Surprising stuffs in Switzerland - flyers

When it comes to promoting a product sending out flyers is a common way and Switzerland is no exception. I am huge fan of stickers having on our mailbox saying we do not wish to get any promotional material. However, this has not happened yet here. The main reason is that I did not (and sometimes still do not)  have any idea which store I should go to pick up let's say a pillow (ok, besides the obvious choice of Ikea) or a mop or anything besides supermarkets. In fact I was not familiar with the name of the supermarkets either. There are not many huge international chains in Switzerland (and that's common in the Netherlands as we know), so even figuring out where to buy a specific item can be challenging.
But back to my story. So every week several flyers arrive in our mailbox and let me say that some of them are pretty surprising. This includes a weekly flyer about different car brands. Honestly I have never seen anything like this before. Flyers in our mailbox every week about brand new cars? I understand that Switzerland is supposed to be a rich country but seriously?
One of my other "favorite" just arrived a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, this is what it seems. It's a flyer about old Swiss military equipments. Who on earth would want to buy any of this? Actually, considering how important the military is in this country probably this should not even be a surprise. In a country, where houses have bunkers to hide in a case of anything and everything happens these products should come handy. Still, I pass on that and nobody should expect any of this for Christmas either.

Lindt factory outlet

As Christmas is approaching fast and we visit friends and family we decided to pay a visit to Lindt. In the supermarket there is a huge variety of chocolate, mainly Swiss of course but since there is a Lindt chocolate factory not far from us, we decided to go there and check out what they have especially after the great experience we had at the Kambly cookie factory.
There used to be (or still) factory tours but we were mainly interested in shopping and discovering seasonal flavors. This time around there is a special Christmas Lindt shop with all the seasonal items and there is the regular shop with the all-year round items. There is a short walk between the two but the best part is the air smells like chocolate so walking from one place to another is so much fun!

When I was living the San Francisco Bay Area I visited the Guittard Chocolate Factory, which was an amazing experience. I was lucky enough to get a private tour and experience the way of making chocolate. This tour made me really appreciate good chocolate and be selective of which one I eat. I am not saying I am not tempted by a Kit Kat bar once in a while but I prefer having a small piece of a great chocolate than a bigger piece but low quality.

Now, I have a confession to make, which may seem crazy: I am not a huge fan of Lindt products. It's not about the quality but rather than the flavor or the texture. As I am not a huge fan of the taste of Hershey, I am not a huge fan of the taste of Lindt either. To be fair, I rarely eat any chocolate bars. I just simply not that into them. I love a really nice piece of cookie or some pastries instead.

But let's get back to the Lindt outlet. We bought several packages of kugels and bars for present as my family and friends DO like them. This is a selection we bought with the Christmas Lindt bear.

Recycling 2

So what happens to the stuff you collect in your house?
The household garbage is collected once a week. For compost, there is a huge bin outside and is taken away probably in every two weeks. For carton and for paper there are separate ones obviously.
As for the rest and for big piece of cartons or paper or everything else, there are places called ökihof, the dumping places for (almost) anything that collected separately. It's free to take things there although you have to pay for dumping plastic.
It's pretty convenient to get rid of everything at once although the opening hours are ridiculous as it's only open from the mornings till 5 pm and on Sat until 12.30, which means if you work you can only go on Sat and if you are out of town you have to wait another week. It's almost true for all the shops though in Switzerland so no surprise here. Scheduling and planning is the key and once you set it up everything goes smoothly.
Besides that you can also bring your stuff to the supermarket where you can find recycling points.

Obviously it's not an option if you have a ton of garbage left from the moving in or renovation or a couple of weeks piled up paper and plastic but can be a solution for a quick clean up.

Recycling 1

Before moving to Switzerland I tended to think I am protecting nature by not littering and recycling paper, glass and tins. Now that I live in Switzerland though I realize there is room for improvement.

On one hand it's very easy to recycle here as simply that's the way and on the other hand it is made really easy. In Amsterdam or the center where I lived at least it was more difficult especially when you have a bike on which you are supposed to carry the garbage to the recycling place.

Switzerland definitely mastered recycling. People on average recycle more than 70% of their garbage and this is what we have been doing as well. As we know Switzerland is an expensive country and so is having household garbage. You can only put your household garbage out in a certain bag that is purchased at certain supermarkets. If you do any other way, you can be fined as much as 10,000 CHF. Yes, ten thousand franks. Households do not pay any yearly or monthly fee as in other countries so the amount of disposal comes from the garbage bag. You pay as much garbage you have. This is one of the reasons people choose to recycle, which is actually (mostly) free.

