wandering-europe

Day 37 -- Back to Zurich with a Stop in Bern -- Friday, July 20th

We woke the girls by 7:30, showers and shampoo for all, and the girls said goodbye to the Glasgow Guides.  Because it was Scout Camp, and Scouts "Leave the World a Better Place," we had to clean our own rooms, which included stripping the beds, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, etc.  We then had to wait for a Pinkie to be available to inspect the room and check us out.  I got tired of waiting, and told the Pinkie that I would be at the bus stop.  There was no way I was going to miss a bus that runs only once an hour while he checked the floor for dust bunnies.  I knew it was clean, and so did he, but he felt bound to follow the protocol.   We caught 9:54 bus to the Kandersteg train station.

Waiting on the platform for our train from Kandersteg to Speiz, and then on to Bern.

When we arrived in Bern it was overcast and muggy but no rain, thankfully.  We put our bags in lockers at the train station, and found the TI (Tourist Information) to get a free map.  No city map unless you stood in line, which was stupid, given all the free brochures in racks for the taking (none bearing a map, however).  We wasted half an hour in line just to get a free map, which they kept below the counter.

We saw a number of tour groups gathered under one of the famous clocks.  It was almost 13:00 so we decided to stay for the hourly show.  Bells would ring, little characters rotated and waved, and music played.  It wasn't much of a show, however, because it wasn't run on the 24 hour clock.  Instead of 13 chimes, there was only 1.  Apparently the noon show is the best to catch.  We walked away unimpressed.

Before having lunch at the Migros Restaurant I wanted us to use the toilet and wash hands.  The girls got to experience an "attended" toilet for the first time.  We had to pay 1 CHF each to go through a turnstile, although children were free, so I had the girls slip under the bar for children.  They were too tall by a few cm, but they're 12 and under, so they got away with it.  A tiled hallway led both men and women to what you see above: a staffed reception desk.  The woman eyes you up and down and points to which side you should go, men to the right, ladies to the left.  I'm often mistaken for a man at first glance based on my height, and if my hair is tied back, but thankfully this time they recognized my true gender and didn't send me to the men's section.  The toilet areas are back around a corner, but while washing your hands you can see men on the other side of the desk washing their hands.

Migros Restaurant buffets never fail to impress me with their vast offerings of fresh foods.

The girls and I shared a Cantaloupe Lemonade.  We took the chocolate milk along with us for later.  Everyone had a satisfying lunch, and then we ventured back outside.

We walked straight down the main pedestrian street and crossed the bridge to the famous Bärengraben "Bear Pit," which thankfully is no longer a pit, but a much improved BärenPark, where the bears can roam in a green, forested area with a view, instead of a cement pit.
Today the pits have been transformed into a gift shop and an interpretive area filled with statues.  People can go down into the pit and look up at the view the bears had for centuries: pretty bleak.

Although bears have been kept in a pit in the city since 1513 as the city's mascot, it wasn't until 2009 (!) that the bears were freed from the concrete pits and given a much larger, more natural area.

I don't know why it took the city of Bern so long and the Tierpark Dählhölzli (which owns and oversees care of the bears) so long to make this change.  You'd think an educated, wealthy citizenry would have demanded this humane upgrade decades ago.  Perhaps the fact that it is Swiss heritage site of national significance led those in charge to be unwilling to consider change.

Information plaques tell about each bear -- age, where they were born, who they are related to, and even personality traits.

The new area for the bears allows people to view them from above, below, and alongside.  "Dens" built into the hillside give the bears dark, quiet places to retreat from view.

Food for the bears.  Look at all those fresh cherries, radicchio lettuce, and celery!  The health of the bears is much more of a concern today, thankfully.  Signs admonish people not to throw food to the bears, whereas once tossing bread to them was encouraged.

"We're Hungry.  When's Lunch?"

The river Aar flows past the bear park, as well as around the historic city center of Bern.  The channel is deep and the current really swift.  Swimming is not allowed in this section, although outside of town where the current is not as strong, inner-tubing is popular.

We wondered what it would be like to live in these houses across the river from the bear park.  How great for them to look out the window and see bears!

We decided to go to the famous Rose Garden up the hill for the panoramic view of Bern.  Daddy's knee was hurting so trekking up the steep brick walkway wasn't really an option.  We were able to take 2 city buses in a rather circuitous routing, dropping us off at the east end of the garden.  Here's the view of Bern from the Rose Garden.

Aubrietta needed to use the toilet.  The Rose Garden had automatic self-cleaning toilets, however figuring out how to use it was a challenge.  The spring-loaded black plastic seat could be pulled down, but you had to hold on and sit down quickly, or it would snap back up.

After you did your business and the seat sprang back up, you pressed buttons on the wall and the toilet bowl became your sink, where you washed your hands!  It was confusing, but it was also spotlessly clean, and odor-free.  Ah, the Swiss!

The Rose Garden had more than just roses.  In addition to a playground, there were also fun trees to climb.  

There were quiet places to sit with coffee or a picnic.

Roses are a high-maintenance flower which I'm not really into, so I didn't appreciate them as much as a true rose aficionado would.  They smelled good, they were pretty, but I wasn't on a mission to discover rare varieties or get inspiration for my own garden back home.  It was nice to see such a large, manicured public park in the city.  

The long, steep path between the Rose Garden and the Bear Pit.  We avoided going up this by taking the bus up, but figured if we took it slowly, we could walk down and not completely destroy Daddy's knee.

Free water at the base of the trail from the Rose Garden.

 We rode the bus back up the main street part of the way, then got off near the Migros to buy ice cream bars for an afternoon treat.  Most ice cream cost between 2 and 5 CHF (1 CHF = 1 USD), but Migros had these delicious little ice cream bars for only .80 CHF.  My favorite was the coffee ice cream covered in dark chocolate.  

Yeah public transit!  I love how you can find buses and trams in every toy store in Europe.  If only I had more room in my suitcase.  I did end up getting a small tram, matchbox-car size, for my little collection back home.

One thing we found really interesting in Bern was that many of the shops were underground in cellars, accessible through storm doors opened wide, and steep stone steps.  One was a candy store, which had a slide alongside the steps, to quickly deliver children into temptation.  We didn't descend, but now I wish we had.  Rain was threatening and it was getting late, so we didn't take the time, plus Daddy has little tolerance for shopping.

