Winter is here! Finally the long awaited snow has arrived and ski resorts are expected to receive in excess of one meter snow until tomorrow night. The storm that hit Switzerland in the night of Saturday to Sunday also brought strong winds of over 100 km/h in the region causing three Christmas markets to be closed and dismantled earlier than expected. This affected the markets in Willisau, Stans and Einsiedeln.
Last week saw a change at the top of the Swiss political scene. As two members of the Federal Council retired (Doris Leuthard and Johann Schneider-Ammann), the vote was open for new members to be voted in. With three of the candidates out of four being women it was certain that another woman would be coming to power. In the end the two new members of the council are women: Viola Amherd from the CVP party and Karin Keller-Sutter from the FDP party. The federal council is now composed of four men and three women, this is a first in Swiss politics.
Finally some good news on the construction front. The work downtown between Grendel, Falkenplatz and Löwengraben is finished three months ahead of plan. The newly cobblestone streets are now meant for pedestrians with extra benches put into place. Hopefully the rest of the construction work downtown will soon be finished too.
