Kelsey in Switzerland: February...

As February is coming to a close and I have been extremely good at neglecting my blog. It has been a very eventful month, with so much to write about. We have had snow, skiing adventures, and Fastnacht- a crazy five days of celebration, but well get back to that.

Lets start with the snow, which has now come and gone a few times this month. I love the snow and the magical feeling it brings. I stopped riding my bike to and from school after slipping on ice in front of my school, which left me with a wonderful bruise on my knee. It has not only snowed a few times, but has been far too cold for my liking. The frozen Europe hit Switzerland a few weeks ago, which meant temperatures that reached -15 degrees. I wore a lot of scarves and started walking to school, as I am not Swiss and cannot ride a bike on icy roads.

My orchids in full bloom,
with the outdoors covered in a layer of snow.

I have been skiing four times this year, which for me is far too little. But the times I have been skiing were absolutely wonderful and exhausting. I have a season pass for Andermatt from Rotary and a train pass, which allows me to go skiing when ever I want. Skiing in the Swiss Alps is breathtaking and I love every minute of it. No matter how wonderful skiing is, it is still very different than how we ski at home. First of all, we don't wake up at the crack of dawn to drive to Timberline, we leisurely get out of the house by 9 am and drive the 45 minutes to Andermatt. Like most ski areas in Europe, to reach the lifts and lodge, you ride a very large gondola to the top.

The gondola ride itself is quite something different, for one thing on a beautiful day you are packed into it like sardines. If you are lucky enough to get to the edges of the gondola you get a wonderful view of your surroundings, but if you are stuck in the middle you don't get much of a view other than the ski equipment of the other people riding up the mountain. Once you reach the top, you can ski down to the lifts and rope pulls. The ski lifts themselves are not big or as comfortable as they are home, almost all of them are two riders and there are even rope pulls! The first time I rode one it took my about three times to figure out how to get on. Because you are skiing on the top half of the mountain, there aren't as many trees around which for me means less tree skiing and more wind. Even though skiing here is so much different than it is at home, I still love it and if I could I would ski every day if I could, but unfortunately I have to go to school...

Skiing on the Gemstock, in Andermatt.

Andermatt covered in snow.

The last two weeks I was on break, for Fastnacht, but again Ill get back to that later. I spent the first few days around Switzerland, and on one specific day I traveled to Zug to see a friend of mine from Seattle. I had been to Zug maybe five times, but I had never walked through the old town which is one of my favorite things to do when I visit a city. Zug has a very small old town, but it is also the richest canton in Switzerland and has highest population of English speakers. There is a beautiful clock tower, which is open to climb in the summer, and a few streets lined with little shops along the lake. We even stumbled upon an adorable old chaple tucked between the shops on the shore.

The Zug clock tower, with eight cantons shields;
Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Glarus, Zug

After a little exploring of Zug, we headed to Baar to find an American and British foods store. I have been missing quite a few American food items that I cant seem to find in Switzerland, so I was overly excited. We finally found it and discovered that not only do they have a wonderful collection of real American food, but a restaurant and lots of delicious sounding meals. Unfortunately we had already had lunch, so we drooled over all the food items they had in stock. There was marshmallow fluff, canned frosting, REAL brown sugar, pop tarts, cake mixes, and fake cheese. They had Tillamook cheddar, cream cheese, and rootbeer. I looked through everything but eventually decided that it would be better to just buy a rootbeer, because otherwise I would end up coming home with canned frosting and marshmallow fluff.

Luxemburgerli, a 100 year old Swiss confection which
originated in Zurich and are absolutely my favorite.

ROOTBEER!!

We have finally arrived to Fastnacht! It's a celebration that lasts for six days and ends with Ash Wednesday, as Lent begins. It it the same idea as Mardi Gras or Carnival, but Switzerland has its own special way to celebrate. And central Switzerland even more, Luzern Fastnacht is one of the most famous and craziest in the country. I met some friends there on Thursday (Smutzigen Donnerstag) for the start of the festivities with a giant parade. This was something completely incomparable, for one thing the floats were not as big or as extravagant as American parades, but it it is the costumes and the Gurken music that you must experience. Everyone is dressed up in the most creative and ridiculous costumes I have ever seen and the detail and effort that is put into the festivities in mind boggling. There is confetti everywhere and all over you and your clothes and the whole city was shut down. I was completely in awe of the crazy traditions and I loved every single minute of it. Fastnacht is the one time of year when its ok to be crazy and dress up as something insane, because everyone else is dressed up crazy too!

What a February, of course there is so much more that has happened, but I have to post this by the end of the night or it will be posted in March. What? Its already March, I really don't know where all the time has gone or how I feel about having booked my ticket home. It's almost Spring which brings the birds back and the flowers in full bloom making Switzerland smell wonderful.