Well, hello there. Yesterday was Dreikönigstag. Three Kings Day, and a holiday here in Central Switzerland. The day the Magi arrived to see the Baby. And there is a special cake too, Dreikönigskuchen. It is delicious. A circle of buns like a brioche, with sultanas in, and one of the buns has a tiny plastic king in it So if you are the one who finds the king, you get ot wear the crown (supplied in the packet) for the day. I found the first king. So I got to wear the crown.
However, we liked the buns so much I was dispatched back to the shop to buy more, so we now have 3 kings. It was meant to be. I mean 2 kings would not have been right now would they? Or 1? I think not.
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| The first king. Only we think it loks like a queen. But still..... |
It was also "take down Christmas" day here, so down came the decorations. An epic move in Marge's home, because there is no house in the world quite as beautifully decorated as Marge's. And I mean that. It has been just SO beautiful. But it had to wait until the train arrived at 4, because on that train was my friend, Jean, who has come to join the merry throng here.
She has been quite a few times before, and knows where everything is, both here in the house, (including the coffee) and in the village, and she loves being here. So we had to wait for her to see it all first, and to claim the last present under the tree!
And it snowed. And snowed. And snowed.
And snowed some more. David did a lot of shovelling, and we watched the machines clear the roads all day. So much snow. Today was supposed to be sunny, but no, it was grey, but crisp and no rain so we set off on a walk along the river to work off the Dreikönigskuchen. David treated us to hot chocolate, and fortified by the hot drink and after thawing, we decided to walk on to the end of the valley. (I knew we could get a free bus home) and so we walked on.
And guess what? It started snowing again. It did not bother us at all. So much cross-country sking going on. Runners in the snow. Hikers. People out enjoying the mountains, the snow, exercising. Kiddies being pulled along on sleds wrapped in cosy liners.
We came across this amazing machine on the path along the river. It was smoothing then corrugating the snow and at the same time, carving tracks there on the right for the Nordic skiers. I had NO idea that was how it was done. By the way, you NEVER squish the tracks. You have to step over them, and leave them intact. The corrugated bits seemed to be for the cross country skiers.
The amazing thing is the silence. Profound silence. Skis glide silently through the snow. THIS, then is why being here is so good for my soul , you see.
Just beautiful. We caught the bus back to the village and wandered slowly home to a lunch of hot soup and home-made (by Mum) bread. In the snow.
Well, this is Switzerland, after all. It snows here.
8 comments:
Heaven...
Ahhh, yes, the silence that comes with deep snow and also the sound that carries forever so don't talk about the neighbors!
Thank you for sharing this tradition about about Kings' Day and the special bread and the crowns and the prizes...so cool. We should do it here. We don't. We dispense with Christmas as quickly as we can. That's the proverbial "we" of course. I prefer to hang on as much as possible.
I'm glad that Jean is there. What fun you'll have.
How beautiful it all looks and sounds. I especially like the three kings tradition, how lovely!
So beautiful! I feel peaceful just reading this and looking at the pictures.
It's no wonder you love being there, it truly is breathtakingly beautiful, isn't it!! I think my favourite thing to do there would be to walk and just take it all in. Stunning!
Good for you on finding the first King in that special cake:-) You look great with a crown! hehe I love hearing about traditions like that.
I never knew there was such a machine as that one either. I would have just assumed that it was skiers who had made those tracks!! Interesting!! xoxo
Ahhhh. The silence, the beauty, the traditions, the peace and enjoyment that you experience there! I'm so glad that you have a respite there..a place to go to relax and to gather yourself from the hustle bustle of the constantly changing world that we live in everyday. I used to get the same sense of peacefulness when we went to the beach. Although it's lovely there..it's just not the same as it was.. Maybe it is my lost youth that is different. At any rate, you have such a lovely, wonderful, peaceful respite from the world around us.
It is lovely. Have fun. Relax. Get ready to join our world again. I love it when you go to Switzerland. I feel it's an opportunity to rest. Vicky from East Texas
It looks so peaceful and beautiful.
I love the tradition of the King's cake.
Switzerland is on my list of places to visit - sooner, rather than later! With your help it is zooming to the very top of the list :) I love every picture and post that you share (well, maybe not the one where the truck came to do the pumping out!). We have very little snow here - temperatures of +8 for several days in a row will do that! I hope we don't pay for this come springtime!
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