Switzerland

If we were trying to go somewhere that was the complete opposite of Jubail, Saudi Arabia, then Zermatt, Switzerland would be near the top of the list.  The enormous mountains covered in snow were a stark contrast to the flat, sandy landscape that we're used to seeing.  Everything in Zermatt was pristine; in Jubail, there's frequently trash littering the ground and dust in the air.  On the other hand, food in Jubail is relatively cheap... but there's nothing cheap about Switzerland!  Armed with our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we set about to conquer the Alps!

So excited to be almost off the train!  The ride from Germany to Switzerland was a long one.

We had planned to do some snowshoeing and sledding in Zermatt; however, on the first day, we went to buy our lift tickets and found out that there wasn't enough snow for either of those activities.  We were pretty disappointed, but we tried to find other stuff to do to occupy our 3 days in Zermatt.

Day 1:  checking out some of the peaks and winter hiking

Zermatt is situated at the foothill of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous peaks in the Alps.  It is part of the border between Switzerland and Italy.

#1 reason I don't climb mountains.

On a hiking trail from one of the beginner areas down to the town.  Allegedly a 2 hour hike.

We had lovely views for most of the hike!  I was still smiling at this point because I hadn't fallen yet.

Checking the map to decide which path to take back down to the town.

We chose incorrectly and ended up hiking for an hour on icy switchbacks all the way down the mountain.  I fell ~6 times.  A month later, my bruises have all disappeared.

Day 2:  breakfast with a view and Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

The next morning, we took the cog train up to Gornergrat to have breakfast with a view of the Alps.

Clearly we thought ahead and decided mimosas should be on the breakfast menu.

Mimosas, yogurt, and bananas...breakfast of champions.

Sipping champagne and enjoying the view

This was a pretty spot for a jumping pic.

Jumping pic pro tip:  jumping off the ledge gives you great height!

This was the only way we were gonna touch the peak of the Matterhorn!

This was a cool spot to try out the panorama on my camera.  You can see the observatory, the Matterhorn, and Brian!

Champagne all gone, time to descend and head back to town.

After dropping off the cups, silverware, and trash from breakfast, the next stop was even higher up... to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, an elevation of nearly 13,000 ft.

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise was pretty cold and windy that day!

We took a series of small and large gondolas up to the viewing area and glacier paradise.

This was the big gondola that took visitors and skiers up to the very top!  (With the Matterhorn in the background!)

The views from the top of the observation platform were beautiful!

Another panorama pic... this one from the top of the observation platform

Then we went to the "glacier paradise" area.  We had no idea what it was before we got there, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a big tunnel through the glacier that led to...

Cool ice sculptures!

Areas to dress up on ice thrones!

And an ice slide!  All of this (and more!) inside of a glacier!

Day 3:  skiing (!!!)

I had never been skiing before, and Brian had to have surgery the last time he went skiing, so skiing in the Alps definitely wasn't on our original itinerary.  But by the third day, we had run out of things to do in Zermatt that weren't skiing. So I booked a 2 hour ski lesson for our 3rd day to try it out.

The view from our balcony!  We woke up on Day 3 to find that Zermatt was covered in a light dusting of snow from the night before.  This made the slopes nice and soft, perfect for falling during a ski lesson.

My ski teacher, David, made me start with only 1 ski.

Pretty soon I had graduated to 2 skis and was ready to make some fresh tracks in the snow!

I made this scared face pretty much the whole 2 hours.  Meanwhile, 5 year olds were whizzing past me on the beginner slopes.  David was very patient with me.

During my lesson, Brian took on the blue slopes!  Around 10 am, the fog started to come in, engulfing the beginner area and the surrounding blue slopes.  Brian skied right through the fog at the bottom of this picture!

It got REALLY foggy there for a few minutes!  Here's Brian, me, and my instructor David on the magic carpet.

The "magic carpet."  It's like an escalator ramp that takes you up the bunny slopes!  This was where I spent the vast majority of my time on day 3.  

Like Derek Zoolander, I am not an ambiturner.  I spent about an hour of my 2 hour lesson trying to turn right.  I am excellent at turning left!  But I could not manage to turn right.  It ended up like this a few times:

But with just a few minutes left in the lesson, I finally broke through my mental block and was able to turn right!  This was the first time I was able to weave through all of the cones without falling.

The next morning we left beautiful Zermatt for Zurich, where we had about a day and a half to explore before our flight home.  Here are a few pics from Zurich:

Train station breakfast pastry!

Gorgeous Lake Zurich, with the Alps in the background (a little too cloudy to see clearly that day).

We went to a farmer's market and sampled some cheese.

We also went to a famous chocolate shop and ate some expensive (but delicious) Swiss chocolate!

A gorgeous Christmas tree in the main train station, decorated with Swarovski ornaments.

