If you happen to spend your Christmas holidays in Switzerland, you really should check the Swiss Christmas Markets. I am not sure how long they keep markets open, but if you miss the Swiss Christmas Markets this year, remember to try next year. There are Christmas Markets at least in Basel, Luzern, Montreux and Zürich. If you are staying in one of Swiss ski resorts such as Zermatt or Andermatt, check if one of these markets are close to your resort. Take a break and head to Swiss Christmas Markets.

Basel Christmas Market

I lived two years in Basel, and if you ask me, one of the highlights of living in Basel is the yearly Christmas market. I’m not into shopping at all, but I really enjoy the Christmas feeling I get when visiting the market. There are lots of stuff for sale, mostly hand-crafted, but I prefer Mulled Wine and various food they offer. If you are interested in Mulled Wine (Glühwine), check www.gluhwein.net.

Basel is a thrilling city unlike any other in Switzerland, where Swiss quality meets a multicultural population in the border region close to France and Germany. About 33% of inhabitants are from other countries. Basel is the third biggest city of Switzerland.

Luzern Christmas Market

I haven’t visited the Christmas market of Luzern, but I have been riding my mountain bike in the surrounding mountains few times. Luzern is a really nice city located by the lake and surrounded by mountains. You could say that Luzern is the essence of Switzerland. Luzern is very close to the Mount Pilatus & Rigi along with the famous ski resort of Engelberg so if you are staying in Engelberg right now, check the Luzern Christmas market today.

Luzern offers a beautiful Christmas Markets set inside the impressive hall of the railway station with 50 wooden chalets and a large Christmas Tree. One of the city’s famous landmarks is Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge first built in the 14th century.

Montreux Christmas Market

Montreux is a beautiful city on the shores on Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). Famous for the annual Jazz festival, the Montreux Christmas Market also places this interesting city high on the list for anyone looking for a something different during a ski trip in Switzerland.

Montreux boasts one of the most beautiful walks along the lake, stretching from Villeneuve all the way towards Vevey. The main square of the town, Place du Marché, features a statue of Freddie Mercury facing Lake Geneva. Some of the numerous small villages around Montreux include La Tour-de-Peilz, Clarens, Territet, and Villeneuve. The Chateau of Chillon provides a marvelous view of the entire Lake of Geneva and can be easily accessed via bus, walk or boat.

Zürich Christmas Market

Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland’s main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe. Zürich is also ranked the sixth most expensive city in the world.

Zurich offers a number of Christmas Markets. The largest being the indoor market inside the railway station with 160 wooden chalets and a 50ft high Christmas Tree.

So those people traveling in Switzerland right now, check out the Christmas Markets Swiss cities offer. It might be a good idea to spend one day in a small Swiss city instead of mountains. If you don’t like the idea, I guess it’s better to stick to your earlier plan of skiing all days of your vacation

Merry Christmas!

Here we go..

Homeboy: “Yo, woman! Check this out. We received a box full of Perky Jerky for review.”

Wife: “What? Who’s a jerk?”

Homeboy: “No, I said they sent us a box full of PERKY JERKY. Wanna taste?”

Wife: “..don’t know. You first?”

Homeboy: “For sure.  Just wondering how they figured the name?”

Perky Jerky – Caffeinated Beef Jerky

Giselle, who works for The Performance Enhancing Meat Snack Company (PEMS, LLC) in Denver (CO), sent us an interesting package to Homeboy Headquarters. After opening the box I had a number of black and silver bags, a brochure and a letter on table. “What is this stuff“, asked my friend. “Dude, it’s Perky Jerky. Caffeinated beef jerky, as it is stated on the bag“, I replied.

It took few seconds for my friend to figure out what Perky Jerky is, because beef jerky is not that popular here in Finland. Some stores sell beef jerky, but I have seen people buying it only once. Beef jerky has just recently arrived to Finland, unlike the US where it’s pretty popular.

Perky Jerky is an invigorating caffeinated beef jerky combining premium strips of peppered beef with an energizing additive. Each package of Perky Jerky contains roughly the same amount of caffeine found in two cans of a popular energy drink.

Perky Jerky is the first ever energy jerky to be approved by the United States Department of Agriculture and it is already developing a grassroots, cult following amongst fans who insist, “it’s addictive”.

Brian Levin, the developer of Perky Jerky, said it took 3 years in the making before the product was complete: “Creating an energizing meat snack was only half the battle“. “I refused to compromise on both the taste and the effect so it took several years of trial and error to find the perfect combination of flavor and kick“, he added. At 90 calories per serving and with 22 grams of protein, Perky Jerky is also a healthy low fat snack.

Perky Jerky is flavored using a 100% natural additive derived from Guarana, a plant native to South America, and found in many energy drinks and herbal teas.

Perky Jerky review

I personally like the beef jerky they sell here in Finland, so I was interested in tasting Perky Jerky, which is sold in bags of two different sizes. I opened a small bag, and the first impression was that Perky Jerky is not as dry as the competing beef jerky (can’t remember the brand) here in Finland. Also Perky Jerky smells much different because of Guarana.

For some reason others were a bit suspicious with tasting. I took a mid-sized strip and tasted. Not too bad. It has a very own flavor because of Guarana, and I know some people don’t enjoy the taste of Guarana, but from my perspective Perky Jerky is OK.

But how about the effect of Perky Jerky? How does a caffeinated beef jerky affect your body? First of all I drink a lot of coffee. I mean A LOT, so I thought caffeinated beef jerky won’t affect me much. I was wrong. Pretty quickly after eating few strips I felt my heart beating faster. Not with the speed of tachycardia, but faster and stronger than normally. So, Perky Jerky clearly effects a human body, but I can’t say how well it keeps a person awake. I have understood that people drink energy drinks in order to stay awake, but I don’t like energy drinks, so I am not the right person to evaluate that effect.

I would say one small bag of Perky Jerky works fine. It tastes pretty good and keeps you going (and skiing), but two bags in row does not taste good anymore. Probably the taste of Guarana is so strong that at least my limit comes after one bag.

We still have a number of Perky Jerky bags on table, so next time I head to the backcountry, I’ll grab a bag of Perky Jerky with me.May be it gives me an extra boost when tired.

The great thing with Perky Jerky is that it combines both, a beef jerky snack and an energy drink effect. You quickly get a nice boost that helps you to continue skiing and climbing. Each 2 oz pack of Perky Jerky contains roughly 150 mg of caffeine, or slightly less than the caffeine amount in 2 Red Bull cans.

Hey, how do they get caffeine in Perky Jerky?

We wondered how the heck they get caffeine Perky Jerky, so I had to call the company.

Homeboy: “Hey, we received the Perky Jerky package and tasted already, but we are just wondering how you guys get the caffeine in Perky Jerky?”

Perky Jerky jerk: “Well, it’ really is a trade secret, but we feed the cows Red Bull.”

Homeboy: ..long silence..

Perky Jerky jerk: “NOOOOOOOT! Actually the caffeine comes from Guarana.”

Homeboy: “Right.”

Perky Jerky is available on the web at www.perkyjerky.com and will soon be available in stores in United States. Perky Jerky has a suggested retail price of $4.99.