One of the things that I’ve really missed while living in Austria is a good old-fashioned family Christmas. Yes, we do have family on this side of the ocean. Too much family, it seems, to really involve them in the holidays. We see them all, usually a week after the big day. Or two weeks. Whatever it ends up being, though, it’s more of a family get-together than it is a Christmas celebration. Each of the brothers and sisters do those in a more self-contained way, so that’s what we’re left with as well. Nobody’s fault, but I do miss meeting up with family and opening gifts, sharing time and eating a big meal on the 25th…
This year, we decided to do things a bit differently. We still lined up our annual Upper Austria visit for early January, but determined that spending a week or two with my sister and family in Switzerland would make for a much more “homey” holiday time than staying alone here in Vienna would. Luckily, they were up for the visit. Even more luckily, since the last time that we visited, they had purchased a chalet in Moleson, a little skiing area in the French speaking portion of Switzerland just a half hour from their home in Fribourg. This “Alpine hut” was big enough to fit both of our families fairly comfortably, provided we didn’t find ourselves snowed in and going all Jack Torrence on each other (was going to go with the clichéd Donner Party reference, but decided to throw a curveball with something from “The Shining”, all credit to my brother-in-law Alex who first connected the two).
We drove. A long and fairly tedious drive, punctuated by a couple of overnight stops (Upper Austria and just outside of Zurich with friends – Karin and Janadan), some fast-food meals in the car (just like America, yay!) and an intensely burning van that we were forced by traffic to pass by in Munich (even three lanes over the heat was intense). Still, we arrived safe and sound midday on the 24th, and were lucky enough to be able to drive all the way up the mountain (an intense snowfall the week prior had forced my sister Jessica and her husband Alex to trek all the way up the hill from the lower parking lot, which we were prepared to do as well). Still, with all of our heavy, overpacked bags (A theme with us), and my decided lack of winter shoes that fit, trudging that last leg down the hill and along the snowy path and back up the stairs to the cabin… well, let’s face it; it sucked. Still, any complaints I might have voiced were quickly put aside as I was met with the sweet, cherubic smile of my adopted niece, Chloe. Despite having never before met me, she greeted me at the door with, “Hi Uncle Joel. I’m three years old.” My heart melted.
Jessica, Alex and their son Justin had adopted Chloe from Thailand last summer, after years of agonizing waiting and false starts. It was amazing to realize that this little girl had, eighteen months prior, been living in an orphanage halfway around the world, yet here she was, speaking French and English, separating the two and using them in the correct context better than most any of the bilingual children which I have been exposed to at that age. And boy, was she a little firecracker. A ball of enthusiastic energy that could charm the socks off of anyone she met. Other than a day or two near the end when she came down with a low-grade stomach bug, she was absolutely a perfect little angel. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Okay, maybe she and Liam fought a bit, but they both gave and took and always seemed to hug it out afterwards.
Anyway, we settled in to the cabin, which was a spacious, two-floor job. Ground floor had a long, cold room for firewood and water heater, etc, and a living room/kitchen with a wood burning stove for heat. Very effective. Upstairs was divided into three rooms. Two “bedrooms” and one converted living room/play room (and a bathroom, of course. No outhouse experience in the Alps. Brrr…) – all in all a very nice setup, and one that I had no intention of leaving at all until it was time to return to Vienna. Christmas at Alex’s mother Christianne’s home? Tempting, but I’ll be here on the couch reading a book. Bring me some leftovers, will you? Skiing. YES! When I was a teenager. Now? Not so much. I’ll be drinking a hot tea. Call me when you’re done. Snowman? Snowball fight? Trip to the store? No, nein danke, and no again. I’ll be resting by the fireplace…
Well, the best laid plans and whatnot. We all know how that story ends. In fairness, the wife and kids did allow me to stay inside on a couple of occasions when I could well have joined them for some activity involving frozen water. But they did drag me out for the aforementioned dinner, which was wonderful and graciously hosted by Alex’s mom and family. And for some shopping. And to a nearby spa (okay, with the hot water and whatnot that one was okay with me). And for one or two snowball fights (Liam’s favorite game was to take the snowball and throw it over the edge of the balcony, presumably to hit some poor soul trudging past on the snow path below. I enabled him).
