Dec 2015
Wow, what a great first month we had here in Switzerland! We started the Christmas season by decorating – going just over the border to Austria to get a mini tree and pointessta to decorate our space and collecting brush and berries from the forest to decorate the B&B. Doro & Til bought a beautiful bunch of mistletoe to hang over the door – we had never seen real mistletoe before!
We had two amazing spa experiences. Scuol, the larger town 2 miles from us, has an incredible spa with nude only sauna area. We spent 3 hours one afternoon in the general spa and tried all of the pools, hot tubs and sauna area. Later in the month we went to the Roman-Irish spa which is all nude and really fun. In this spa you go to different areas at certain times like the dry sauna, the steam rooms and mineral pools. We also got a mini massage with yogurt and aloe vera cream. It was all very relaxing and we are absolutely addicted now. We even got a gift certificate to use there as a Christmas present!
Til was working on a website for a new sports shop in Scuol so we went to the grand opening and had lots of free nibbles and a few drinks. There was another home decor shop opening down the road on the same day with more free food and drink and Dorothea bought a new chair!
We drove to Samnaun near the Austrian border which is a duty free area and got Christmas pressies for our hosts and got some Quality Street chocolate and Harribo for Christmas day as a special treat. Mostly we went for gas as it’s only 0.88€ a liter (worth the 40 minute drive each way we think, haha).
Matt has joined the men senior’s hockey team in Scuol and has gone to several practices this month. Thanks to his mum, he has most of his gear and skates and is really enjoying it and making some Swiss friends. Most nights he stays for a beer and the night before Christmas Eve they went for pizza together.
We went to a 75th birthday party for a local lady with lots food and drink followed by an organ concert in the church in her honour.
Before the start of the winter season, the butcher, baker and grocery store (sorry no candle stick maker in this village) put on a little thank you for the locals in the main square with free hot wine, sausages and cakes. Speaking of cakes, we received a traditional German Christmas cake called stollen made with fruit and marzipan and the most delicious cheese cake as a thank you for the two times we house sited for our hosts. We (mostly Matt) made Christmas cookies and we drank hot wine and listened to Christmas music. Needless to say we had plenty of food and drink throughout December!
Matt was dying to see the new Star Wars film so Dorothea called the two nearest cinemas to see if they were showing it in English but they weren’t so we assumed he would have to wait until it came out on DVD. But then we had a thought that a cinema in a bigger city might be showing it in English. We found out that places like Zurich and Lurcene were in fact showing it but it was at least a three hour drive away or a very expensive train ride. Natalie did some more research and found a cinema in Innsbruck, Austria was showing it in English, with no subtitles and in 3D – what luck! So Matt drove himself there and got to see the film in all it’s glory on the opening weekend.
The days around Christmas themselves were quite special. On Christmas Eve eve (23rd) we went for a hike above sent with Doro & Til and stopped at a little cafe for some hot wine and hot chocolate. Usually you could toboggan back home but there wasn’t a drop of snow for Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we walked around Sent looking for advent windows. It is a tradition in villages around Switzerland for 24 houses to decorate a window for each day of advent. We weren’t able to go see a new one every night as the list of each house didn’t give the address but just the person’s name so we had no idea where these people lived!. Then Doro & Til took us to Sur En which is a very tiny village below us in the valley. We went for a candle lit walk in the forest with, of course, free hot wine and sausages.
On Christmas day Natalie made brunch and read our usual Christmas stories, followed by a little hike above Sent to look for the full moon before it got too dark but it was a bit overcast and the moon wasn’t visible yet. We Skyped with the Downie clan and then went to Doro & Til’s for a wonderful Christmas dinner of goose, red cabbage and dumplings. We had never had goose before but we will certainly be making it again for Christmas in the future. Then we Skyped the Frank family and snuggled in to watched Elf, our favourite Christmas movie.
On Boxing day we went to a hotel bar in Scuol to hear a jazz trio give a beautiful Christmas jazz concert. The band was a piano player who sang, a trumpet and a double bass. They played quiet a few regular jazz songs as well. The concert was free but you were inclined to buy a drink while listening so Natalie had a glass of wine and Matt had a beer. The following day we went to Sur En for the opening of the ice palace with yet more free hot wine and sausages!
We were beyond excited to receive our skates from Matt’s parents and went skating in Scoul to test them out. The back drop was amazing and because Matt knew the guy who was working from hockey, he let us skate for free!
On New Years Eve we hosted an ‘apéro‘ for the guests in the B&B. We had lots of wine and prosecco and little munchies. Doro made plums wrapped in prosciutto and Natalie made chocolate brownies. We had local cheese with bread and potato chips, nuts and pretzels too. After a few drinks with guests we watched the big fat quizz of the year (an English tradition) and had a really great laugh at all of the funny and crazy things that happened in 2015. Then Natalie decided that she needed to go to bed by 11pm as she was serving breakfast for 8am the next morning. Matt stayed up with some of the guests and had gin cocktails and went to the main square to ring in the New Year, among all of the locals and tourists, with a glass of champagne. The B&B was pretty busy during the two weeks of Christmas holidays – we are very much looking forward to a quieter January.
Purple Moose Tales 
I’m breathless reading of all the wonderful things you’ve done in your beautiful little Swiss village. And the photos are super – you look like you’re having the most wonderful time – what luck to find such great hosts and cozy place for the holidays. What fun!!
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We were all really pleased to see you enjoying yourselves at Christmas in very traditional ways. You have been lucky to find such a lovely place to stay with good hosts. All the best for 2016 albeit a bit late.
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