Switzerland Part 1
The whole bus debacle really cost us. We had to pay for more bus tickets for the later bus, move our rental car pick up to another location, which cost extra, and pay for a night stay in Geneva when it was already paid for in another town, which we couldn't get refunded. Of course, this would have only happened in the most expensive country of our entire trip. I know I sound like a fatalist, but I'm an optimistic person by nature. But I must recognize our situation of "when it rains, it pours." Tanya and I know this is part of traveling like we are, and we had enough foresight to plan for extra costs we couldn't control. Still, it sucks to deal with. Anyway, on to the good stuff.
We woke up the next morning in time for the hotel breakfast. There are a couple of cereals: yogurt, juice, milk, water, coffee, toast, and eggs. However, the eggs haven't been cooked yet. You can only have them boiled, but there isn't a place to do this. A round machine on the counter has six holes and a clear domed lid. Obviously, this is for the eggs, but we've never used one. I ask one of the staff how to operate it. The tray you place the egg on is removable, and you pour water into it. Then, place the egg in the tray, close the lid, turn it on, and wait about 10 minutes. It gets hot enough to steam the water and "boils" the egg. This experience is a fun first.
When it's done, the lady brings it over and gives me an eggshell cracker. This is another gadget I've never seen. It's a flat, open metal circle with handles similar to scissors. Small triangular blades come out in the center when you squeeze the handles. They only protrude about a 1/8th of an inch. You put as much of the egg as possible in the center, squeeze the handles, and crack the shell. At least, that's the best guess I could make. I peel an egg this way and realize I prefer my usual method. This is to slam the egg's larger end on the counter, roll it while rotating until the entire shell is all cracked, and peel it off. All this makes for a new breakfast experience.
After breakfast, we went back to our room and gathered our things. We checked out and walked over to a bus stop to catch a bus to the airport to pick up our rental car. When we arrived, no signs showed the way to the rental car desk. We have to ask an employee and walk to the other end of the building. The pickup process goes smoothly, but we must take a shuttle to the parking garage floor where the rentals are kept. We find our car, do a video of walking around it, and load up. I wasn't expecting it, but we have an automatic. The vehicle comes with navigation, which is extremely helpful. Tanya inputs our destination, and we are finally on the road to our Swiss hotel.
The drive there is magnificent. Our route goes through a continuous valley with green mountains jutting up on either side. There are random small castles, or large estate remains on prominent points and terraced hills between towns. It's about a two-hour drive to our destination. We are staying in a ski town which is part way up a mountain. Before the drive up, we stopped at an Aldi grocery store for meals. I almost feel compelled to buy a pack of Ricola since we're here. It was fun looking at the new Swiss chocolate bars sold here. They are quite proud of several from the prices. Well, that and it is Switzerland. We get our groceries and get back on the road. Soon after, we got off the highway and headed toward the mountains.
We drive through a town and start up a small winding road. The road is very skinny and doesn't have a shoulder for much of the drive. It's a little nerve-racking to squeeze past an oncoming car, and, in some places, the downhill car must stop so the uphill vehicle can pass. We wouldn't want to chance this road in the winter and know it's much busier then. It is a beautiful drive, though. The green foliage is thick and right up to the road. We make it to Vercorin, where we are staying. Since it's the off-season for this town, we found a reasonable price, for Switzerland, for a week's stay. Tanya updated the hotel on our travel fiasco so they would know when to expect us.
Finally, we made it to our hotel and checked in. Our room is excellent. It's more of an apartment than a hotel. It has a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, and two and a half bathrooms. Plus, the view is wonderful. Out one side is a mountain peak, and the other is part of the small town with houses and a church nestled on the hillside. Cows are grazing nearby, and it's a beautiful touch that they have cow bells ringing around their necks. The hotel is also great. It has a small gym, spa, laundry room, gaming room for kids, and a ping-pong table. Even though we are in the Swiss Alps, we just want to chill in our room and enjoy it.