So, when moved here this was one of the first projects we had to figure out. Where to put the garbage... I know it sounds silly but it's indeed an important project.
First of all, we collect compost, plastic, paper, carton, aluminum, white glass, brown glass, green glass, PET, milk bottles, batteries and other things that we want to get rid of (such as a broken mop for instance) separately and we do not drop them into household garbage. The question is now where to collect these as you basically need a separate container for each and the IKEA ones are really not that nice to keep 5 of them at least in the kitchen. I already have some idea how to store them but until I manage to find what I have in mind we only have a corner with a couple of baskets and bags. Not that nice but it's for a good cause, right?

Chores 1

When you move to a foreign country even the smallest things can be problematic and that's especially true when you move into a flat in Switzerland. Not only you have to stick what's in your contract such as opening your windows at least twice a day but to perform your chores can be strange at first.
Most of the apartments in Switzerland do not come with a washing machine. I am not totally sure what the reason might be but I guess it has to do something with noise. You are not allowed to make any noise on Sundays or during the evenings that can disturb your neighbors. (This actually not only includes noise but everything else that can disturb anyone in your street. For example you cannot move out/park a van in front of your house during Sunday or on a holiday because the sight of that can disturb people)
Not surprisingly, our apartment does not come with a washing machine either. Instead there is a common room in the attic where you can perform anything related to clean your clothes. Whatever that is. To be precise there are two rooms.
One has a washing machine, a dryer and a sink while the other one is the drying room. What it means is that you are only allowed to put your wet clothes in that room. You are not allowed to hang any wet clothes in your apartment.

When you hang your stuff in the dryer room, you have to turn a machine on that gets all the vapor and drys your clothes in an hour or two.

So how do you know when can you do the washing? You don't really. At least not in our house. In general there is a schedule set up and you have to stick to that. As there are only three apartments in our house we do not have such a thing but obviously that did not help me in the first couple of weeks because I was never sure if I was interrupting anyone's schedule or what. Of course I could ask which I did when we run into one of our neighbors but you do not really go and knock on their doors during evening either. 

Kambly cookies

Sunday was cold and windy and since we spent Saturday shopping in Germany (a post will come soon on that one) we were not planning to do anything other than having a cozy day in. We actually wanted to go for a jog too but we got a slight cold on Sat and because it was raining a bit we decided not to go. Instead we went to visit the Kambly cookie factory in Trubschachen. I know, I know....from jogging to cookies.. not a good deal.
Anyway, anyone who is visiting Switzerland and has a couple of hours, definitely should go to this place because one could get a real taste of the country (literally). There are about 30 different kind of cookies and crackers, which all have free samples so you can try which one to buy. The packages you can buy are 500g each and costs between 8-11 CHF. It's actually a good deal considering a package of 100g costs around 3.50 CHF in the supermarket. You can also get some nice tins with cookies inside which are perfect for gifts.

There is also a cafe where you can have a selection of pastries or get a cup of milk/coffee/tea with the samples. The place is overwhelming so be prepared! I highly suggest to eat something proper before your visit to prepare your stomach.

For kids this place is simply heaven. They can not only have unlimited pieces of cookies but there are some activities for them too. It's Christmas time therefore they had some Christmas cookie baking class for kids only. You probably have to pre-register for these activities I assume.



Besides the workshop there is also a short intro of the history of Kambly and how the famous bratzeli (pretzel cookie) is made.

Address and opening hours can be found on their website.

The next place we scheduled to visit before the holidays is the Lindt chocolate factory.

Taboos and the country aka socializing with Swiss people

During our weekend we had our real first encounter with Swiss people. It was interesting and went against (almost) everything I read or heard before.
Obviously we met Swiss people before, engaged in small conversations..well, at least me because my German is limited plus I currently do not work. My husband (uhh strange to say it) works with Swiss people plus interacts with MANY on daily basis and he has great experience. We more or less met our neighbors although the welcome apero that we are supposed to do has not happened yet (mainly because we are still out of some furniture and nowhere to sit really).
This weekend though, one of our neighbors organized the yearly Halloween get together. We really looked forward attending because we were really curious who live here. The only thing we basically knew that this place is a really Swiss one with only a really small number of non Swiss. And that's actually true. Turned out, we were the only non-Swiss:)
As a preparation, I read forums and talked to people about how Swiss behave in a social setting what the taboo topics are and what they like to talk about etc. Interestingly, during the conversations those topics came up such as money, occupation and how we ended up in the neighborhood. I was amazed! On one hand they are easy to talk to them and yes, they keep things to themselves and really private (no surprise here) but they are just simply curious people as everyone else in the planet. After we went home we were discussing how the evening went and both of us were super amazed. Actually we had a great time, met with nice people and was so much fun to get an insight in this culture. And after two months in Switzerland I can say I like it here.

