On Saturday after our game (which we won!) our team got together to celebrate (we were definitely overdue for some much needed team bonding). In addition to celebrating Christmas (with a small gift exchange), we decided to celebrate L'escalade as well. So what's with the chocolate cauldrons? Well we have Miss Catherine Cheynel to thank for that...on December 11th over 400 years ago when Geneva was attacked, she poured her boiling, vegetable soup out the window onto a Duke of Savoy soldier. Well, she might have actually thrown the entire pot, but nobody is really sure. So what better way to celebrate their victory than a pot made out of chocolate filled with marzipan vegetables?! BUT before smashing open the pot you have to sing (I think it's the Geneva national anthem?) and recite a particular saying "Ainsi périrent les ennemis de la République!" (Thus perish the enemy of the republic). Then...time to enjoy some chocolate. :) I actually got to see 2 cauldrons smashed: one with my team on Saturday and one with the club on Monday. They were both pretty different experiences. I would equate Monday's smashing to the breaking open of a piñata at a little kids birthday party...I don't think I could have gotten any chocolate even if I tried. The final event of the celebration is a parade. Hundreds of people dress up in traditional 17th century garb carrying torches, playing instruments or riding horseback through the old town. Unfortunately it was raining, but I managed to tough it out. As soon as the parade passed through I booked it back to my apartment for some dry clothes and a cup of hot chocolate. Honestly, after day 4, I'm pretty confident that I got the entire L'escalade experience :)
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Last weekend we had both Friday and Saturday free so you know what that means...time to travel! Grenoble, Lyon and Montreux...3 cities in 2 days means a lot of driving but all 3 were well worth the trip.
After finding where she went to school I mostly wandered around checking out various shops and of course finding the Christmas market. During the holidays, even the small cities with few attractions can end up consuming an entire day. Before I knew it, it was time to get going onto my next destination...LYON! After a full day in Grenoble I kept my trip to Lyon pretty short, but long enough to get the Fêtes des Lumineres (or Festival of the Lights) effect. The festival is held every year and attracts over 4 million tourists. Apparently it's up there with Oktoberfest in terms of attendance, although I would have much rather gone to Oktoberfest again. :) The streets are lit up and filled with roasting chestnuts, vin chaud (hot wine) and a TON of people. You actually can't drive your car past a certain point and for the 4 nights it's a pedestrian only zone. So all around the city there are Christmas lights, light displays played to music and videos played on the sides of buildings. Thankfully they provided a map so I could get around from place to place, but with well over 50 displays around the city I didn't come close to seeing them all. A full day in Grenoble, a 2 hour drive back to Geneva and an early morning to Montreux means I called it a night pretty early. So the final city on my list...MONTREUX. Geneva is known for many things but Christmas markets is not one of them (I guess I was spoiled in Hamburg last year). Thankfully a city nearby on the lake is! We spent the day checking out local crafts, tasting traditional foods and taking in the view. It sure was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit and up next, Christmas markets in Salzburg and Vienna. Less than 2 weeks until Christmas and only 1 week until my 12 day vacation begins!
Yay for the holiday season! I have officially been playing Christmas music for a week now so I think I'm a bit overdue on my Thanksgiving post. Unfortunately we weren't able to celebrate on Thursday because of practice. I was able to keep some traditions alive though (well from last season at least) and celebrate it on the last Sunday in November. I like to think of it as Euro Thanksgiving (I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving earlier this year, got to Skype with my family on American Thanksgiving and spent Euro Thanksgiving with my teammates and friends in Switzerland...I think it works).
So between the 4 Americans (my Canadian teammate is an honorary American) we had quite a few Thanksgiving traditions that needed to be satisfied...morning mimosas, Christmas music (specifically Amy Grant for Kelli), Christmas movie (Home Alone), kitchen chaos (alright that one didn't need to be satisfied but it's pretty typical), more food than we could handle (try 3 different kinds of potatoes, 5 different veggie dishes, 2 different cranberry sauces, 2 types of gravy and a 10 kilo bird), a serious food coma and of course a piece of pie (or 2!) to top it all off. Thanksgiving has probably become one of my favorite holidays. Over the past few years I have really started to love cooking, so what's not to love about a holiday that devotes an entire day to being in the kitchen and gorging yourself on great tasting food? On top of that I have always appreciated the friendly reminder to be thankful for all that you have in life. Things I am grateful for...
Next up: Blast from the past in Grenoble, Fêtes des Lumières in Lyon and Christmas Market in Montreux. It's about to be a busy weekend :-) |
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