Switzerland!

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Area Workshop for my Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) class in Muscat.  In this part of the world, the areas are much bigger.  My workshop was in Zurich!  A tough location, I know!  And as long as I was there, I might as well stay a bit longer and do some sightseeing.  

 

I flew into Zurich and was picked up by my BSF hostess, Rene.  She had a family function to attend, so she dropped me off in the middle of Zurich, with a map and a promise to return in three hours.  So off I ventured, to soak in as much beautiful scenery as I could in that short time.
 

 

It was a beautiful, warm day in Zurich.  But I found myself in need of a coffee break.  I had been up since 3 am!  One problem, however.  Money.  In my wallet, I had Omani rials, some dirhams for my layover in Dubai, some euros left over from Italy, and a couple of $20 bills.  But no Swiss francs.  I popped in a bank, and got some francs.  I still had no idea how they compared to US dollars. Money exchange overload.  I paid 10 francs for a tall iced coffee and a muffin.  Come to find out, that was $11!  Yikes!  Zurich is expensive.



I am a sucker for window boxes!  And I think I will do three separate blog posts on this trip.  This is not the last picture of window boxes.  :)

 

Rene picked me up and drove me out of Zurich, to the countryside.  As you can only imagine, it was all so beautiful!  My other pictures did not do it justice.  I went to the home of Luzell, another BSF member.  This is the view from the side of her house.  It was a little hazy, or you could see the Alps in the far distance.  Luzell told me that before these Christmas trees were planted, there was a group of gypsies who camped in that spot for a couple of months.  I had no idea gypsies still did that!  She said they asked to 'borrow' some electricity.  Since they asked so politely, she said yes.



The views behind the house.  I could live in Switzerland.

I have to tell you about the special dinner prepared for us.  We had Raclette, a very Swiss meal.  I knew about fondue, which is basically a pot of melted cheese.  In Raclette, you melt your cheese differently.  Everyone got one of these little square pans and a small wooden spatula.

Raclette is typically a winter meal, but it was a lovely evening to eat outside.  Here are all the toppings-- Raclette cheese, another kind of cheese, and some various meats.

There is a heating element right under the grill.  You place your meats on top, and let them cook.

 





Then you place a slice of Raclette cheese, packaged in the perfect size for the pan.  Luzell's daughter showed us that we could put bacon on top.

 



The little pan gets placed under the heating element.  You need to watch carefully, so it doesn't burn.

 



While the cheese is melting, you take some boiled potatoes and mash them on your plate and add spices.

Then when the cheese is melted, you scrape it on your mashed potatoes.  It was pretty yummy, though maybe not a good idea if one is watching their cholesterol intake!

The next day, we went to the BSF workshop, located in the International Protestant Church in Zurich.

 



 All in all, a wonderful 24 hours in Switzerland!  Next stop, Stuttgart, Germany.