A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

icicles - J örg Brinckheger  / pixelio.de  It's winter. I know, some of you might be waiting for spring with a bit more sunshine, green leaves on trees and colorful flowers. For those of you who thoroughly enjoy Swiss winter, I've put together a Swiss German winter dictionary might come in useful during your winter holiday in the Swiss mountains. Swiss German Words for the Winter Season chalt (cold) Chälti (coldness) Chuehnagel (frostbite on finger or toes) gfroore (frozen) gfrüüre (to freeze) Glattiis (black ice) grau (grey) Iglu (igloo) iigschneit (to be snowed in, stuck in a place because of snow fall) Iis (Ice) Iisräge (ice rain) iischalt (ice cold) iischneebele (to cover someone with snow) Iiszapfe (icicle) Näbel (fog) näblig (foggy) Schnee (snow) Schneeflocke (snowflake) Schneeflöckli (small snowflake) schneie (to snow) Schneeball (snow ball) Schneeball-Schlacht (snow ball fight) schneebele (to play in the snow) Schneeflocke (snowflake) S...

Winter can be hard on parents (I suppose). In summer kids keep themselves occupied outside, riding bikes and building tree forts. In winter, however, options can be a bit limited. Especially since in most parts of Switzerland snow is a passing occurrence and winter days are usually just gray, wet and cold. Activities for Kids in Swiss Winter I tried to remember what kind of activities my mom came up with while growing up and realized most things can still be done today. Have a look: Zoo : visit the zoo in Basel or Zurich . Some animals are even more active in winter such as penguins. Visiting Indoor housing is great for warming up! Alpamare : visit Switzerland's most popular water park . Slides, hot pools and more will keep you busy for a whole day! Sledding : Switzerland has great sledding slopes where you can take a train or gondola up the mountain and sled down at your own pace. Rigi and Bergün are my favourites! Public pool : almost every town in Switzerland has a...

I've been on the road for several months now and have met lots of interesting people from different cultures and backgrounds. I've learned polite phrases in different languages, seen different landscapes and eaten the local specialities. The Typical Swiss Meal There is one question that my new friends ask me that keeps popping up: "What's a typical Swiss meal?"  I usually answer something like "anything with cheese and potatoes" but then that really doesn't give them the right impression. I mean the Canadian Poutine also has cheese and potatoes but it's very far from being a Swiss dish (thank god!). Popular Swiss Dishes So I started to think which dishes that I used to prepare and eat in Switzerland or that my mom ir grandma made for me growing up could be considered typically Swiss. It's not so easy as food in Switzerland has become very international due to the immigration history. Fondue and Raclette are the most famous Sw...