Christmas 2005

Fred and Coni invited a few of us (Lara, Martijn, Leila and I) to spend Christmas with them at Fred's chalet in Barbalouse (a little south of Lake Geneva, western Switzerland). Here are a few pictures (click on the icons to see the larger versions).

After arriving on the evening of the 23rd we found that Fred and Coni had prepared a traditional cheese fondue. Just as well, some of us were clearly insane with hunger. The next day Leila and Coni both made Christmas cookies.

In the morning we chopped down a small fir to make our Christmas tree, by mid-afternoon we had it inside, trimmed and put a bunch of gifts underneath. For lunch, Martijn had cooked up something traditionally dutch ... something very heavy and very sweet whatever it was.

Late that afternoon we went sledding nearby and watched an alpine sunset.

In the evening we ate traditional Finnish food, enjoyed feuerzangenbowle and exchanged Christmas gifts. The next day was a fairly quiet one, and while Leila and Lara went for a run in the snow the rest of us just lazed away. That evening saw the arrival of Jerome, making chocolate pralines, brilliant African cooking by Lara, a traditional English christmas pudding and a very strange card game indeed.

The next day saw us on the mountain riding the sleds again. It was awesome fun, as was the whole weekend. Thanks Fred and Coni for sharing it with us!