We arrived a little before dinner time, so it wasn't long before we got it ready. After dinner, we talked about our plans for the week. We would visit the towns of Bern, Lauterbrunen, and Kanderstag. We also wanted to explore the town where we were staying. Our middle son's birthday was during this stay, so we were trying to figure out what he could do. When dinner was over, and plans were discussed, Tanya and I wanted to go for a walk. The sun was setting, and the cool mountain air seemed perfect for a stroll. The kids didn't feel like walking, so she and I went. It was pretty fun seeing the different architecture and old buildings.
I saved a location on the map that looked like a trailhead. We happened to be walking in the right direction, so we found the street and followed it. We think several houses were a mix of vacation rentals and permanent residences. The lawns had bright green grass with wildflowers all around. All this beauty and being among these Swiss Tudor houses made it almost unbelievable that we were there to experience it. To add to it, we were halfway up a mountain. We could see mountains in the distance come into view as we walked closer to our destination.
Once we arrived, I was in awe. It was a clear, wide view of the valley below and the mountains on the other side. Such beauty! It brought me to tears. I was standing in a place I had dreamed about for years: in Switzerland, in the Alps, taking in the incredible views of the surrounding mountains. All I could do was gaze at the vast scenery before me, and I did for a while. After taking it in, Tanya and I noticed the trail that led into the woods. It was starting to get dark, so we followed it for only a short distance. On the steep slope next to us was a mountain goat trying to stay concealed in a bush. We passed by slowly, less than ten feet away. The trail opened up and offered another viewpoint that wasn't as good as the first but still wonderful. It was getting dark, so we decided to go back. What a terrific walk we had.
We don't tell the kids about it when we return because we will see it tomorrow. Our only plans for the next day were to unwind from the travel getting there. So, we slept in the next day and lounged around our room. My middle son and I play ping-pong for a while. Afterward, I visit the gym and get in a nice workout. Later in the afternoon, we all go for a walk to see some of the town. Tanya and I led the kids to the spot we found the night before. The kids really like the view, and it's a sunny day, which adds to our experience. We walked down the trail, but we'll go further this time. At the first area Tanya and I found the night before, we stopped and looked around. The kids start climbing logs, and I get a better look at the view in the daylight. Our oldest complains at the mere mention of going on a hike, but he is the first to start climbing and exploring.
After being here a while, we continued down the trail. Green trees and little undergrowth surround us. All we hear are the birds and wind. Of course, it's frequently broken up with the sound of kids, but that's perfectly fine right now. We walk for a while, find a place to sit, and have some snacks and water. Our oldest and youngest want to return, but our middle son and I want to continue. Tanya decides to go back with the two that are done. My son and I walk on, unsure how long it will take us to return.
After hiking for a little while, we see a ram standing still on the hillside just across from a bench. I see part of the horns first and slow down. It's standing completely still, which seems very odd. We walk slowly around the bend and see that it's a wooden statue. Both disappointed and relieved, we admired it for a minute and kept walking. After walking around this bend, I saw the road we had driven up. Then I see the hotel. This trail wraps around the point of the mountain and comes around to the other side of town. This is a nice surprise. As we continue up the trail, we pass an area of exposed rock. I notice an anchor pin in the rock and look closer at the slope. Further up are more anchors with a rope going through them across the face of the rock. I guess this area is used for some sort of practice for belaying and climbing.
The rock face is steep but not vertical, so my son and I started to climb. There are a couple of crevices going up the rock, which we use to ascend. We get higher than the small trees by the trail and have a nice view of the green slope, the road winding through, and a few houses. My son really wanted to rock climb while we were in the mountains, and this helped with that desire. We sat at the top and admired our surroundings for a short while. Then, we started looking at the slope and figuring out how to get down. It looked much steeper from up here. As we began to descend, my son noticed a trail in the grass that followed the rock where they met. Sure enough, this small trail led back to the main one. We worked our way over to it and followed it down the slope. This was some great father/son time. He and I took the trail back to where it ended on a street in town and went back to the hotel.