 

It was time to head to the train station and continue our journey back to Zurich.  We could tell we were getting close the the train station by the multitude of parked bicycles.

Reuniting with our bags and loading up at the luggage lockers.

Schedule checking.  The man beside us had the biggest bags I'd seen on a traveler thus far.  I think he was a paraglider, carrying his own gear.

Everything runs like clockwork in Switzerland, without much variation, so they can print up paper scehdules and track assignments and all would be correct 99.9% of the time.  Unfortunately for us we experienced the .1% when things go wrong, as we were boarding our train from Bern to Zurich.  The train we needed was assigned to track 9, but just as we got there the electronic reader board above the track switched our train over to track 2.  We had 90 seconds before the train left.  Back down the ramp, in the tunnel under the tracks, up the ramp for track 2.  There was our train, so we hopped on the car nearest where we'd come up the ramp.  It was 1st class, so we had to work our way through the train cars, hauling all our luggage down the narrow aisle.  We made our way through several 1st class cars, a dining car, and then 2nd class cars which were completely full.

Worst of all was that these were double decker cars with a single connection between cars at a mid-level with stairs going up and down.  Each time we went from one car to the next we had to go up and down stairs.  By this time the train was moving and it was even more difficult to drag our luggage along without being thrown into someone's lap.  Finally, finally, we found a car with a few seats for us, as well as a place to stow our bags.  We must have trudged through 10 train cars, and we were utterly exhausted.

 

By the time we got to Zurich it was raining pretty hard.  By now we knew our way through the station, down 2 levels, to Gleis 2.  We also finally located the tiny hidden elevator!  We arrived back in Sihlau at 5:38 and Antje was kind enough to pick us up at the station.  She prepared a delicious barley soup, bread, cheese, veggies, and meat for dinner.

The girls watched The Sound of Music together, huddled around a mac laptop, and slept together on the floor in living room.

NEXT: Day 38 -- Rapperswil -- Saturday, July 21st »

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Day 36 -- Hike to Oeschinensee and Girl Scout Chalet -- Thursday, July 19th

Today we're fitting in several little adventures. First up, we're heading to Oeschinen Lake.  You can see in the map above that the camp is at "A," the train station (center of town) is where the train symbol is, and the two gondola symbols show where we'll gain elevation.  From the uppermost gondola symbol on the map we'll hike to the lake.

We had a lot of hiking ahead of us today, so we timed it right to ride the bus into town.  I'm sure the local townspeople hate how their valley is overrun with Scouts each summer, making it impossible to find a seat on the bus.

We walked from the bus stop to the gondola (about 1/2 an hour), and bought our tickets for the gondola at a discount with our railpasses.

Looking down on Kandersteg from the Gondola.

 

At the top of the gondola was a rodelbahn run, and the girls were excited to have a go.  It was not nearly as long or as crowded as the one at Mt. Pilatus, but it had more switchbacks.

Kelsey was cautious at first, but then let loose.  She felt more confident on this shorter track, and because there weren't many people here, the only one she had to worry about running into her was her sister.

Kelsey would have liked to do this all day, if only time and money allowed.

The variety of wildflowers was as impressive as the views.

After 5 rides on the rodelbahn, we started the 1/2 hour hike to Oeschinensee, a beautiful mountain lake that the Scout Center encouraged all Scouts to go to.

The hike was a little longer than we expected,  but we were in the company of families and even elderly folks hunched over canes and arm crutches, so there was no complaining in our party allowed.

Finally the lake came into view, and what a beauty!  Look at those cows down there by the water, the snow on the peaks, the blue of the water, and the waterfalls in the distance.

Moo!  In the United States cattle are kept in crowded feed lots, and dairy cows in muddy pens.  They're fed an unnatural diet of corn and ground up dead animals, not to mention being injected with hormones and antibiotics.  In Switzerland the cows laze beside lakes and graze on grass.  No wonder the milk and meat tastes so much better here!

This cow was so happy to be touched, it rubbed its face against Aubrietta's leg, and I could almost swear that I heard it purring contentedly like a cat.  Cows are very gentle animals, and as mothers they are very loving.  I can't imagine a sweet soul like this stuck on a feed lot.  This is the way cows should live!

Even though there was cow poop along the shore of the lake, the girls were determined to go in the lake because "swimming in a mountain lake" was one of the requirements toward earning one of the adventure badges from the Scout Camp.  The girls got about this far, and I called it "swimming" as far as the badge requirement went, since we didn't have the ability to wash afterwards.  I wasn't keen on the girls developing a case of "swimmer's itch" with all the hiking we had ahead of us.

 

Ants!

Interesting strata in the surrounding peaks.

We left the lake and hiked back to the gondola station sooner than we would have liked, since we were due in Adelboden at the Girl Scout Chalet at 14:00.

Looking down on Kandersteg.  There's the school with its red rubber playfield, the town pool complex, and the train tracks coming into the station.

On our walk from the Gondola to the bus stop we discovered this "one hole" miniature golf, with rotating challenges.

This area of Switzerland is unique in that it is not served by the national Postauto bus service, but a private bus company.  Any Scout wearing their neckerchief or vest/sash can ride the bus for free.  All the buses had these trailers behind them, as they often carried cargo from the train station up to the remote mountain villages.

Here you can see the bus trip we took, from Kandersteg "A" to Adelboden "B."  Down one valley, and up the next.  The ride took a full hour.

There were many switchbacks along the way.

The girls were still wearing their rashguard swim outfits, so they sat in the back of the bus and inconspicuously changed back into hiking clothes.

Near the town of Fruitigen this little girl strode onto the bus with her wooden scooter bike.  She stood there like a seasoned commuter in the area reserved for baby carriages and bikes.

When her stop came, she rode right off.  (The bus was a low-floor kneeler that met the curb perfectly).

Hillsides continued to be busy with hay harvesting.

 

Such beautiful views from the bus.

When we arrived in Adelboden I was reminded why I decided to stay at the Kandersteg Scout Center instead of the Girl Scout Chalet.  We got off the bus at "A" and hiked to "B."  It was entirely UP HILL.

I couldn't imagine doing this with luggage, or on a daily basis.  It took 40 minutes for us to get from the bus stop to the chalet.  Daddy almost didn't make it, the steep grade was so hard on his bad knee.

We kept getting passed by tractors and balers, and it was so temping to take a running leap and hop on, except the hay was piled so high there was no room for us.  This baler was being driven by two boys not much older than Aubrietta and Kelsey.

