Skiing in Flumserberg

On Boxing Day, whilst my mum was here, I went to the Flumserberg ski resort. The area is spectacular and I thought it would be a great place to take her, and show her what the Swiss Alps have to offer.

To get to the Flumserberg ski resort, take the train to Unterterzen.

With Unterterzen being just over an hour's train ride from Zurich, the ski resort attracts many skiers and snowboarders from the city. The resort itself is quite big and offers predominantly red ski pistes. Although if you're going there with any uneasy skiers or snowboarders, it's best not to take the cable car right to the top, as the pistes leading down are rated either red or black. My poor mum found that out the hard way!

Thanks to clear weather we enjoyed the awesome views from the top.

Conveniently, the ski lift is located right by the train station in Unterterzen and, if you're needing to hire a pair of skis or a board, there's an Intersport located nearby too. We payed 67 Franks for the day ski pass, which was reasonable – given that it is an expensive sport. The ski pass can also be bought at Intersport, which saves queuing twice if you're going to hire / buy equipment anyway.

The slopes were pretty busy with it being Boxing Day, making for a few close shaves on some of the narrower sections.

After spending a day at Flumserberg, I've got the urge to go skiing again – so watch this space. There's nothing quite like carving your way down a beautiful mountain side in the Alps. And then of course, there's the apres ski...

Christmas in Zurich

I decided to stay in Switzerland for Christmas this year. Why not, it would be pretty special. After planning that, my mum said she'd come to visit! Great, so now I can have Christmas in beautiful Switzerland and not miss out on the family side of things.

Christmas decorations along Bahnhofstrasse

Having snowed heavily earlier this week, I was expecting a white Christmas. However by the time my mum arrived in Zurich, not only had all the snow melted, but the temperature had risen back to an unusual high again. At least it made for nice weather to show mum around the city in.

Zurich had momentarily transformed itself earlier this week into a winter wonderland. Although it didn't quite last until Christmas day...

Me, mum and some neighbours of mine celebrated Christmas together and we even managed to rustle up a pretty decent Christmas dinner! It was a novelty having so much meat in a meal, it was easy to forget I was still in Switzerland – the same place in which I had once considered the financial benefits of becoming a vegetarian!

Christmas in Zurich has a different atmosphere to back at home. Things are much more relaxed here and the festive period still has real tradition left that hasn't yet been ruined by over-commercialism. It's refreshing. On Christmas eve, I gave mum a tour of the city, including an obligatory stop by Sprüngli – the Swiss master chocolatiers – and we also went to the Jules Verne Panorama Bar which overlooks all of Zurich. The views were nothing short of spectacular.

The Jules Verne Panorama Bar offers the best views in Zurich. Despite their high prices, it's well worth a visit.

All in all, a very nice Christmas. Hope yours was too!

'Tis the Season for Exams

It's that time of the year again, the exams at the University of Zurich are under way. The student flats have become eerily quiet as everyone is in their own rooms hidden beneath a pile of revision notes and empty cans of energy drink. The streets of Zurich also seemed noticeably quieter this week – although the constant rain recently might have played a role there – perhaps caused by the eloquently-named Scottish hurricane 'Bawbag'.

Snow has been forecast though, so hopefully the city will also be able to enjoy the deep snow the Alps have had. It would not only make for a white Christmas but would probably brighten the dull exam-mood. Despite being an exchange student, I too have a number of exams to attend. The first of which was today, Russian phonetic. Thankfully, it was easier than it sounds. Although I'm afraid I won't be able to say the same is true for my other courses.

Revising for my Russian exam on Tuesday.

Instead of spending my weekends reading over notes, I've done what every exchange student should do, try to get to know the environment I'm in – planning day trips, going to parties and generally having a good time. Of course, of all this has caught up with me now that the once distant prospect of exams looms ever closer. My literature exam on Monday shouldn't be too difficult in theory as we just have to define terms and discuss various schools of thought, although in practice this means I'm going to have to do some last minute cramming. And then there's Russian which won't be easy, but hopefully I should manage, there's still time.

I'm just lucky that these exams have no bearing on my degree in Aberdeen, I'm here for the experience of being in a German speaking country – this experience and learning the language will – and should - always take precedence over my actual modules here, the credit points for which my university at home won't recognise anyway. I think it's preferable to spend more time out and about in Switzerland, in order to practice speaking (Swiss) German – which is also the aim of this year abroad and is more useful to my degree – than spending most of my time hidden away under books, whereby I wouldn't be getting much speaking practice at all or even experiencing what this great country has to offer.

That's what I keep telling myself, I'm still going to have to try...

Voyage en France: Strasbourg

A trip to Strasbourg had been recommended to me often. The pretty, French city is located in northern Alsace – close to the German border, and is well known for its Christmas markets. Indeed, the city calls itself the Christmas capital – 'Capital de Noel', and with good reason: almost all the open spaces in the city were crammed with stalls, when I visited with some mates this Saturday.

Strasbourg is located along the French – German border, closer to Luxembourg than Switzerland.

Yep, another post about Christmas markets, but this is the season for it, right? So why not consider Strasbourg. Despite being in France, it has a really authentic German style Christmas market, offering a huge amount of stalls - selling bizarre Christmas trinkets and sickly, sweet Vin Chaud (Glühwein or mulled wine). The city itself feels quite festive thanks to all of its decoration and the amount of tourists doing their Christmas shopping.

The city was full of people who had the same idea.

Unfortunately, the masses of tourists and shoppers in the city meant that looking for a restaurant to eat lunch in that was both authentically French and not full, was a challenge that took us on a wild goose chase. After quite some time we managed to find a decent place that didn't have a queue lining up outside. It turned out to be as much of an authentic French restaurant as we could have hoped for. Quality, rare fillet steak was the order of the day and an opportunity we couldn't allow ourselves to miss out on, as the same quality dish in Zurich would have required taking out a small loan.

The search for food took us across the city centre, passing through the picturesque old town.

It was a novelty hearing a language that wasn't German and having to struggle to communicate with anyone. Three years of French at school (and over six years of neglect) have resulted in me having no choice but to utter the most basic of phrases and point at things – with the odd English or German word thrown in for good measure. A pity really, maybe I should give it a shot to pick it back up again. How hard can it really be?

Back in Germany: Freiburg

On Sunday I spent the day in Freiburg im Breisgau. A friend of mine studies there and another came down from Berlin, so I thought it'd be cool to get together again. Freiburg lies in south west Germany and is just an hour and a half's train ride away from Zurich.

The Altstadt of Freiburg is really pretty, especially with all the Christmas decorations that have been put up.

Freiburg also boasts a great Christmas market within it's tight, windy streets. German Christmas markets are renown for their festive spirit and German Glühwein (mulled wine) makes quite a good incentive to go and meander around the mismatch of stalls.

The Germans know how to do Christmas markets. There are countless ones across the whole of Germany which many people come to visit.

Getting involved in the tradition of Kerzenziehen (candle making) was also possible at the market. By paying a few Euros you can try your hand at decorating your own Christmas candle in a variety of wax colours. This is really popular amongst children, as they can often come up with some really creative designs. My friends however decided to give it a go, and well, the less said about how their masterpieces turned out, the better!

A candle 'decorated' by one of my friends with some more professional ones in the background...

Anyone looking to go and do some Christmas shopping – and enjoy it at the same time – may want to consider going to Freiburg. It's worth making the trip simply for the merrily priced Glühwein!