The next day, we had some fun plans. We left early in the morning to go to Lauterbrunnen, Kanderstag, and maybe Grindelwald. Part of our journey included a car train. This is where we drive our vehicle directly onto a train car and wait in the car as the train goes through the mountain. We also wanted to reach our first destination in time to get a parking spot. When we get to the car train, we are the second to last car to board, and it leaves soon after that. Whew, good timing. For a few minutes, we look at the scenery of the mountains before entering the tunnel. Our car is turned off, and if it weren't for the red and yellow lights on the train car, we would have been in a complete blackout. It was strange to feel that we were moving but not seeing anything pass by at times.
About three-quarters of the way through the tunnel, we slow down and eventually stop next to another train going in the opposite direction. While sitting and wondering why we stopped, an announcement comes over a PA system. It's repeating itself, and I roll my window down to understand. The announcement is in five languages, and I wait until it reaches English. There was a problem with a track sensor or something like that, which was preventing the other train from proceeding. For whatever reason, it was delaying us as well. We waited for about 15 minutes, but it felt longer before we started moving again. Not long after, we came out of the tunnel to another stunning landscape of stone cliffs and green mountains.
When the train stopped, I waited until our turn to drive forward and off the platform. The car train arrival and departure station is in Kanderstag, but we will visit it here on our way back. We drive down a gorgeous country road with lush, green meadows and a couple of small villages brimming with quaint Swiss architecture. When we get to Lauterbrunnen, we drive through most of the town to the parking lot. We pull in and are very close to Staubbauch Falls, the town's top attraction. It's the highest free-falling waterfall in Switzerland. Seeing it in the morning is especially nice. There is a restroom at one end of the parking lot, so we use it, get everyone together, and walk to the falls.
The walk was short, but we passed some beautiful buildings along the way. A long tree trunk carved into a bench is at the base of the falls. The town name is carved in the wood and painted blue, which makes a beautiful picture spot. We can see the trail leading to the falls is relatively short, so get started. The trail quickly becomes steep and switchbacks up the hill against the base of the cliff. This took us by surprise, and we needed a rest at the top of the difficult part. At the top of the switchbacks was a long corrugated, metal tunnel. The ground is stone and wet from water trickling down the other end. At the end of the tunnel are stone stairs that lead behind the waterfall. We carefully go up because it's all wet from the spray. Once there, we took some pictures, enjoyed the view, and made our way back down.
Despite the short hike, we rest for a minute at the base and take in the view of where we are. The road we walked up to the falls continued past, and we decided to follow it. Sheer cliffs on either side dominate our view, and we pass a few homes with grazing meadows around them. A picnic area with a few benches and an outdoor grill is up ahead. We stopped for lunch after the hike and walking up the road in the sun. The picnic area is well shaded, and we watch a sight-seeing helicopter land and take off several times. After lunch, we decided to walk back to town and check things out. Along the way, we walk beside a river flowing through the valley. We follow a path to the sidewalk and visit a popular spot for pictures. It's a wonderful view of the waterfall and part of the town, including a church steeple in the foreground. After waiting for our turn with the small crowd, we got our family photos. We struck up a nice conversation with the guy who took our pictures since he was from the South, near where I grew up.
Next, we walk up the hill to the main street through town. It's dotted with shops, cafes and hotels but doesn't look too touristy. We spent some time in a couple of shops, deciding on a nice souvenir. I'm definitely getting something since Switzerland is my bucket list stop for the trip, but not from the first shop. As we walk down the street, we continue to take pictures. It's been a few hours since our lunch, so we went to the only grocery store in town to grab some sustainable snacks. We sit outside the store, eat our goodies, and admire a stunning view of the mountains.
After our break, we walked back the way we came and stopped in some other shops. Eventually, I bought a T-shirt I really liked. We stroll back to the car and talk about the day. There is little time left for Kanderstag, but we loved our time in Lauterbrunnen. We don't feel we've missed anything significant, so we aren't worried about staying in Kanderstag for long. To ensure we didn't miss anything extraordinary, we drove through there on the way back. It was beautiful in its own way, and I'm sure walking around would have been nice. However, we didn't want to return late, so we drove to the car train and got in line. There are lots of cars in two lines, and I don't know if we will make this train. Thankfully, we do and get another ride back through the mountain. Today was a great day.
