It’s beginning to look a lot like…
I love Christmas time… everything from the decorations, to the lights, window and Christmas gift displays, carols, catch ups and laughs, my big Italian family and all the festive cheer.
One of my best Christmas memories was when I spent Christmas in Lucerne with my mum and sister visiting Sandra, a student we’d hosted 15 years prior.
A northern hemisphere Christmas means Christmas markets, real Christmas trees in homes, snow, lights and decorations, hearty food and mulled wine.
We started our festivities with Christmas Eve dinner at Sandra’s house with her family. We ate fondue chinoise (a meat fondue) comprising raw pieces meat cooked in a chicken stock.
Nothing is more magical than waking up to snow falling outside your window on Christmas day and that is what we were graced with. We started the day with a walk through a forest making snow angels and snowman, throwing snow and shaking snow off branches.
We warmed up with Gluhwein (mulled red wine) after our walk, which also helped our feet defrost – we definitely didn’t have the right shoes for snow walks.
Christmas night was even more magical. We spent it in a log house up Mt Pilatus with locals and ate Swiss Kasefondue – a strong tasting cheese fondue. It was such a surreal experience.
It’s such a contrast to what we are used to in one of the sunniest cities in the world – Perth, where Christmas is filled with warm sunny days and balmy nights, barbecues and swims at the beach.
Traditionally Christmas for me has been large family affairs with all my aunties, uncles and cousins. There’s always mountains of food and laughter, which I always enjoy.
And this year is no different! I can’t wait for the festivities to kick off.