Munich

We've been enjoying the Christmas-time visit in Münich. I especially enjoy the shopping here, for some reason more than in Switzerland. And there are so many sales on now!

Anyway, I went jeans shopping again because I now decided that actually I do need a pair of skinny jeans to wear with my boots for winter. I'm enjoying wearing my boots here in the cold, it was not that big a thing in Cape Town.

We've also been trying on ski goggles/ glasses but haven't bought yet. I'm still deciding if I like skiing or not...

We had a lunch at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, just to remind ourselves that we don't have to hurry back there again. It's been three years and we must have forgotten why we prefer the Augustiner Brau. Hofbrauhaus is something to experience if you come to Munich but you don't have to go there twice.

Besides the shopping, we just enjoyed walking around the Christmas market in front of the Rathaus on Marienplatz. Beautiful.

Zurich's Christmas Market

Yesterday we went to see the Christmas market at the Hauptbahnhof (main station) in Zurich. There were some nice stalls but the most impressive was the Christmas tree. It's really really big and decorated with Swarovski crystals and more Swarovski figures around the base. Beautiful and sparkly!

Some of the stalls selling colourful toys and Christmas decorations carved from wood.

It was freezing cold in the city with a little bit of wind blowing the icy cold off the snowy mountains. Andre took most of the pictures because I was too cold to take my gloves off!

We walked around a little bit after finishing the Christmas shopping but didn't last long in the cold and decided to go for cocktails and dinner to warm up inside a restaurant. Before leaving the cold streets we saw Samichlaus (or St. Nikolas) and his helper Smutzli handing out treats.

On the 6th of December Samichlaus brought treats like candy and cookies to the kids who have been good. But the naughty kids get carried away to the forest by Smutzli. He wears dark clothes and carries a broom of twigs to punish the children. Scary!!! Click here for more interesting info about this tradition and its origins.

Bremgarten Market

In June we went to Bremgarten to a big market there for the first time. Shortly after that I read about another one they will be having in October and I made sure we didn't miss this one since the previous one was really good. And again we weren't disappointed. Lots of stalls, lots of people and lots of yummy things to eat like garlic bread (with lots of garlic!), crepes, waffles, and of course sausages and raclette.It was quite rainy on Sunday but we were lucky to get a couple of rain free hours to walk around at the market with our visitors before they had to fly back to the UK.

Are you ready for the Christmas markets? I've already marked those I want to visit on my calender! Have a look at this website to see where and when it's happening.

Neuchatel

This past weekend we drove to Neuchatel with our friends, Jamie and Charlene, visiting us from the UK. It was our first visit to the French part of Switzerland and it really was VERY French. We were surprised at how few people were able to speak English. Here in the German part you can get by without knowing much German as most people here are able to speak English. It was also quite difficult for us not knowing ANY French, while we at least know some German to help us this side of the country.

But we were able to eat, drink, sleep and shop well! We stayed at the Beaulac Hotel which is right on the water with stunning views over the lake.

It is also very close to the old town where we spent most of our time wandering around.

On Saturday there was a market with lovely fresh fruit and veg, heaps of mushrooms and very long breads.

We met another South African couple there too. Andre just happened to hear them speak Afrikaans when they passed us and we started chatting. They recommended a good place for crepes called Bach & Buck (look out for the green sign above the door on the main street) where we then went for lunch. The most delicious crepes! And interesting beer mugs...

They also told us where to go for the best chocolate in town where Jamie did some shopping.

And cheese fondue for dinner at Brasserie le Cardinal.

Bern

Finally! Here are the pictures from our day in Bern last Saturday. There were too many to choose from so I chose the best ones and put them in a slideshow/ video.

Some info on Bern from our Lonely Planet book: Switzerland, and things you'll see in the pictures:

The medieval town centre is u-shaped along a river bend (Aare river) and has been declared a World Heritage site.

The cobbled streets are lined with covered arcades and cellar shops. Pity we didn't get a picture of these shop doors leading you underground. You can see the covered arcades in the pictures.

There are 11 decorative fountains built around 1545 which depict characters from history and/ or folklore. The most famous is the Kindlifressenbrunnen (Ogre Fountain) of a giant snacking on children!

The Zytglogge (Zeitglockenturm in High German), clock tower, has revolving figures that begin twirling at four minutes before every hour. We didn't wait to see this, but I did get a picture of a bunch of people staring up at the clock (also pictured) waiting for this.

There was a huge market when we were there, I'm not sure if this happens every Saturday? One section was selling all kinds of stuff like clothes, baskets, jewelry, DVD's, anything. And then there was the fruit and veg market which sold all these delicious fresh foods including breads, meats, cheeses, flowers, honey and lots more.

Did you know that Einstein lived in Bern? He actually developed his theory of relativity in 1905 here. You can visit the apartment where he lived with his family which is now a museum. We didn't but André took a picture of the outside of it. You can see it in the video.

Also in the pictures you'll see the 15th century Gothic Münster (cathedral). Everywhere you go in Switzerland there will be something that is the highest or the steepest or the fastest or the best in something. Bern apparently has the tallest cathedral at 100m. You can climb the hundreds of steps up the tower but of course not something I would do!

Behind the cathedral is a lovely park. There were some people playing games and there's a café under the trees. (This is the picture where André is sticking his tongue out at me.)

You can see the 1902 Houses of Parliament. A beautiful building, Saturday pictured with the market in front of it. It has a stained glass dome and apparently a huge, 214-bulb chandelier. We didn't notice this when we were there but I actually see we did get it in the picture!! If you look carefully you might see it too with the lights on shining through the window right in the centre.

In 1191 some powerful duke (I'm not going to bore you with names) had his first hunting success here, shooting a bear, or Bärn in the local dialect, and that's where this city got it's name.

Hope you learnt something today? I did! Now here are the pictures, enjoy :-) If for some reason you can't see the video here, you can go to my vimeo page by clicking here.

Bern, Switzerland from Anneliese Mostert on Vimeo.

Bremgarten Pfingstmarkt

Monday, June 1, was a public holiday here. Sadly the last one until Christmas... There is Swiss National Day on August 1, but it will be on a Saturday.

So on Monday André and I drove to Bremgarten, 12 km from our flat. My step-dad mentioned that they will be having a market there on Whit Monday and I wanted to go see what it's all about, plus explore our neighbouring villages.

It was SO much more than I expected! I never thought it would be so big. Entering the town we already saw people streaming down the main road. We followed and walked and walked around the many stalls. We spent almost three hours there. 

André had a crepe and we shared an iced cappuccino and we bought some fudge. Oh and there were quite a few stalls selling spices. I've been looking for turmeric and cardamom seeds for curry and we found some there! Curry is on the menu for tomorrow night!

We will definitely be back in Bremgarten for the Altstadtmarkt (24/25 Oct) and the Christmas market (3-6 Dec).