Looking back down towards town, only about halfway up to the Girl Scout Chalet at this point.  We were not alone on our trek.  Besides the balers and tractors, an elderly couple was huffing and puffing along with us.  The woman had visited the Chalet as a teen Girl Scout 50 years ago, and was excited to see it again after all these years.   I wasn't sure if she was going to make it to the top -- either she would drop dead of a heart attack, or her husband, who was swearing under his breath, would take her out for making them do this hike.  He clearly wanted to be elsewhere, perhaps on a golf course or cruise ship.

We're almost there!

And here we are.  The Girl Guides from Scotland that we were to meet at 14:00 were already in the midst of their tour.  We joined them for the tail end, then went to the little shop (pictured far left) to buy patches.  Behind Aubrietta and Kelsey is "Our Chalet" built in 1932.  80 years old!

View from World Association of Girl Guides / Girl Scouts "Our Chalet."  It looks peaceful, but unfortunately for us, during our brief visit a pellet stove fuel delivery truck arrived and blew pellets into the basement of the chalet using one of those obnoxiously loud truck-mounted blowers.  It was so loud that listening to the tour guide during the outdoor portion of the tour was pointless -- we couldn't hear a thing.

Aubrietta and Kelsey with the Scotland Girl Guides and their leaders in the library of the Girl Scout Chalet.

In the dining hall.

Spycher Chalet, built in 1999, next to the original Girl Scout Chalet.

During the tour we discovered a father and daughter who were staying at Kandersteg were there for the tour as well.  The daughter, Sarah, was Kelsey's age and came along with her older brother's scout troop to Kandersteg.  Her dad had taken her to see the Girl Scout Chalet while the Boy Scouts were off doing something else.  They had a rental car, so I quickly arranged for Daddy (who was passed out in the grass, barely able to move for the pain in his knee) and Kelsey to get a ride back to camp with them.  Aubrietta and I joined the Scotland Girl Guides for the hike and bus ride back.

At the bus stop in Adelboden Aubrietta learns from one of the Scotland Guide Leaders how to tie a friendship knot in her new neckerchief.

Here's the bus!

We took the bus to Fruitigen, then the train from Fruitigen to Kandersteg, then the bus from Kandersteg's train station back to camp.  Aubrietta had a great time talking with the girls from Scotland, comparing notes on school, Scout adventures, trends/fashions, and all the other things young teen girls like to chat about.  

Arriving back at camp, I found Kelsey and her new friend Sarah were busy with a Lego kit Sarah brought to our room.  Sarah was from Wisconsin and had spent the last week in the company of her dad, her brother, and her brother's Scout group.  She was so grateful to find a girl to play with!

On our way to dinner we stopped by to see Sarah's room, which she shared with her dad and two other leaders of her brother's troop.  The Boy Scouts were out in tents, but the leaders got to stay in the chalet.  How come I can't camp this way back at Girl Scout Camp in the United States?

Dinner tonight: Chili, green beans, rice, and "salad bar" (diced bell peppers, tomatoes, and pineapple rings).

The Scout Camp has a resident cat.  Here it is having its dinner.

And later, taking a nap in the reception area.

The welcome board shows who is here, where they are from, and who just arrived today.  63 Scouts and Guides (boys and girls) are arriving from Ireland today, along with 76 others from various countries.  That's in addition to all of us who are already here.  This is a big place.  I am so glad we stayed here instead of at the Girl Scout Chalet, which only accommodates about 100 when they are at full capacity.

After dinner there were a number of activities to choose from.  We opted for KanderChallenge, which was similar to "Race the World" which Aubrietta did on Tuesday, where teams were formed and a number of challenges happened. 

Instead of performing all the challenges simultaneously on the big field, the teams had to race between stations scattered throughout the camp.  Sadly it was difficult to find open stations, and time spent waiting meant that our team was only able to go to 4 of the 10 stations. I'm not sure if any of the teams were able to complete all 10 in the time allotted, which was disappointing.

Lashing together a rescue stretcher seemed easy enough, except that the previous teams had left the rope in knots that needed to be untied first!

Aubrietta and the Scotland Guides attack those knots.

Knots, knots, knots.

Success!  Kelsey was the lightest weight, so she was chosen to ride the stretcher.

The final challenge had all the teams together in the field to build a "vessel that will contain water" out of a piece of newspaper, a paper clip, a tiny water balloon, a straw, and string.  Of course this was pretty much impossible.  The challenge was to have one person from the group sit beneath the contraption as a pinkie poured a bucket of water into it.

There was some random water-balloon tossing while the contraptions were being built, and this Pinkie (staff member) tossed a balloon and accidentally hit a leader, soaking her, so she demanded that he be the one to test out their team's contraption.

Of course no one could win at this competition.  

As the pouring of water from buckets finished up, the water balloon fight began.  You can see Aubrietta there on the left, laughing.   What fun!

 

Just as Kander-Challenge wrapped up, the 63 Scouts and Guides from Ireland arrived by charter bus.

It is always fun to see new people arriving, full of anticipation for the adventures ahead.

Kelsey and Sarah returned to our room and the Legos, while Aubrietta and I decided to catch the night hike.  Initially Sarah wanted to come, so we took time to find her dad and check in with him, find Sarah's sweater, etc, and then in the end she decided she'd rather play Lego.  Aubrietta and I thought we could catch up with the night hike, but we were just too far behind.  We had a good hike anyway, but on our way back Aubrietta started tying and untying her neckerchief, practicing the friendship knot, and suddenly she realized her "woggle" (the leather or embroidered ring) had slipped off.  It was on the ground somewhere, if someone hadn't picked it up, so we spent the next hour retracing our steps, until it was too dark to see.

While stopped for a moment we heard something rustling beside our feet.  Something ALIVE.  My flashlight wasn't powerful enough to catch it, but I had my big camera with its powerful flash, and above you can see what the camera caught -- a GIANT toad!  It was almost as big as my hand.

It was late (nearing 22:00!) and that woggle was gone, so we headed back to our room.  Aubrietta was really sad about loosing her woggle, since it was the special Girl Scout 100th anniversary one, and there was no way we could get another.  Hopefully someone found it and will enjoy it.

It was another full day, and our last night at Scout Camp.

