A Good Weekend

Hello All, I know I have been very amiss in giving frequent reports of our goings-on. I will try to rectify immediately. First, I just have to mention that the sun has been shining for about two hours today and I was out for a while to see it, wonderful! But it's still 34 degrees, so my bones remain chilled when I go out.

So our weekend was a very social one. Yesterday was one of those perfect days. We had invited (planned well in advance) our upstairs neighbors, Richard & Michelle, to brunch and I quickly introduced them to our traditional mimosas. They hadn't seen such before, but adjusted fairly well, finally deciding, I think, that it was a pretty good idea. I had planned to make my coffeecake, but that was given up as brown sugar couldn't be had anywhere! So anyone who comes to visit, remember the brown sugar... We had crepes instead.

The conversation was lively and varied. We learned about the years they lived in Turin, Italy, and we told them about traveling and teaching in Turkey. We learned about their work, got some German/Swiss German lessons, discussed (of course) some political questions and the new and old US administrations, etc. They're also giving us suggestions for where to go in the mountains. We keep hearing that you have to go to the mountains here to see the sun!!

We also learned an interesting fact about Italy versus central/northern Europe. Apparently in northern Europe, they build for the winter and the cold, sensibly, and as Richard said, "In Switzerland, we know how to heat." But in Italy, even northern Italy where it's still cold, they don't. They still have a more Latin mentality and tradition and build for appearance and for celebrating summer. We had already experienced this in northern Italy in October when we FROZE in our hotel because the Italians said that it wasn't yet the date, the official date, to turn on the heat.

They also told us some American jokes, or maybe they're urban myths. The first was about the Americans who went to see some beautiful little Swiss villages with the castles and old buildings, ala Baden.
After looking around for a while, they finally asked someone when the village closed...

Oh, and I forgot to mention that it was snowing all day, from the time I was cooking in the morning, all through brunch, and all evening too.

After they left, it was still light and I took a walk down to the ThermalBad to soak. It was still snowing, so when I changed from the indoor to the outdoor pool, I was warm in the water with the snow falling on my face. These are some pictures of the walk down there, which takes about eight or ten minutes.

And when I came out afterwards, all toasty warm, it was twilight. Here's what it looks like from the outside of the bath area. The fence and greenery are surrounding the outdoor pool. You can always see the steam coming up from the warm water.