Montreux X-Mas Festival

I think for once in my life, it's actually quite a refreshing feeling to not be bombarded with advertisements, sales, and promotions about the latest gifts that you can get for your loved ones.

For the first time in my life, I will not be enticed by the 2 most over-rated words of this time of the season, "Midnight Madness".

That's right, Christmas in Europe is a complete flipside to the holiday coin that North Americans are so accustomed to living.

Really, the only indication of Christmas consumerism are the Christmas festivals and markets that spring up across smaller towns and cities around the countryside. Which brings us to Montreux. As the majority of our interns hail from the consumerist side of the world, we couldn't resist but experience the one of the holiday traditions that the Swiss are accustomed to.

So let's begin, shall we...

(actually hold up for a second, already I've already written half of this post already, so I know what's coming up, and I gotta say, nothing really happened, we just walked around and saw things, as you'll notice, because it's completely incoherent...and now that I think of it, it was actually quite boring, so no hard feelings if you stop reading...anyway...back to the pictures)

Ned. That was the name of the sign that we saw right as we stepped out of the station. No idea what it means. Perhaps it's referring to the man beside? If you know why, email me!



After a bit of walking, we opted to stop into a cafe for a quick warmup of nourishment. To our surprise and delight, we were treated to a plethora of exotic hot chocolates, coffees, and teas. As tempting as the more exotic hot chocolates (ie. White Chocolate Stawberry-Lychee, White Chocolate Coconut, etc.) I opted to for the traditional, Dark Hot Chocolate.



And you're right, just based on the picture alone, you can easily tell that this isn't your run of the mill, "just-add-water-hot-chocolate-powder-mix". This was serious dark chocolate, that's been melted down and mixed with milk/cream. Only one word was most appropriate for this experience: "Decadent". Absolutely decadent. The only way hot chocolate should ever be made and experienced.

Anyway, after that little pitstop, we were back on our way to seeing the rest of the market festival...



Definitely, one of the highlights of the festival was the Polish Creche Museum (Les Creches Polonaises). Each of the "castles" in the showcase was painstakingly built with only the simplest of materials such as paper, cardboard, sparkles, sequins, etc. Truly an incredible display of skill, patience, and craftsmanship.



And at the same time, I just couldn't resist. For those of you fans of the SNL sketch, where Will Ferrell is Robert Goulet and has a staring contest with a deer, this picture is for you.



And since I lost, because the deer always wins, I promptly entered myself into the traditional mating ritual showdown between myself and another male deer.



Big thanks to Vanessa for indulging one of my eccentricities.

Then it was on to the other star attraction of Montreux...

...the Freddie Mercury Monument!




All you Queen fans out there, get green with envy.

After that...all I can say is, food food food...



Then some more pictures of people...and things...jeez...can you tell how bored I was? I can't even get enthusiastic about writing this damned blog post.



Anyway, if there was a bright spot of the day, I can easily say, without exaggeration that it was the view. Amazing lakeside view, with the sunlight breaking through the fog and clouds around the mountains. Just another breathtaking view from yet another beautiful Swiss town.



And that's it.

You didn't believe me when I warned you that this was going to be a really boring post?

Yeesh...