NEXT: Day 37 -- Back to Zurich with a Stop in Bern -- Friday, July 20th 

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Day 35 -- Part 2 -- Zermatt and the Matterhorn -- Wednesday, July 18th

Daddy went alone to go see the Matterhorn today because we felt the journey would be wasted on the girls.  The round trip by train was 7 hours.  You can see how much farther Zermatt is from where we are staying in Kandersteg than the Jungfrau was from Interlaken which we did the day before.

I've seen the Matterhorn before.  That's me in 1986 with my beautiful new Raichle hiking boots -- the first pair of good shoes I'd ever worn.  I had just turned 17 but could barely keep up with my 29-year-old new Swiss stepmother, who had us do a long hike that day.  I'll never forget lying down in a field of wildflowers, utterly exhausted, and having dozens of butterflies tickling my face as they licked the salty perspiration from my skin.  I knew I couldn't top that day, so I was fine to keep that memory and not return today.

The rest of this blog post is taken directly from Daddy's journal, along with the photos he took:

I took the bus into Kandersteg and then got on a train bound for Brig, where I would transfer to a train that would take me to Zermatt.  Right after leaving the surface south of Kandersteg, the train entered a very long tunnel.  At full speed it took probably 15 minutes to get through the tunnel.  It must have been many miles long.  We had seen train cars loaded with cars, trucks, and even tour buses going into the tunnel.  We found out that this was a common way of avoiding an otherwise 3.5 hour or more drive around this particular group of mountains.

The trip to Brig took about 50 minutes, then a short layover before the 1.5 hour trip to Zermatt.  From the train station in Zermatt you just cross the street to the terminus of the Gornergrat cog railway, which takes you up the mountain, another 1/2 hour or so.  

The town of Zermatt is pedestrian only (no cars), except for very small electric buses run by various hotels, and a few horse drawn carriages.  

The cog railway ride was equally impressive to the one up the Jungfrau, with occasional glimpses of the Matterhorn.  

It was a beautiful day -- clear blue sky with only the tiniest of clouds.  

  The area where the train lets you out was not snow-covered as the Jungfrau had been, presumably because this was at a lower elevation.  

At the top, there was a large visitor center with restaurants with outdoor seating looking out over the matterhorn and a number of other mountains and glaciers.

 

I opted for lunch before looking around.  I had a huge piece of vegetarian pizza and a Heineken beer and ate outside.  There was a large black crow-like bird that would come right down onto the table and chairs looking for something to eat.  

There was a rocky trail away from the visitor center that I hiked along.  I was glad to have brought the trekking poles.  

Amazing views out over the nearby glaciers.  I spent a lot of time just looking.

Spring Gentian wildflowers

Purple Saxifrage wildflowers

People had built numerous cairns out of the flat rocks that were lying loose everywhere.  I stopped and added a few more to one of the larger cairns.

In all I spent about 2 hours at the top, then boarded the train for the ride back down.  The cog railway train arrival time was 13:39, the same time as the departure time for the train to Brig, so even though the stations were adjacent, I missed the connection.  The next train wasn't for about 40 minutes, so I walked around Zermatt, looking in shops and trying to dodge the throngs of tourists.  

Beautiful town, but very, very touristy.

The trip back to Kandersteg seemed a lot longer than the trip to Zermatt in the morning.  The train made a lot of stops not at stations, and no one in my car seemed to want the windows open.  It was like an oven, and was sweating profusely.  Once in Brig, I knew I would be too late for the dinner hour at camp, so I bought a sandwich and a beer in a small cafe in the terminal.  I also bought a small basket of local apricots from a vendor outside the station.  

When I got back to Kandersteg the bus had just left, so I had to walk 30 minutes back to the Scout center.  I was exhausted when I got back, but glad that we hadn't taken the girls.  I don't think they would have been very happy with the long time on the train for the short time at the destination. 

NEXT:  Day 36 -- Hike to Oeschinensee and Girl Scout Chalet -- Thursday, July 19th

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Day 35 -- Part 1 -- The Girls Explore Kandersteg -- Wednesday, July 18th

View from our accomodations (Kander Lodge) looking toward the new chalet (left) and the old chalet (right).   The old chalet houses staff and "pinkies."

Daddy left early this morning to head to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn, the iconic mountain of Switzerland.  It is a 7 hour round-trip by train, and we decided the scenery would be lost on the girls, so I would stay in Kandersteg with them and explore on foot.  

From the scout camp back to the town there are only 12 buses a day, once an hour.  We just missed one, so we'll walk into town, which takes 30 minutes on foot.

Walking into the little town of Kandersteg.  

 

It didn't take the girls long to locate the town school, and do playground inspection.

Behind the school was the local pool.  One peek through the fence and the girls wanted to go in, however our swim things were back at camp.

Waiting for the bus back to camp so we can go get our swimsuits.  It is getting hot.

Just off the bus -- quick photo -- OK, let's run get our suits and towels and get back out to the bus stop on the opposite side of the road.  We have 10 minutes while it does its U-turn at the end of the valley.  GO!

We made it!  I decided to send the girls into the pool together while I hiked through the town.  While waiting in line to go in I noticed other children arriving by bicycle, walking up to the window to pay, and going in without parents, so I decided to let the girls exercise some independence as well.  

There was a big slide, activity pool, and plenty to keep them entertained.  

This water tunnel connected one of the pools to the main building where the locker rooms were.

The girls loved that you could swim right into the building!

While the girls swam I walked through town, up and down nearly every street.  The streets were deserted, I hardly saw any people.  Where was everyone?  I knew that some were at the pool, but mostly there were lots of tourists and scout groups at the pool.

I especially enjoyed peering into people's gardens.  This was the first summer in almost 20 years that I wasn't growing a vegetable garden, so I had to admire and get inspiration from others instead.

It was haying season, so tractors and balers were a common sight.

The town of Kandersteg is in a valley, and high up the hillsides hay is harvested for winter.  The slopes are so steep that often the grass is cut by hand with a scythe.  See all those people up on the hill?  Closer in I could see entire families working together: children, grandparents, teenagers.  All hands were put to use.  That's where all the townspeople were who weren't at the pool.

A beautiful hotel in town.

Most buildings in Switzerland, including private homes, have the date they were built carved or painted above the highest window.  This home was built in 1556!

A new home under construction.  This house will display the year 2012, and will be 456 years younger than the house in the previous photo.  Looking at the window wells, you can see how thick the walls are, and how well insulated the house will be.  Building codes are much better in Europe than the in the US.

