories were always of being cold and miserable - now, thanks to technology and a bit of money, we have all the right clothing, so you never get cold! Who would have thought?! Even Eric, who grew up with plenty of the white stuff is having fun. His thinking: there is no wind here, so as long as you are bundled up, the cold is quite bearable...
Now I was told that a White Christmas is quite rare in these parts - but I put my order in early, and old man weather delivered! And talk about winning the lottery: a white Thanksgiving as well - boy, are we blessed! Now I know that not everyone was singing the praises of snow, as many got stuck Christmas week unable to get to where they wanted - be it vacation, getting home, or getting to relatives for the Christmas holiday - hopefully everyone was able to keep their impatience in check and just be in the moment, while we enjoyed the pleasure of the winter wonderland.
As is usual, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years has just flown by. We started the holiday season with the Basel Stadtlauf on Thanksgiving weekend - kids (and adults) run through the city streets the first night they light up the old part of town. Quite charming, except it snowed that day, leaving the roads covered in slippery ice and snow that they couldn't clear entirely before the race started (again, something that would never be allowed in California!). I waited at the chaotic finish line so missed the kids slipping and falling - and it took over 15 minutes to find Bennett after he finished in the crowd of parents claiming their kids. You have to give it to the people of Basel, though - they love to celebrate, and despite the cold and slushy conditions, people were out in full force to cheer everyone on.
The next weekend we had a great visit from Sue's cousin Britta - she came down from Frankfurt and we did a treasure hunt tour of Basel with the kids - chasing clues throughout town. We then got an adult night out which included a tour through Basel's Weinachtsmarkt. Nothing like a little Gluehwein to get one in the holiday spirit! We spent the night talking and talking - work, life, retirement - it always great to see her, and we hope to get to see her again soon.Our next big event of the season was our piano recital. They boys have been taking lessons since October, and it is like fish to water. We had been worried when we decided to move the piano that it would end up just being a piece of furniture gathering dust, but there are days I swear someone is sitting and playing from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep (sorry neighbors!) Our teacher is really proud of their enthusiasm, and they were the only duet at the recital - check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRzHlN8W_Zo How can you not be proud of that?
We then took the week before Christmas and went to Austria to do our first real ski vacation. St. Anton is tucked into the Tirol region, and we were blessed with good weather, no crowds and lots of snow that made the week a perfect getaway. The kids took lessons and went from beginners to able to do any hill with Dad. I took private lessons in my quest to just like skiing, and my instructor Tom was perfect - endless patience, with a focus on having fun and feeling safe. He carried my skis, he held a spot for me in line at the lift, he skiied backwards half the time to help me figure it out. How could I ask for more?
Now what was interesting, in my limited ski experience, was that I was used to the standard designations of trails: green for beginner, blue for in the middle, and black for the hard slopes. Here, you don't see green, which made me think blue was for beginners - but actually, when we signed up for lessons, they showed this little chart that includes green as the beginner designation - they just don't happen to have any green slopes at the whole resort... They have also thrown in red between blue and black - I don't know if that makes the red slopes here equivalent to black runs in the US, and then double black diamond equals black here?? It doesn't matter to me - I am not going off the blue for a while...
What was also fun was that every night we would come back to our hotel for a sauna and steambath. The kids had a ball, and we were amused by the robes they got - pink for Karl with ribbons, and Bennett's peach number made him look like a little victorian girl... Karl was pissed, and it was only the allure of the sauna that got him to put it on - Bennett was oblivious to the humor of it all. Can't wait until they are teenagers and everything bothers them...Finally we got to celebrate Christmas here - the big event is the unveiling of the tree on Christmas Eve - the hotel resturaunt was blacked out all day, and that night when they opened we were treated to beautiful decorations, along with a tree that had real candles - can't say we have seen that before in California!
All the hotel guests toasted each other, and we enjoyed a fabulous four course meal capped off with a beautiful basket of home made Christmas Cookies. It was really homey (for not being at home) as we played games in the hotel lobby until all were too tired to stay up any longer. We ended up doing Christmas all over again on December 26th once we got home, so for us it was the holiday that kept on giving this year...We hope you and your families had a great holiday season, and are kicking off 2011 with excitement for what will come this year!
