A Christmassy time in Switzerland

This year it’s been hard to get into the Christmas spirit, and at this point, I gave up a little – last week I was in snowy Switzerland, and explored some beautiful, Christmas-enchanted Italian towns. Whilst it is indeed lovely, I just can’t feel the same way I have felt in previous years – likely because I am indeed in a weird phase in my life, and I just have to accept it and stop forcing myself to be a certain way just because it’s Christmas, and you’re supposed to be joyful all the time. The moment I accepted it, I immediately started to feel a tiny bit better. Which is better than nothing 🙂

I’m very lucky to have a very good friend in Switzerland, likely the sole reason I can visit the country. As you can imagine, it is very expensive there, and not having to pay for accommodation helps a lot. The additional benefit of having her translate any French I can’t understand and also be a personal guide… It is always nice a good break from the solo travelling I typically do. Kindly she picked me up from the airport in Geneve and we drove straight to Montreaux to visit the Christmas Market there. Bear in mind the weather was cold and rainy, so not perfect conditions, but with a good water-repellant insulant coat you can do almost anything in the cold – especially if you drink some mulled wine (or vin chaud) to keep you warmed and happy. And well. a waffle and also had some poutine for the first time… yup, I know it’s Canadian, but I just have to try anything that has french fries in it, as the likelihood for me to like it’s very high!

The next day was an icy adventure for me – someone who is far from being used to walking on snow and icy grounds! But I got to know the beautiful and quaint town of Gruyères, home of the Cheese Fondue. This is the most charming place I have visited in Switzerland, and the Christmas decor only added to it.

The last Christmassy stop was in the fancy ski resort town Crans-Montana. There wasn’t a Christmas Market there which was a bit disappointing. Still, there was a Lantern Path with lovely light installations. These reflected in the snow, which made the experience even more special, even though I was constantly afraid of slipping on the ice and falling down (bringing my warm glass of mulled wine with me…).

The lights on the streets were also pretty, so I took a couple of pictures too before my fingers froze over.

This is just the start of my wishing Merry Christmas to everyone on this part of the Internet. I’ll be posting more from the cities I visited in Italy, just before Christmas Eve 🙂

Love, Nic