The town's Catholic church was built of stone in 1510.

A small garden in town.

After 2 hours I lured the girls out of the pool with a promise of ice cream.

It was getting pretty hot, and as we sat outside of the town hall, we watched people and animals alike stopping for a drink at the public fountain.

It was Mittwoch (Wednesday afternoon), so nearly everything except the small grocery store was closed.

Underneath the city hall, hidden away in a dark basement, there is a room with Scouting artifacts going back 100 years.  We were able to get someone from the tourist information office to let us in to look around.  It is locked and opened by request for scouts.

Around 16:00 we headed back to camp.  In the photo above you can see one of the "pinkies" (staff) roped up on the roof, cleaning windows.

We had some time to pass before dinner, so we walked the trails around camp.

"Attention: No Fire Making!"

Technically the river was off-limits to Scouts, but we found this quiet spot near a trail and the girls wanted to play in the mud, so I let them.

I figured as long as they were away from the actual river bank, they would be fine, and they were.

We went back to the chalet to wash up, and explored some of the common rooms.  Here the girls stretch to see photos on the wall.  They love to look at everything and attempt to translate that which they cannot read.  In just a week, the girls have picked up quite a few Swiss German words.  

Soon it was time for dinner.  No sign of Daddy, and I had no cell phone for him to call me on, so we just went ahead and ate dinner.  As I suspected, he picked up dinner for himself along the way home from Zermatt.

This was tonight's dinner.  Overcooked stew meat, pasta, overcooked broccoli, salad consisting of diced bell peppers and cucumbers, whole fruit, coffee, and pudding.  Not great tasting, but for camp food, it'll do.

Daddy returned back to camp after we finished dinner and went straight to bed, exhausted.  The girls and I walked back into town for "Swiss Culture Night" arranged by the local tourist board, and held in one of the large hotels.

The half hour walk into town was feeling shorter and shorter each time we made it.

We were not alone on our walk, either.  In addition to Swiss Culture Night, there was an International Scout Disco going on at the skating rink near the train station.  We'd check that out after the Swiss Culture Night.

We sat in the ballroom of one of the grand old hotels in town and watched Swiss Folk Dancing.  In addition to scouts and tourists, there were a number of older townspeople in the audience enjoying an evening out.

It was really fun to watch.  I was amazed at how long they danced, and with such energy.  Many of the women had very dark forearms, suggesting that earlier in the day they might have been up on those hillsides harvesting hay.

As is often the case, there were more women than men, but there was a nice range in ages of the women, from teenagers to the elderly.  After 45 minutes of dancing, they were going to do a last dance and called for volunteers from the audience to join in.  I encouraged the girls, but they were too shy.  Almost immediately, of course, they regretted not participating, but it was too late, the 12 volunteers had been chosen.

An alphorn player was supposed to perform as well, but couldn't make it.  The last act of the evening was Fahnenschwingen, or flag throwing.  Dating back to the middle ages, flag throwers twirl a flag on a short staff in rhythmic motions (there are 50 different moves), tossing it up into the air and catching it without dropping it.  It was quite mesmerizing to watch, and every time the flag was tossed into the air you could hear the audience gasp and hold their breath until the flag was safely back in the flag thrower's hand.

After the performance we thanked the dancers and flag thrower and walked over to check out the International Scout Disco.  Outside the building a line of Scouts and "pinkies" stood smoking.  Inside, alcohol was flowing (you'd never find alcohol served at an American Scout event!), and although only those over 18 could buy drinks, there was a lot of mixing and sharing going on from what I could see.  I was never into the club scene when I was younger, and I wasn't ready to see my daughters dive in, either.  (I heard from other Scout Leaders the next morning that there were a number of intoxicated teens, with some passing out and needing to be carried back to camp.  Glad we didn't stay!)  We watched from the doorway for a few minutes, not going in, then walked the half hour in the darkness back to camp and went to bed.  

NEXT: Day 35 -- Part 2 -- Zermatt and the Matterhorn -- Wednesday, July 18th

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Day 34 -- Interlaken to Kandersteg International Scout Camp -- Tuesday, July 17th

We had the simple breakfast at the hostel then packed up, checked out, and put our luggage into the free day lockers in the basement.  Our time at the Backpacker's Hostel had come to an end, and we were sad to go, as it was a pleasant place to stay.  It was so much nicer than the Legoland Village Family Hostel we'd stayed at in Denmark.

Our next accommodation was only about an hour and half away, and we couldn't check in until 16:00, so we decided to take our time getting there.  Our stay at the Backpacker's hostel came with free entry to the town swimming pool, which we hadn't taken advantage of the last two days because of our day trips.  I wanted to walk around Interlaken, and the girls wanted to swim.  Daddy took the girls to the pool and relaxed in a lounge chair while they played in the water.  Even though we'd already checked out, the hostel was nice enough to loan us (for free) two beach towels to take to the pool.  Aubrietta was ecstatic to get a Lion King towel, and wished she could take it home!

The girls had a great time at the pool complex, which had not one, but several outdoor pools, complete with tube slides.

Meanwhile I walked through town and tried to find the tiny hotel on the pedestrian street where my brother and I stayed in 1997.  I came across a darling shop featuring items made in Switzerland.  I'm not much into souvenir shopping, but I did have to buy this beautiful wooden memory game featuring Swiss icons.  We love games in our family, and it would bring back happy memories each time we played it.

In my wanderings I also went to the large Migros grocery store, which was closed Sunday and was closed every evening when we needed it.  We were now on our way out of town and would be juggling luggage on the train, so I could only look, and not do a big shopping.  Tempting me from the coolers were about 50 different kinds of yogurts and custards.  I couldn't care less about the knicknacks and jewelry most women swoon over  -- just show me to the nearest gourmet grocery store and my wallet magically opens.

The hard-boiled eggs called to me as well, but even in the protective casing I knew they wouldn't travel well.

And cheese!  These sampler packs with 4 different types of regional Swiss cheeses in each would have been perfect -- except that I had no way to keep them cold for 3 hours, and it was getting to be a hot day outside.  If only the small convenience store in the little town we'd be staying in next had this much selection.

I did buy some things to take home.  Paper napkins are lightweight and don't take up much space in the suitcase, and they are fun to pull out in the future and remember our trip by.  The little embroidered felt hearts are table decoration, but I plan to add ribbon and hang them on our Christmas tree in December.