And that's today's view:

The question of disappointment -- swiss quality (or taste?) never disappoints you

I like to think of myself as an adventurous person, who takes on the challenge, moves to different countries, builds her life from scratch several times and not lastly tries out local food.
In reality though although I do not mind being disappointed in places or taking on the challenge that comes with moving and building a life, I do mind being disappointed with food. And here we are again, at my favorite topic. 
While living in the Netherlands, I developed the custom of saying no to try out new cakes, cookies, or anything food related really. The truth is that most of the food in the Netherlands disappointed me and let me with a huge craving for a flavorful food. I could be happy with an ordinary street food that had actually had some taste. I love waffles but even those disappointed me as I hate the ones that comes with the sugar crumbs..instead I love the Belgian waffle that you cannot actually get in the Netherlands. There was one thing that left me a huge smile on my face every single time and I could rely on: olibollen of course....without sugar but with home made jam. The bad part was that you could only get it around Christmas. During the rest of the year, when I saw something I thought it might worth trying out, I mostly did not take the risk and just said that it would leave me disappointed me anyway, so why to risk it. And even with that, I did take the risk once in a while and guess what? I got disappointed.

But now I am in a different country, which is famous for its superior quality. No matter what you buy, food or something else, it supposed to be the best. Swiss people in general mostly buy Swiss products because they truly believe in the superiority of quality plus they think why would they give money to any foreign companies.

But back to food.Obviously, the selection of food is very different from the one you can get in the Netherlands. It has Swiss, German, French and Italian influence combined with Swiss quality. I love it! Not only the fact that until that point I was disappointed only once but the variety is huge and I need to eat my way through of it.
My rule when visiting a new country is try out a new small piece of food every time I go to the supermarket. When living in a new country it's a bit different obviously because you have more time to go through the selection of a supermarket.
My other rule what one should consider is when to relocate to a foreign country..I would say when one has bought/tried out basically all kinds of food available in a supermarket that's a sign of considering moving to another country.
I enjoy living here and I am hoping for having many years to achieve this.

Filled pumpkins

And what happened to the pumpkins we bought?

Well, we had an amazingly nice dinner.

There are hundreds of ways to prepare a filled pumpkin and most of the times I do not bother with filling them. I just peel them, slice them into wedges and cover them some kind of filling. This time however, since we got relatively small pumpkins instead of a huge one, I decided to take the center out and fill them individually. 

Now, there is no specific recipe for this since I just used up some left over vegetables.
For these three pumpkins I pre-cooked a quarter cup of rice with a pinch of salt, pepper and about a teaspoon of dill.
I cut a couple of carrots into small cubes and added it to the pre-cooked rice. To make it a little bit juicer, I added some creme fraiche to the mixture and to the top. After removing the centre, I just scooped the mixture in, placed them into a pan, cover it and baked them for about 1,5  hours. I also poured a little bit of water in the pan before covering just to make sure the pumpkins get cooked.

You can add different vegetables to the mixture such as zucchini, tomato, aubergine, broccoli and use different spices you like just to spice it up a little bit. In my case, I was completely happy with my simple flavours as this kind of pumpkin has a very nice chestnut flavor.

Cheers to the flavors of fall!

One of our first real Swiss experiences

Fall is already here and apparently it means pumpkins in Switzerland. I mean a LOT of pumpkins. Newspapers and magazines are full of articles about how/where to pick up pumpkins as well as a ton of recipes how to prepare them.
So last weekend we visited a Pumpkin Festival (Kürbis Festival) in Rothenburg close to Lucerne.
The farm is huge with a lot of animals, fruits and vegetables. Now it's the season of pumpkins and apples.
















You can not only check out the hundreds of different kind of pumpkins an buy whichever you want, but you can also taste the home made pumpkin cake and soup along with the sausages the family also prepares there. It was great!


















Kids (strictly with parents) can go around in a labyrinth and answer several questions about animals and veggies. We also got into the labyrinth mainly because this was the place where you could pick some apples but to be honest, after the 10th questions I lost my enthusiasm and just wanted to get out. Unfortunately though you have to go through the whole labyrinth of almost 2 km because you cannot just get out. Oh well, I guess I am not a kid anymore..

