Holidays in Switzerland

I just got back from spending two weeks in Switzerland. I went to spend Christmas with my friend Sebastien and his family. They live in a small town in the French part of Switzerland called Le Vaud. It was my first white Christmas! We ate very well. We had lots of beef and sausage, and, of course, the cheese was amazing!! I couldn't stop eating. Their family owns a cattle ranch, so all of the meat we ate was actually from their ranch. The cattle are treated very well in Switzerland and have lots of space for grazing, unlike many of the industrial farms in the states, where cows are given limited space and are fed corn, which is not the best food for their digestive systems. After Christmas we went hiking with some of Sebastien's friends, two hours in the snow, to a cabin in the mountains. The cabin, called La Perroude, has no electricity, running water, or bathroom!! There is, however, a wood burning stove which we constantly kept burning. We stayed in the cabin two nights, spending the days hiking, sledding, and playing in the snow, and the nights sitting by the fire, playing games and cooking fondue and crepes! It was an adventure, but a bit challenging going to the bathroom in the snow, especially at night! Our next destination was Anzere, a ski resort town in the Alps. This cabin wasn't quite as rustic as La Perroude. We enjoyed the luxeries of electricity, running water, and even a bathroom with a shower! And the cabin was on a hill, right next to the ski slopes. It was a decent size, with four bedrooms and six beds, but with between 12 and 22 people staying in the cabin each night, it was definitely cozy! We had people from all over the world - Switzerland, France, Germany, USA, Canada, Russia, Brasil and Japan. There were even two guys who grew up in Namibia, though had joint Swiss-Namibian citizenship. Our days were spent skiing and snowboarding. I tried snowboarding again, although I think it's just not my sport. I don't really like going down the hill fast and I think that's kind of the point. But at least I tried it. Nights were spent cooking dinner in the cabin, drinking, playing games and telling stories. I cooked tortilla espanola to bring a Spanish influence. It was fun to spend time with such an international group. For New Year's Eve we walked down to the center of the town of Anzere where we drank mulled wine and counted down to New Year's Eve while it was snowing! Afterwards we shook off the snow and went dancing in a club. While I wasn't snowboarding I hung out in the village, enjoyed the spectacular views of the Alps, went to the sauna, and relaxed. It was a lovely vacation, but after two weeks in the snow and with slightly uncomfortable sleeping condtitions, I was very happy to return to Barcelona! It was nice to return to speaking Spanish (I was surrounded by lots of French in Switzerland and didn't understand any of it), to see my friends and to sleep in my own bed! I enjoyed the adventure and I'm happy to be home.