On A Grand Tour

Learning Swiss holiday traditions during our first Christmas in Geneva

The entire holiday season is one of my favorite times of the year, and as Kurt (sometimes exasperatedly) will tell you, I am a sucker for all things seasonal. Our first Christmas in Switzerland was the perfect opportunity to be immersed in a new set of traditions and I have had so much fun researching, learning, and celebrating all things Swiss the last month. Of course, distance from family and Covid made things look a little different than they would any other year. It was disappointing to see “Cancelled” next to just about every festivity that usually occurs here, but this was obviously understandable and we treated this year as a dipping in of the toes of Swiss holiday traditions, and next year we will be ready for all of the fun in store! So here goes, a month of Swiss holiday fun!

We discovered, late in the day on December 5^th, that Santa Claus (known as Samichlaus in German and Saint-Nicholas in French) does not come on Christmas Eve as he does in the U.S, but actually on December 6^th. He cuts more of a bishop-like figure than our jolly version, with a long red robe, miter on his head, and staff in his hand. Children who have been good receive goodies like mandarin oranges, chocolates, nuts, and gingerbread (Saint-Nicholas is not responsible for the primary Christmas gift-giving, which does still occur on Christmas). This of course led to a quick dash to the grocery store to buy said goodies, and on December 6^th Kurt and I both determined that we had been good this year, which was a relief as naughty children run the risk of being punished by Saint-Nicholas’ sinister dark-robed sidekick, Père Fouettard (or Schmutzli in German).

Our next Swiss fun came on December 12^th, the Fête de l’Escalade in Geneva. This festival commemorates the victory of Geneva in 1602 over the army of the Duke of Savoy, who attacked Geneva by stealthily climbing the city walls in the middle of the night. The story goes that the citizens of Geneva rose up to fight alongside the soldiers and win the battle using whatever weapons they could find, including most famously a cauldron of vegetable soup that a woman used to scald enemy soldiers. This story is immortalized, and every year, all of the chocolatiers in Geneva make chocolate cauldrons that are filled with marzipan vegetables which are broken open and eaten as part of the festivities. While the parade-marching, cannon-firing, period costume-wearing, and public mulled wine-drinking were all cancelled this year, it didn’t stop us from getting our own cauldron and breaking it open. I think we need to practice our cauldron-breaking skills though, we didn’t really damage anything except the lid and legs!

Despite the absence of the yearly Christmas markets which I had been so looking forward to, there were plenty of gorgeous Christmas lights and displays around town. We had a great time wandering downtown and through the Vieille Ville and seeing the festive shop windows and lights. An extra-special treat was wandering through the neighborhoods of Carouge, on the southern side of Geneva. It has the most gorgeous architecture, unique boutiques and artisan’s shops, and an impressive flair for holiday decorations. I never would have thought that I could be so mesmerized by massive illuminated fish swimming above the street! Added to the magic was the fact that, due to a nice freezing wintry mix falling, we had the streets of Carouge virtually to ourselves.

One of my family’s favorite holiday traditions is Christmas cookie baking, and I was beyond excited that this is a well-ingrained tradition in Switzerland as well. We had to try some Swiss baking recipes.  We chose Basler Läckerli, a bar cookie with lots of spices and candied citrus peel, and Basler Brunsli, a chocolate-almond-spice cookie. While we aren’t exactly sure how they are supposed to taste, we thought ours turned out pretty yummy! And we kept the family cookie baking tradition alive by have a virtual cookie baking party with the rest of my family. We had people on the West Coast and East Coast of the U.S, Switzerland, and Korea all baking cookies simultaneously.

Our final, and perhaps favorite, Swiss tradition: Fondue! We are currently perfecting our Swiss fondue recipe and we are loving it (and this is coming from a girl who has never liked cheese!). It’s no wonder that this is such a staple for winter cuisine – there is really nothing better than a fondue feast while watching the snow fall outside.

Perhaps the crowning moment of this season was New Year’s Eve. This was another holiday in which all festivities, firework shows, and official functions were cancelled. This didn’t keep the population of Geneva from ringing in the new year with style though. As midnight approached, the build-up began, with individual fireworks going off, screaming, and then a collective countdown that rang out as people in all directions participated from their windows and balconies. As the clock struck midnight, the cold air erupted with thousands of fireworks and the sounds of singing, shouting, and pots and pans banging. It felt as if the entire city was participating, and we had a great view from our 8^th floor perch (which is the 9^th floor if you’re American). I’ve never seen or heard anything quite like it, and the fireworks (I kid you not – thousands of them!) and cheering didn’t end until well into 2021. There was a true sense of jubilation. 2020 has undoubtedly been a hard year, but as humans we are so good at rising up to it, making the best of what we have, looking to the future, and knowing that better times will come. It was such a sweet moment to end my year and I went to bed with a smile on my face, feeling very ready to tackle 2021. Happy New Year to all!