Merry Christmas Eve

(note, this was from Christmas Eve but didn't get posted somehow...)

Hello all! We hope you are all sleeping well (it's still very early for you!) and ready for the big holiday weekend! We are spending the holiday in Basel and having a few friends over. Looking back on the year, here are a few Rants and Raves:


Rants:
1. Blair misses being able to read road signs (other than Ausfarht) and stop lights (why does she miss stop lights? who knows! I don't miss them a bit...traffic circles are great!).

2. Blair misses having a timer on the microwave (have to have a separate timer in the kitchen!).

3. Blair misses drywall (wouldn't have guessed she would ever comment on drywall!). But needing a hammer drill to hang a picture is a bit overkill to an American.

4. Ross misses having lights installed in your house (I finally installed our dining room light after 8 months!)

5. Blair misses Taco Bell. Guilty pleasure. And we both miss eating out in general.

6. We both miss margaritas. Costa Rica was great for this!

7. Blair misses shopping and cooking in the same measuring units. And understanding the cooking directions despite them being in 3 languages.

8. We miss understanding what people around you are talking about and what the important announcement the bus driver is making.

9. We miss dog parks. Here they have amazing parks but dogs are not allowed (to keep in clean for the kids to play - very swiss).

10. We miss Christmas traditions (egg nog...but we're making some anyway!).


Raves:
1. Blair loves the trams (less driving) and the fact they are almost always on time and go everywhere.

2. Blair doesn't miss being bombarded with stuff to buy. There is no Target and we don't see any advertisements that we understand (other than UK but those stores aren't here!).

3. Ross loves that he can drive or take the tram to work. And the drive is 6 miles with 1 stoplight. Superquick and easy.

4. We like our VW Passat that gets 600 miles per tank most of the time with it's tiny Euro engine but is really comfortable.

5. We love being able to be in France or Germany in 10 minutes or less. Fresh French criossants are amazing. German potato salad is wonderful. Tons of great cheeses in all 3 countries. Great chocolate that's cheap (if you know where to look) in Swiss.

6. We both love cheap wine here! Easy to find good 3-5 franc bottles.

7. We love the scenery. It seems everywhere you go there is a great landscape.

8. We love our state forest behind our house for walking the dog and hiking.

9. Blair LOVES walking the dog in the forest behind our house. When you get to the top of the hill, WOW!

10. Joel loves Forest School. It is so neat that Joel gets to hike and play in the woods.

11. We have both loved meeting so many new and wonderful people. It is true that wherever you go, great people are there.

12. We are excited it is snowing! A white Chritmas! It's so pretty.

Merry Christmas to all!