Holy Swiss Cheese, Budman!

When you mix 2 Aussies, 3 Texans, 1 Brit, 2 Native Swiss with some great food and some fun activities, what do you get? A great weekend, that's what!

This past weekend, the London contingent of immigrants (and Paulster--an honorary immigrant) made a pilgrimage to Switzerland--first stop--Zurich.

Stef and Martini have built and now live in the most stylish new home in an idyllic setting overlooking the Rhine--and we got the full experience. They cooked us a meal that Gordon Ramsay would have been proud of. We laughed at each other and ourselves--starting at the airport when I had to drive a manual transmission mini-van and continuing with a couple of hours of Singstar.

Here is a snap of our gracious hosts, Martini and Stef.


And a shot of the table thanks to Paulster.


Since there are only so many times you can hear an Abba song murdered or watch the Stef flout his SingStar prowess (which means that instead of struggling to keep up with the lyrics/song, he dances around to face the audience while not missing a note)...we moved on to the mountains after a wonderful breakfast on Saturday afternoon.

First, a few shots of Friday evening.
Let's start with Buffy and Martini.


Budman and Hachie Gal flash us nice smiles.


Martini makes a most fab chocolate dessert.


Paulster and Stef do their SingStar magic.


Stef and The Falcon battle it out on the mics.


We arrived in Engelberg, Switzerland in the early afternoon. Engelberg literally translates "Angel Mountain"--and it was breathtaking.


While Hachie Gal shopped for sledding (sledging, if you're British) shoes with the help of Budman, the rest of us explored. Here's the Falcon, Martini, Buffy, Paulster and Stef (suitably posed with his eyes toward the heavens) in front of the Monastery.


In keeping with the city's name, the monastery had a marble angel on the grounds.


Honestly, we got a little bogged down here...taking in the cultural experience of cheese-making and cheese-eating. We wandered through the grounds--straight to the gift/snack shop for a little rest and refueling from our strenuous day so far. But it allowed Hachie Gal and Budman to catch up with us!

Here's a shot of the Holy Swiss Cheese.


We did manage to do some more wandering around the city and encountered a few sights unique to Angel Mountain. Every street had several angels on it--of all descriptions and presumably linked to the nearby businesses. Here are a few of my favourites.




Curiously, this is a picture of an angel on a fondue fork...but super-relevant to the next part of the tale...


It doesn't get more touristy than taking the cable car/gondola up the mountain, sledding down the mountain in the dark, then attempting to dry your jeans by standing near an open blaze before sitting down to eat fondue...And that really does tell the rest of the Saturday night story!

Here are some of the boys after the first sled run. The Falcon, Paulster and Martini.


And here, The Falcon lands after the second sled run.


And here we are with our FONDUE--obviously excited!!!


Some of us more excited by the Fondue than others...


In a rampant display of table games, both The Falcon and Budman demonstrated their uncanny ability to bob for fondue toward the end of the evening. If I can figure out how to get the video posted (and secure a release from Budman), I may put it up for your viewing pleasure.

Another great night in the series...
I have more to tell about our Sunday adventure in the city of Zurich, but that will have to wait for another day.