Here are some other things that made it home in my suitcase: Menthol eucalyptus chewing gum (great for cold season), assorted chocolate (some to give to neighbor kids, some for me), and my favorite Appenzeller Biberli: spicy gingerbread cakes with marzipan filling.

Around 11:30 am we met back at the hostel and I took the girls back to the Migros for lunch at their pay-by-weight buffet restaurant.

We absolutely love buffets.  What a great opportunity to try lots of different foods in one sitting.

The girls will eat anything, especially after the last 3 days of hostel breakfasts and microwave / picnic dinners.

The canapes looked especially inviting.  Aubrietta announced that she is expecting me to put these in her school lunches from now on.

In the end we got mushroom spatzle (potato dumplings similar to Italian Gnocchi), salad, potatoes, fresh fruit, and a big slice of ham and leek quiche.  We split one giant cantelope lemonade between the 3 of us.  At $4.50 USD for the beverage I wasn't about to get one for each of us.  The total cost of all the food was under $20.00 USD, which was great for a meal for three of us.  Daddy was resting in the garden back at the hostel (he wasn't very hungry and just had some leftovers while cleaning our things out of the hostel fridge). 

When I got back to the hostel with the girls we barely had enough time to get the luggage from the lockers and rush out to the bus stop.  We thought we'd missed it (we were 3 minutes late, and this WAS Switzerland after all), but miraculously the bus was late and rounded the corner just as we pulled the last suitcase over the curb.

At the train station.  It looks like a lot of luggage, but it contains everything we needed for 6 weeks in 5 countries, from 2 pairs of trekking poles, to down jackets, to hostel sheets, to extra shoes.  By the way, I brought only 2 pairs of shoes on the trip -- hiking boots I wear most of the time, and sport sandals (closed-toe like Keens).  I bought a new pair of heavy duty insoles to put on top of my orthodics before the trip and this morning I had to throw them away because I had worn them to shreds with all the hiking we've done on this trip.  Right now I would love a pair of cushy slip-on Merrells like I wear at home all the time.  My husband brought 4 pairs of shoes  (which I thought was too much), the girls have 3 pairs each (boots, athletics, and sandals) , and now I'm thinking I should have had 3 pairs, too.

Ready to go!

We changed trains in Spiez and headed up a valley toward the mountains.

We'll get off in Kandersteg, just before the train goes into a long tunnel through the mountains.

We happened to get on a train car for the disabled.  It had a beautiful, large bathroom, and everything was automatic -- except the toilet.  Put your hands in the sink and the water turns on, move your hands to the right and soap squirts onto them, move your hands to the left and the air dryer dries them.  Toilets, however, are push-button, which makes much more sense.   I despise the trend in the US of auto-flush toilets, which often start flushing before you even sit down, and then flush a couple more times before you are finished.  Europeans obviously trust that you are capable of flushing the toilet on your own.

When the train pulled into Kandersteg we saw a line up of cars going through some sort of toll booth.  We weren't sure what it was, but we didn't have time to wonder for long as we busied ourselves with collecting our bags and rushing to the bus, which only ran once an hour.  When we got off the bus at the camp (you can see the tiny blue bus stop sign in the right of the photo above), a loud whoosh from the train tracks above explained everything.  There was only one tunnel through the mountains, and it was for a train only, so when cars, trucks, or even tour busses (!) wanted to avoid a 3.5 hour detour around the mountains, they drove onto the "car train" and were transported through, still sitting in their vehicles.

We checked in and were given a room in the most modern building, "KanderLodge," which had rooms with 2 single beds each sharing a bath with another 2 bed room.  The lodge was designed for troop leaders, families like ours, and young troops not ready to sleep out in tents.  Our lodge is that gray building wedged between the river and the train tracks.  (The colored patches with numbers are group camping spots.)

Unfortunately our room looked out on the train tracks, and every time a train passed (which was every 10 minutes), the building seemed to vibrate.  We didn't know how we would possibly sleep, but at least we weren't in tents!

 

The beds were like the ones at the Backpacker's hostel.  Narrower than a US twin bed, but a lot longer (even long enough for me!).  In the photo above you can see how this room opens into the common bath.  Door to the left is for the shower and toilet.  To the right is a sink and mirror.  See the heated towel rack (such a great idea!) -- to the right of that is the door to the hallway.  To the left of this long and narrow room is another room just like it in mirror image.  The girls shared one room, Daddy and I the other.  Daddy claimed his bed by the window and was soon sleeping.  The girls and I went out exploring.

Many campers prepare their own meals at their campsite or in the communal kithcens, but there is a dining hall with food service that some troops treat themselves to.  I'd signed on for dinner each night, and figured we could do breakfast and lunch on our own.  We were curious to see if the camp food here was better than the horrible food at Girl Scout Camp back home.

The girls do not look pleased about tonight's dinner menu.  You wouldn't find alcohol at a scout camp in the US, that's for sure, even for cooking purposes.

Camp staff come from around the world and are called "Pinkies" because of the pink t-shirts they are required to wear.  And look, there's an espresso machine!  Coffee was included with dinner, although it wasn't great quality.  We liked how you could go down the food line and say, "a little more please," and "not much, thanks."

The girls are all smiles, but the "Pork in Beer" was pretty disgusting, reminsicent of dog food.  We filled up on the potatoes (really tender German butterballs), baked eggplant & tomatoes, and fruit sorbet.  I also asked for a little bit of the vegetarian option, which was cooked vegetables.  There was also a meager salad bar containing only 4 items: iceburg lettuce, diced bell pepper, canned pineapple, and sliced tomatoes.  Daddy was late joining us for dinner, and then returned to the room to lie down.  His knee was really killing him, and the pain medication he was taking made him tired.

At 19:00 we headed to the sports field for the evening's all camp activity, "Race the World."  It was a team challenge with relay games from around the world.

It was suddenly obvious that we were the minority here -- most of the campers were teenage boys.  Teams of 10 were formed, and Aubrietta was the only girl on a team with 9 sixteen-year-old boys.

Kelsey refused to participate.  She sat down and befriended this Boy Scout Leader from the midwest USA.

First up was a relay where two teammates sidestep across the field and back while pressing a balloon between their chests, no hands allowed.  If the balloon falls, they return to the start and go again.  When Aubrietta heard this she blushed deep red and wanted to slink away, but she's a sport, so as the boys paired up, she stepped forward when one of the boys chose her as his partner.