The next day we go to Bern. It has the longest walk of covered shops in the world at nearly four miles and, depending on where you get your information, is the world's chocolate capital. Before we toured the old town, we first visited the LDS temple in Bern. We love the opportunity to visit other temples on our trip, and this was another wonderful experience. Even though there were people who spoke English well enough, the language barrier added an element of knowing that the Lord works the same way with people in any land. We do our session there, take pictures, and admire the beautiful flowers decorating the grounds. Afterward, we changed and returned to our car to have lunch, then drove to the old town part of Bern.
Parking can be expensive, so we researched the best place for price and location to see what we wanted. We get there and start walking to the town center. The street we followed came out in the middle of the arcades or covered shops. The main street for the arcades is riddled with people, and the primary traffic is buses. We walk up the street to get a good view of the shops on either side. Tanya and I thought doing a cheese and chocolate tour of Bern would be fun. We will check several shops and purchase a small amount of chocolate and cheese to compare. Let it begin.
The arcades were so much fun to visit. At the street's edge are cellar door entrances to underground shops. We go into a chocolate shop, grab a little something, and head back out. As we walk, we see a sign to tour the apartment Albert Einstein was in when he came up with the theory of relativity. It looks interesting, but we only have the afternoon, so we keep going. We have to stop in a couple of souvenir shops as we go. It's hard not to go inside some knife shops we see. The boys and I love knives, but the Victorinox brand is expensive here. Reluctantly, we pass by after a bit of window shopping. The first cheese shop we go to turns out to be quite an experience.
Since it's a smaller shop, the kids wait by the door. Our family fills up a space rather quickly. Tanya and I walk in and see a wide variety of cheeses under a glass counter. The lady behind the counter asks how she can help, and we try to explain what we're looking for. She gets someone else to help us who speaks better English. The new lady is very passionate and knowledgeable about cheese. We talk to her about the cheeses we like and don't like and the variety we're looking for. She narrows it down to several options we should want. Then, unexpectedly, she pulls these cheeses out and gives us samples. Even though they vary in taste, all are delicious. While we are trying these, she gives us a history of why each cheese tastes the way it does.
Our oldest walked in just before the sampling began, wondering why it was taking longer than usual. He was happy to be part of the taste testing. I was also glad he was interested in the cheese lady's passionate explanations. He couldn't believe it when she pointed out a cheese wheel that was older than him. Out of the four cheeses we tried, we picked our favorite and got about one hundred grams each. By this time, the other kids had come in as well. We purchase the cheeses and a couple of local sodas. Just as we do, the kids go outside, and the cheese lady invites us downstairs, where they host wine and cheese-tasting parties. It took longer than expected, and we started worrying about the kids. They didn't see where we went, and we hoped they wouldn't walk off looking for us. When we left, the kids were still there but worried about where we went. I felt bad we didn't let them know.
We have some chocolates and cheeses and need a good baguette to go with it all. A Lidl grocery store is nearby, so we head there for some bread. From here, we walk over to the rose gardens, which are part of a large park. On our walk, we go by the bear enclosure by the river. We only glimpsed one walking in the bushes, but seeing it was still fun. After passing the enclosure, we had to walk up a steep hill to get to the gardens. It's yet another unexpected hill to climb, but it's more than worth it. The view of the old town and the park's beauty make us forget the steep walk. There are random tables and chairs set out, and I claim one. We get some family pictures with the view and sit down to enjoy our goodies.
The park is a perfect place to end our day of exploration. We could have spent an entire day here as it was. The food, drink, green lawn around us, and nice weather made it very relaxing. Kids are kicking a soccer ball near us, and our middle son can't sit still while watching it. After having his share, he runs over to join the kids. A decent-sized, shaded playground is at the edge of the green space, and our daughter goes to play on it. I continue grazing on the cheese and bread. Tanya loves gardens, so she walks over to take pictures and admire all the different kinds of roses. I join her after a while to stop and smell the roses, literally. After a while, we must leave to return to the hotel before dark. It's been a great day.
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