Okay, a brief pause from the narrative to add a few words about Switzerland, which I may or may not have discussed after our last visit. First and foremost – beautiful country. Really. Goes without saying, but I’ve said it regardless. Second – it’s expensive as (insert preferred curse word here). Seriously expensive. We dropped about 50 francs at McDonald’s, for (insert curse word) sake – which is currently 54 US dollars, btw. Yeah, we ate at McDonald’s on the way home. There’s no other non-restaurant options out there and the boys like it. But oh, did we pay for it… Groceries are a good 50% higher than here in Austria, where they’re not particularly cheap. Gasoline, coffee, beer – just… everything is expensive. Third – they have roundabouts, which I like. But they’re not quite sure what to do with them. I get the feeling that some Swiss guy went to England once on a weekend holiday and said, “Hmm – these roundabouts are great! We should have some back in Fribourg, only I’d know how to make them better!” – and then was promptly put in charge of city planning. They had double roundabouts, roundabouts that were basically hidden speed-bumps, roundabouts with two or three unmarked lanes – really, I expect to find some in the middle of the autobahn on my next visit, with the explanation that “We had 24 million francs leftover from our hidden McDonald’s taxes, but we were in danger of losing them if we didn’t spend them on roundabouts…”
Back to our regularly scheduled writeup. We spent the last two days in Fribourg. Jessica and Alex had someone wanting to rent the cabin over New Years Eve, and the money was too good to pass up, so we joined them in their apartment. It was a bit tight, but we managed. The weather turned ugly on us, so we basically stayed inside, enjoying access to the internet after a week away and playing with all of the kids’ homebound toys. For the late night holiday, we managed to get away with a couple of catnaps (Liam slept maybe 15 minutes in the evening and I napped through half of “Rapunzel” while sprawled out on the couch) – but everyone was awake from 11pm onward and we rang in the New Year with style (Alex had bought some indoor firework things which popped open and spilled out little party favors across the room, piñata style. Kids loved ‘em). They also were each given a sparkler to use on the balcony, then took turns imitating your humble author as he shouted out across the enclosed valley, causing a general racket that the staid Swiss could only match by means of firecrackers and other such noisemakers. Great fun!
The trip was over all too soon. I could’ve used twice that long getting reacquainted with my nephew Justin, who has turned into a great little guy to hang with (really enjoyed him teaming up with Lukas to take me on in a game of NBA Jam on their Playstation) but can be dangerous (see Lukas’ front teeth – filed under: Dangers of wrestling with your cousin). And he’s industrious when it comes to LEGO building – put together the huge Pirates of the Caribbean ship that he got for Christmas in about three hours with only minimal assistance from his cousin and his Uncle Joel. And Chloe, of course. Could have used much more time with her. She took a shine to all of us, I think. Quick to smile. Quick to cuddle on the couch. Quick to tattle on her cousin Liam for the tiniest of infractions. Really a pretty darned amazing girl. Jessica and Alex were, as always, gracious hosts and fun to be around.
Our trip home was uneventful. This time we avoided the burning automobiles of Germany, but we did travel through the mountains, including one amazing tunnel over 14 kilometers long, and we did suddenly find ourselves in Lichtenstein, which is not easy to do. Then we blinked and we were past it. Another overnight with friends in Upper Austria before a short mid-morning drive home. Home to Vienna. Home to cold, snow, and more cold. By the next weekend we were setting out again for the holiday gathering in Upper Austria, but this time it was different. It was okay that it was more reunion than Christmas party. Because this year we had already celebrated Christmas with family. In Switzerland. And it was good enough to drag a blog out of me, and that should tell you something right there! Cheers!