There she goes, chest to chest with a boy she has just met.  I was so proud of her, although I know she was dying of embarrassment.

The next relays were not quite as "intimate," thankfully.  Above you can see Aubrietta the white and tan blur to the right.  I could tell she was pushing herself to impress the older boys and keep up with them.

"Pinkies" demonstrate the next relay, which is a classic game of leapfrog.

Teams listen as the rules are explained.  In the background you can see some of the tents where campers sleep.  Aubrietta is in the center of the photo above, just a few inches shorter than the guys on her team.

Toward the end, Aubrietta steps away from the team briefly to tell me that she is having the time of her life.  She is just radiant, and dare I say a bit smitten with some of her handsome teammates.  I didn't ask her, but I bet she was wishing for another go-round with that balloon pressed between her chest and that of another boy!

After the event the three of us walked around the campsites.  Each area represented a different region of the world.  There were lots of little signs and things to find.  At the reception desk I'd picked up a scavenger hunt booklet, and we looked for some of the things on the list.

The camp ends where the train tunnel begins.  The Loetschberger Tunnel was built between 1906 and 1912, so its 100th birthday was this year.

On some railway sidings extra vehicle transport cars were stored, so we got to look at them up close.  It was amazing to us that huge tour buses and shipping trucks could drive onto these (with not much overhead clearance, obviously), and hurtle through the tunnel on a train going at full speed.

We continued through the campsites, admiring the different tents, and the views they had of the mountains.

Here's an interesting tent.  Nice tall walls, but no windows.  I bet it is dark in there. 

Irish scouts sleep here.


 

The sun was setting, so we headed back to Kander Lodge.  On our way to the room we went into the building's common kitchen and living area and met a troop of 11 to 14 year old Girl Guides from Scotland.  There were 8 girls and 3 leaders, and unlike in the US where leaders are often the parents, these 3 leaders were young women in their 20's.  Aubrietta and Kelsey started chatting with the girls while the leaders and I compared notes on our respective organizations (I've been with Girl Scouts for 6 years now, in several leadership roles).

We were joined shortly by 3 Eagle Scouts -- one from Texas and 2 from Louisiana.  They were between 18 - 21 years old.  The young man from Texas was so charming, had such a sharp wit, and got all the girls laughing hysterically when he belted out  camp songs and various country music ballads in his Texas twang.  This was exactly the experience I was hoping to have by coming to this camp, a chance for the girls to meet people from around the world and share good times together.

Sometime after 23:00 I pulled the girls away from the group and told them it was time for bed.  Some of the Scottish girls were fading, too, whereas the Eagle Scouts and the young lady leaders from Scotland looked like they could go on for hours.  (I wondered if any of them would end up in bed together later... there were signs in all the bathrooms saying that condoms were available at reception!)

The girls were so tired that they were quickly asleep, trains and all.  My husband was snoring away as well, oblivious to his painful knee for awhile.  I wrote for an hour or so on my iPad, until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, then reached for my earplugs and tried to ignore several passing trains, until finally sleep overcame me.

NEXT:  Day 35 -- Part 1 -- The Girls Explore Kandersteg -- Wednesday, July 18th 

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Day 33 -- Up to the Jungfrau via Cog Railway + Gimmelwald -- Monday, July 16th

This was the view from our bedroom window at the backpacker's hostel when we woke up this morning.  Looks like a good day to go to the top of the Jungfraujoch!

The journey would take 2.5 hours, and a series of trains, including a cog railway.

The views were amazing: little villages, waterfalls, steep hillsides, and carpets of lush green forests and fields.

There were lots of little tunnels, but the biggest one was near the end -- a tunnel 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) long, up to 25% grade, and we'd be in the darkness for more than half an hour.

Our first train was from Interlaken (where our hostel was) up to Lauterbrunnen.  There were lots of pretty wildflowers along the way.

The girls had found "Jungfrau Kids" magazine at the train station, which was in several languages including English, so they were preoccupied with that.  I looked at the magazine briefly and it was very well done, actually.  It told a lot about the mountains and glaciers we'd be seeing, the history, and even identified the wildflowers that we were passing outside the train window. Now if we could just get the girls to put down the magazine long enough to see those flowers!

Our ride from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen was just 20 minutes.  There we transferred to another train taking us to Kleine Sheidegg, which would be about 45 minutes.  The final train took nearly an hour.

At Lauterbrunnen I bought our tickets, discounted with the Swiss Rail Passes we had.  Without our rail pass it would have cost nearly $600.00 USD for the four of us to go to the Jungfraujoch and back from Interlaken.  We'd gotten a special "family card" which allowed the children to go free with paying adults, and for us the top end of our journey was discounted 25%, so the total we paid was about $250.00 USD.

The train was absolutely packed.  After we left Kleine Sheidegg there was only a short time before we'd head into the long tunnel.  The conductor came through the car and asked for tickets.  The man sitting across from us had a Global Rail Pass but no ticket.  There are NO passes that allow you to take this special journey free, and the rail passes clearly state that certain mountain railways require you to buy a ticket.  The conductor asked the man to buy a ticket from him with cash or a credit card and the man claimed to have neither.  Imagine that, travelling with NO money, and NO credit card!  I wonder if he was just too stubborn to pay.  Well, the conductor told him he would be getting off the train soon, and sure enough, a few minutes later the train came to a stop and the conductor came to the man and ordered him off.  The man looked shocked, but slowly got up and went outside, asking when he could catch the next train.  The conductor pointed to a steep walking path back to Kleine Sheidegg, about 5 miles and 3,500 vertical feet down the mountain, and told him to start walking because he wasn't getting back on a train without a valid ticket.

There goes that man, just dumbfounded at his mistake.  He was probably in his early 30's, looked to be Mediterranean or Italian, and obviously wasn't very smart if he really was travelling with no cash and no credit card.

We saw this cute little snowplow on a siding as we went up.  

A train passing us going down was filled with things from the restaurants up above: recyclables, extra chairs, empty kegs, and coolers to transport food back up the mountain.

Here we go, into the tunnel!

There were 2 stops on the way up, with viewing windows.  We had 5 minutes to get out and get back on the train.  The girls and Daddy stayed on the train since it was full and we didn't want to lose our seats.

