My favorite Swiss holiday has to be, without a doubt, Christmas. I am so unbelieveably bummed that we will be in Australia this year for December, so I will miss all the Christmas festivities - but that does not mean that you have to miss out on them!

Naturally, Christmas is an important religious holiday in Switzerland but most of the Swiss partake in the Christmas celebrations in one way or another. At the beginning of December, the Advent begins, in which families count down the days until Christmas, either with an Advent Calendar or an Advent candle, marking the Sunday's until Christmas with a candle for each Sunday (4 candles total). But Santa actually comes long before Christmas Eve! In Switzerland, Santa, or Samiclaus, comes on the 5th of December and kiddies that have been good get some sweets, nuts and mandarins (and probably some toys!) on the 6th. Those that have been bad get a sack full of coal from Schmutzli - the anti Santa. Otherwise, Christmas is very similar in Switzerland compared to the US or Australia - tree (check), gifts (check), lots of food (check)... but the festivities are very special and celebrated by many families.

Last year I committed the entire month of December to Swiss Christmas celebrations and the Advent count down... There is just so much to love  - the Advents candles, the Apfelchuechli mit Vanillesause,  the Zürich Samiklaus Swim, and the Weihnachstpyramide - but my favorite part of the Christmas festivities are the Christmas markets! Here is a list of Swiss Christmas Markets in 2009.

If you time it just right, you can probably hit up at least 4 or 5 Christmas markets, perhaps even some in Germany or France where they are also a big to do.Christmas markets tend to start at the end of November and run through Christmas Eve and sometimes the day after Christmas. Make sure you take some warm mittens and lots of money with you - as you will definitely want to sample some of the Glühwein (to keep you warm of course!) and buy some of the best handicrafts and decorations available.Fröhliche Weihnachten (in October) everyone. Start making those Christmas plans now! Before long, it will be 2010 (wowzers has time gone by!) and you will have to wait another 12 months for Christmas. :)



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While the Swisstory Christmas Advent might be over, don't worry... that means there is a whole new year worth of exciting posts coming soon.

In the mean time, here is a list of all the Christmas Advent posts in case you missed one or just want to hang on to that loving Christmas feeling for a little bit longer:

Christmas Advent Day 24: Oh Christmas Tree
Christmas Advent Day 23: Christmas Recycling
Christmas Advent Day 22: Ice Cream Mandarins
Christmas Advent Day 21: Old time Christmas trolley
Christmas Advent Day 20: Gluhwein Mugs
Christmas Advent Day 19: Paper Lanterns
Christmas Advent Day 18: Heart Heads
Christmas Advent Day 17: Pressed cookies
Christmas Advent Day 16: Window Ornaments
Christmas Advent Day 15: Packlibus
Christmas Advent Day 14: Weihnachtspyramide
Christmas Advent Day 13: Take it Easy
Christmas Advent Day 12: Biberbrot
Christmas Advent Day 11: Feueryangen-Bowle Huesli
Christmas Advent Day 10: The Singing Christmas Tree
Christmas Advent Day 9: Adventkerzen
Christmas Advent Day 8: Samiclaus Swim
Christmas Advent Day 7: Berlinerbänze
Christmas Advent Day 6: Grittibänze
Christmas Advent Day 5: Glühwein
Christmas Advent Day 4: Samichlaus & Schmutzli
Christmas Advent Day 3: Star shaped cookies...
Christmas Advent Day 2: Einsiedeln Christmas Market
Christmas Advent Day 1: Apfelchuechli mit Vanillesause

Enjoy! And thanks to everyone for reading. Posting will commence in the New Year (an exciting Advent and a little bit too much gluehwein can take a lot out of a girl!) ;)

Here I go again, me forcing you to guess what it is that I am blogging about... Ready? Just this once more, I promise. ;)

What is this???

Need a hint? It is clear and red and plastic all over.


Need another hint? It is bigger than a breadbox... (that one is for you Mom...)


Ok... last hint... you would know what this was if George Clooney were selling it (in Europe at least...)Ok, I will tell you... It's a TREE!!! That's right. A tree... well, a special tree - let me show you.

There it is! But not just any tree - a tree made out of plastic cups and Nespresso coffee pods.

And this one is about 30 feet tall. Boy those Swiss really take recycling to new heights... (bodam ching... get this girl a cymbal for Christmas already!)

Christmas Advent Day 23: Nespresso Christmas Tree at Sihlcity.

Only 2 more days until Christmas. Enjoy them before it's too late!

Christmas Advent Day 22: Ice Cream Mandarins

Did someone say post about peanuts and mandarins?!? Well, here is the half of it! I found these at Sprungli as well and assumed they were for Christmastime. Correct me if I am wrong, but I assume that with all the mandarins being thrown around by Samiclaus and Schmutzli that these gelato filled, hulled mandarins are also a special treat for the holidays.

Christmas Advent Day 18: Shortbread pressed cookies

Christmas is the time for cookies and the Swiss go to new heights when it comes to cookie presses and forms. The cookies above are machine made, but those way below are handmade. The wooden forms are highly collectable and can be very expensive if the cookies are very ornate. But I think the outcome is totally worth it - such cute cookies... now if only I liked anis... (that is the flavor of those at the end of this post... not sure about the others...).

Where do you think I can get some gold covered veggies, eh? :)

Christmas Advent Day 15: The Packlibus

This has to be the greatest idea to get people to buy more gifts - EVER.

This is the bag bus. It is on Bahnhofstrasse and basically it exists so that you can leave all your heavy Christmas gifts and shopping on the bus and GO GET SOME MORE! You check in your bags, get a ticket, and then either send your gifts directly from the bus or come back for them later and take them home. What a great idea!

Christmas Advent Day 14: Weihnachtspyramide

If you know me... you know I love the wooden Christmas ornaments. And I especially love these things. They are Christmas pyramids and there are spots for candles on the base and when the candles are lit the rising air causes the windmill at the top to spin around. How cool is that? A total fire hazard, but cool!
The pyramids come in all shapes, sizes and colors and although you can find more of these in Germany than in Switzerland, these babies were found at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof Christmas market.

Christmas Advent Day 13: Take it easy! (Lebkuchens found at Sprungli)

Only two more weekends until Christmas... time to "Take it easy!" . . .

Yeah right! Get out there and boost our economy! Where are the "Go spend your wad" Lebkuchens and the "Santa says spend!" Lebkuchens?

Christmas Advent Day 12: Biberfladen

Biberfladen or Biberbrot is available at all the carnivals and is also available during Christmas. It is Lebkuchen, which reminds me of gingerbread but different spices, and Biberbrot is generally filled with all kinds of yumminess like marzipan or hazelnut filling.

Christmas Advent Day 11: Feueryangen-Bowle Huesli

I originally read about the Feuerzangen-Bowle on This non-American life, so when I saw this Huesli (little house in Swiss German) at the Werdmühleplatz market I knew I had to try some.

According to Juls', it's 'a hot drink much like glühwein...to make feuerzangenbowle correctly, one soaks sugar in rum, lights it on fire, and lets it melt into the wine.' Now, I swore that this tasted more like fruit punch with rum to me, but it could have been wine... nonetheless the drink is flavored with Christmas spices and there was an alcoholic and a non-alcoholic version available at the Huesli.

Here the witches' helper is lighting the rum on fire... oooooooooh. Definately good stuff and sure does warm ya up. I am not sure if I have choosen a favorite between this and gluhwein yet, but ask again at the end of the holiday season, and I am sure I will have an educated opinion then. :)