Kaiserschmarrn - pancake in the Austrian/German way

My diet seems to be changing since I moved to Switzerland, which means slightly more meat (still on the low side though), pastries (strictly on the weekends -- hence the name of the blog) and a huge variety of food that not only the country offers but the surrounding ones too. Being in Switzerland means that you have easy access to an authentic French baguette on the other side of the border as well as an Italian pasta or a German schnitzel (a certain kind of meat coated with flour, egg and breadcrumbs). That's simply Paradise.

The other day I was craving for something, well, not so proper dinner. Something like a dessert but still can be eaten as a dinner. And then, the German/Austrian influence kicked in so I made torn pancakes aka Kaiserschmarrn. 

Pour the milk in a pot, add the sugar and just before it boils add the semolina. Stir constantly until the mixture starts boiling again. Set it aside when it's done. 

Separate the egg yolks and egg whites and put them in medium bowls. Beat the egg whites with the salt until firm and set aside. Beat the egg yolks until it starts turning into light yellow.

Mix the beaten egg yolks in the semolina mixture and add the raisins/sultanas if you wish. Whisk the 1/3 firm egg whites into the mixture to lighten it up then fold in the rest. 

Heat a slightly greased frying pan and add the mixture. Stir occasionally until it turns light brownish. 

Pre-heat oven to 200C. Scoop the slightly baked mixture into a pan. Stir it occasionally with a wooden spoon until it is baked. 

Serve it with jam or fruit compote. 

Adaptad from here:

300 g semolina

4,5 dl milk

3 eggs

2 tablespoon cane sugar

pinch of salt

20 g butter for greasing

optional: raisins or sultanas

jam or fruit compote 

Wage for everyone even without working?

I had a schedule... a very well edited and sat up schedule for my next post, including adventures about our weekend and here I am changing it.
What's the reason? Well, millions of Rappens happened. To be precise 15 tonnes of Rappens. If you still do not get it, do not worry, it's hard to believe anyway.
So here is the story:
There is a group (not that small actually) that wants the government to introduce a wage for every single person. That's not the usual minimum wage initiative which would guarantee everyone a minimum amount to earn but rather getting a sum for 'just' living in Switzerland. Now, this group poured those coins onto the streets for raising attention to the initiative. If you are interested in the long version of the story, check this out

Personally, I think it's a bad idea. In fact, a very bad one. I do not mean the pouring coins onto the streets and picking some up part because hey, you can get lucky once in a while but paying people just because they live in a certain country? That's a very bad idea. I am not only talking about the direct effects that would drive an extra pressure on immigration, which is already a sensitive topic in the country but about the long term effects as well including the impact of raising purchasing power or prices of goods. And that's only the beginning.
Those who live in the Netherlands know what I am talking about. I do not think that's the way it should go. Especially because it does not only mean paying a certain sum of money to every single person (who is out of work) but it's bigger than that. It's about the shift in how a country sees itself and its future. I would rather work for the money than just getting it but again, I might be the crazy one here.

The initiative has been introduced, now it's up to the Swiss citizens to decide (more on the reason why it's up to them and not politicians, coming soon). Let's see what happens.

The view

Today has been rainy and cloudy but it seems the weather is clearing up slightly and the mountains are starting to show themselves.

And here is one about the countryside close to our home.

A month and a day

As I marked the one month anniversary of being in Switzerland yesterday, it made me think what has happened since I got here. Besides the constant furniture shopping and finding my way in my neighborhood, I have seen many exciting things actually and experiencing something new almost every day. This include experiencing the Swiss Air Force so called daily 'activity', realizing although I thought I know a lot about recycling there is room for improvement, getting familiar with shopping outside the country which includes memorizing the import tax & VAT regulations and rediscovering one guilty pleasure.

Hello there!

Welcome to my blog!

Today is exactly the 4th week of me being in Switzerland and I thought that starting a blog would be a good idea to mark the first month anniversary.
I have been thinking for a while what to call my blog (this version is the final hopefully) and what to blog about exactly. I had too many ideas and wanted to get everything under one blog which obviously would not work plus could not decide on how personal this one should be. As this is an open blog and will hit the internet allowing anyone and everyone to read it, I would prefer to keep it less personal but more informative.
So what you can expect here are stories, tricks & tips & info about living in Switzerland, places we visit, recipes I might test and the rest will be figured out on the way.
Enjoy!