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So here we are on the last day of 2012, and the last day of TipTopSwiss366.

It's been a year of many firsts - our first full year of living in Switzerland, my first (and second) half marathon, my first trip in an ambulance, a first visit to Italy, and so many 'first time I've done (...) in German' that I gave up counting!
I now own a Freitag bag, my neighbours finally greet me in (Swiss) German as much as they do in English and I get annoyed by untidiness, inefficiency and people and things being 'unpunktlich' so I'm certainly more Swiss than I was this time last year!

Today's picture is from earlier this month and is chosen as the traditional greeting to wish someone Happy New Year in German is En guete Rutsch or have a good slide.

Happy New Year to you all!

PS If you've enjoyed TipTopSwiss366, I'm going to carry on the Swiss theme on SwissMiss-Adventures which has sadly been neglected since last January thanks to this blog!
And I have a new challenge for 2013! It's called...

http://lisasmiles365.blogspot.com

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In the UK we have Blue Cross Days. In Switzerland we have Rotstiftwochen or Red pencil weeks.

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Isaac's birthday outing today took us to Bern and the Zentrum Paul Klee. Really enjoyed the exhibits, especially Die Engel Von Klee exhibition. And the building was pretty spectacular too! www.zpk.org

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My favourite lamp post in the park! Reminds me of Narnia but no sign of Mr Tumnus.

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My lovely reindeer window art. It's our chosen way of making the house look festive with a minimum of mess and damage. It also stops us walking into the huge windows!

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Liking the Olympic 50p pieces. My nephew is collecting them - from his Mum's purse of course!!

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Merry Christmas! Fröhliche Weihnachten. ¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Nöel. Buon Natale.

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Fröliche Heiligabend x

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Carol service at Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church. Christmas carols + candles + being at SCBC = happy Lisa

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Jude loves Dylan and Ruby. He's been hugging and playing with them constantly since we arrived in Burgess Hill.

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Jude has new glasses. I've been trying them on for size and pulling silly faces too! Isn't that what everyone does in Nandos when waiting for food?

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All together now!

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Chocolate on the plane back to England.

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I love these brightly coloured cows. I must find a way of smuggling one into England for my garden...

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Well! Somewhat amused by this box beside the Migros stand at the run yesterday!

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Today I ran the Silvesterlauf for the second time. Still elbowed rather a lot but I was ready this year!

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As the trees weren't for sale until Friday and we're going to England mid holidays, a 'real tree' wasn't an option this year.
We were going to do without and just put up the decorations and the lights, but then I went to IKEA and saw this.
So this year we have a cardboard Christmas tree. Very minimalistic too as the boys didn't want to put decorations
on it bar chocolate bears and a few mirrored bells and stockings. And we love it.

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Great to see the Winti Nativity carvings are back - and they're even better than last year. New stable and a star. And snow too!

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Late night shopping in Winti tonight - and the whole of Oberer and Unterer Graben is lit with tea lights. All along the shop fronts, around lampposts, on windowsills and in star shapes along the middle.
Winti ist sehr schön.

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In December households in lots of villages and neighbourhoods in Switzerland take it in turns to decorate a lighted window each day. It's a lovely alternative to an Advent Calendar and one that is shared with your neighbours.
Here's one I spotted today.

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Mince pies! A little British tradition in Switzerland, thanks to 'Baking Lisa' (I'm Running Lisa!)

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I got stuck at the level crossing on my run AGAIN! This time I snapped the beautiful horses in the snow.

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Love the way that the snow is hanging on that railing like a wave. And, as the boys said, the post has an "snow afro"!
And it's snowing again. Wonder how our world will look when we wake tomorrow?

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These bright red berries dusted with snow stopped me in my tracks as I ran. So pretty.

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Fondue-Zelt today for Grade 8 Mums' Christmas lunch. Heavy snow falling as we ate - very Christmassy!

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Not only do I have my own 'garden' (aka Lindengut Park) but also my own snow plough! Well, it belongs to Stadt Winterthur but it parks outside my window!

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Getting ready for Sankt Nikolaus or Samichlaus tomorrow, baking biscuits for the neighbours. Look and smell delicious so I wonder how many will actually make it into the bags...?

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Norwegian omelette? I'm not sure that's what I'd expect if I ordered an omelette...

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I love these dates. I have to ration myself or I'd eat the whole box!

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Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

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Something is afoot in Obertor this evening. There's a man inside that yellow illuminated tent fixing cables or something. His friend is outside the AXA building opposite. He's not so fortunate. He just has a ladder and a torch down his end of the hole.