We loved the Singing Christmas Tree at a Christmas market in downtown Zurich.

Though brief, we enjoyed our time in Switzerland!  Thanks to the Borcks and the Hitts for loaning us cold weather clothes!

"Looking for Freedom" in Germany

Brian and I took a trip to Germany and Switzerland in early December.  Since we were going to be in Saudi Arabia for Christmas, my two goals for Germany were:

1.  To eat some sort of pork product daily.  Pork is illegal in the kingdom, so we binged on pork a little bit.

1/2 meter sausage in Nuremberg!

Train station breakfast in Berlin that was so good, we went there 3 days in a row.

 2.  To get in the Christmas spirit.  As a Muslim country, there are no Christmas decorations anywhere in KSA, and my tiny fake tree just wasn't cutting it to make our apartment feel like the holidays.

A view of the famous Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt

It's hard to not be in the Christmas spirit when you meet Santa!

I'd say that I accomplished those goals, easily.

Germany far surpassed my expectations with the historical sites, good food, friendly people, and amazing Christmas markets.   We traveled to Berlin, then via train to Nuremberg and Rothenburg.

Berlin had some really great recent historical sites, mostly related to World War II and Communist occupation. 

East Side Gallery, a large section of the Berlin Wall that remains intact.  Artists have painted the entire stretch of the wall, nearly a mile long!

Creepy playground on top of where Hitler's underground bunker used to be.  This is where Hitler spent the majority of his time in the last few months of the war, and where he also committed suicide.  The bunker itself was destroyed and flooded after the fall of communism.

More of the Berlin Wall that remains in the city.

Checkpoint Charlie, the third checkpoint that people would pass to cross from West to East Berlin and back during the Soviet occupation.  Apparently these are German actors, not American soldiers.

The Germans were quick to get rid of a lot of the reminders of their 45 years of being under Soviet rule, but apparently they DID NOT want to get rid of their pedestrian traffic signals, which they call "Amplemann."  Our guide told us Amplemann in the Soviet era was supposed to represent "a happy little Communist going to work."  Now it's one of the last remaining symbols of life in East Germany.

The German Bundestag (Parliament).  Angela Merkel wasn't there.

Looking up into the dome at the Bundestag.  It had a cool spiral ramp up to the top of the dome, with great views over Berlin.

The beautiful Brandenburg Gate at night!  This was the site where not-German David Hasselhoff sang "Looking for Freedom" on the night of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.  This is a most excellent video, by the way.  His light up leather jacket is incredible.

We got to see my friend Steven!  He was an exchange student at my high school who lives in Germany.

We hit up a few Christmas markets in Berlin.  Lots of good things to eat!

And good things to drink! 

And even a ferris wheel or two.

Nuremberg was up next.  Both Brian and I independently asked people which place in Germany had the best Christmas markets, and this city was recommended by everyone.  Whereas Berlin had lots of smaller Christmas markets, Nuremberg had one ENORMOUS one, situated underneath the picturesque Nuremberg Castle.

Headed down from one of the towers in the castle... it was a lot of steps!

One of the main doors to get into the castle complex.

Awesome ceiling in one of the rooms of the castle!

Taking a break from exploring with a lunch beer at Hausbrauerei Altstadthof.  This place not only brewed their own beer, they had underground, rock cut cellars for storing their beer during fermentation (a really cool tour, and that's coming from someone who doesn't particularly enjoy brewery tours!).

We really enjoyed the mulled wine (glühwein) found throughout the Christmas market in Nuremberg.  The one with cherry and apple was my favorite. 

Brian saw this herring sandwich and had to have it.  I hate all pickled things, and that sandwich had pickled herring, sauerkraut, AND pickles on it... GROSS. 

Brian made this face after just one bite.  I'm pretty sure he didn't finish it.

We finished up our stint in Germany with a day trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a recommendation from my friend James.  This was the cutest and most well preserved Medieval town.  Since they were only bombed slightly during WWII (unlike Nuremberg and Berlin, which were both heavily bombed by the Allies), it was like this town was frozen in time. 

The Holy Blood altarpiece in St. James's Church, hand carved around the year 1500. 

View from the top of the tower at Town Hall

It was very windy and cold up there!

And it was not easy to climb... but the view was worth it!

This was not even old among buildings here in Rothenburg!

Rothenburg also had a great little Christmas market!

Schneeballs were a popular treat here in Rothenburg... this place had 20 flavors!

Our favorite thing in Rothenburg was the Night Watchman Tour.  Equal parts humor, history, and cheesiness, the Night Watchman guided the group around the city, telling stories of the past. 

Us with the Night Watchman, complete with lantern and halberd. 

We took the train from Germany into Switzerland for part 2 of our pre-Christmas Christmas trip.  Coming soon.....