 I didn't get off at the first stop (Eigerwand) since I could see it was clouded in, but here's the view from the second stop, of the Eismeer or "Sea of Ice".

 photo courtesy of http://www.hfsjg.ch/jungfraujoch/

When the train came to a stop we were at what is called "Top of Europe."  In the above photo to the left, the large building, is where the train arrives and there are multiple restaurants.  Just above that is an outdoor area to view the glacier. Right top is the Sphinx Observatory.  Lower Right is the Research Station.  Beyond the Research Station is an area for sledding and snowplay, as well as where the serious mountain climbers take off.

 

It was bright, and COLD!  Thank goodness Mommy made the girls bring their down jackets and long underwear.

Looking towards the snowplay area.  In the distance you can see hikers heading to a hut on beyond around the bend.  We did not venture that far as we did not have the right equipment for such an excursion.

Greatly detailed maps helped us know the names of every peak we could see.

See red arrow above: we are HERE!

It was windy, bright, and bitingly cold.

At the Sphinx Observatory, the highest place in Europe that a non-climber can go without flying: 3580 meters above sea level

I'd heard of the famous "lock tree" and months ago planned to bring a little red heart shaped lock to add to the collection, but eventually forgot it.

Very cold and ready to go back down into the tunnels again.  Goodbye Sphinx Observatory!

We rode the elevator down to the underground tunnels and when we got off Daddy wanted to go back out to the recreation area, and the girls and I headed to this new exhibit called "Alpine Sensation" had just opened in April of this year.

There were entertaining art installations, like this "snow globe" with moving characters.

The most important part of the exhibit was the history of the mountain, from the first attempts to climb it, to the development of the railway and tunnel boring.

There were historical photos.

Giant murals portrayed what there weren't photos for.

It was very informative and awe-inspiring.  At the end of the tour, which connected the Sphinx Observatory with the ice caves, we decided to forgo the ice caves and get some lunch, as it was getting late and the girls were starving.

Kelsey had tortellini, Aubrietta had chicken and fries, and I had soup and a roll.  Cost?  About $40.00, including two apple juices.  Yes, we sprung for beverages as there were no public water fountains up here (by design, I'm sure).  It cost a fortune, but it was filling, and look at that view!

Warmed up and well fed, we headed out to the glacier viewing area.  It was windy, so I unfurled my pocket kite and the girls were instant celebrities as all the tourists turned to focus their cameras on them.

Flying our kite at the top of Europe!

The tourists went nuts at the sudden burst of color our kite gave the glaring landscape.

We've never flown our kite in the snow before, or on top of a mountain!

After getting sufficiently chilled (it was well below freezing, with a harsh wind-chill), we headed back to the train, forgoing the ice caves.  There was more that we wanted to see and do, and it was getting late.

The train ride back down was just as pretty.  This is after we emerged from the long tunnel, heading towards Kleine Sheidegg.

Above the treeline still.

Slate roofs were common at this elevation.  Imagine how solidly built that structure had to be, to support the weight of the roof, plus tons of snow in the winter.

Some people ask to get off the train at little unattended stations and then walk back to Kleine Scheidegg.  That man who got thrown off the train for not having a ticket as we were coming up got to do this, though I doubt he enjoyed it.  I remember doing hikes like this with my 29 year old Swiss stepmother when I was 17.  I wished we had the time for my daughters to experience this, but Daddy's knee never would have made it, and we were hoping to take a side trip to Gimmelwald before the day was over.

We enjoyed waving at the hikers when the trail came close to the train, and some even waved back at us.

Changing trains at Kleine Scheidegg.

On the hillside you can see avalanche fencing.  There was an East Indian woman from the United States travelling with her husband and young sons and she told us it was for stepped gardening, like in Asia.  Of course I had to correct her (too cold for crops at this elevation!), and then we ended up having friendly conversation for the rest of the train ride, comparing notes on our family travels.

Back in the trees.

We stopped in a store when we got off the train in Lauterbrunnen to pick up picnic dinner supplies.  It was a small store, but it had a huge selection of eggs, including a rainbow of hardboiled ready-to-eat eggs.

In order to get to Gimmelwald you either take a gondola up + train + hike + gondola down via Murren, or you take a bus + gondola up via Stechelberg.  We decided to go up via Murren, and back via Stechelberg.  In the photo above we are on the gondola rising out of Lauterbrunnen toward Grütschalp.  It was a little confusing because the gondola was listed as a train at the train station, and we kept looking for a train.  Apparently it is considered a train, since it is the only link to the short train line that runs from Grütschalp to Murren.

Even googlemaps considers the gondola to be a train!  Apparently there used to be a funicular train which was dismantled in 2006 and replaced by the new gondola. 

Does this look like a train to you?

When we got to Grütschalp we transferred to the little train that took us to Murren -- the North end of Murren.  The gondola we needed to get down to Gimmelwald was at the South end.  Murren had no bus service, and no cars, either!  Only electric golf-cart type electric vehicles.  The walk was longer than we expected as the town is laid out long and narrow on a ridge.  It was only about 1200 meters to walk, but we needed to catch the gondola, which only ran every half hour, and it was getting late in the day and we wanted to spend time in Gimmelwald and not miss the last Gondola down to Stechelberg and get stranded in the mountains overnight!

After a wait (of course we'd just missed one), we left Murren and got off half way down at Gimmelwald.

Right beside the gondola station in Gimmelwald is a playground with a killer slide.  Above you can see Aubrietta being ejected out the bottom.  If you didn't land in a run you'd fall face first, and we didn't want any more facial injuries on this trip, thank you.

We told the girls to wait to have our picnic dinner until we arrived in Gimmelwald, but now they just wanted to play.  Daddy and I sat down and dug in.  The girls could eat while we walked through the town if need be.

Picnic dinner:  Bananas, pretzel rolls, Appenzeller Biberli (gingerbread with Marzipan filling), cervelas sausages, cheese sampler, paprika chips, dried mangoes, yogurt drinks, and a beer for Daddy.

 This chicken was very interested in our dinner and quite persistent about wanting a handout.

My girls and me on the "Main Road" through little Gimmelwald.

An honesty shop, offering food, souvenirs, and local handicrafts.  Prices were marked, just leave your money in the little basket on your way out the door.

Plants and flowers for sale.  The little sign said to knock on the door of the house across the path if you wanted to purchase something.

Look at that vintage baby carriage under those flowers!

Chalet garden with a view.

Mmmmm, free water, with flowers and a view!

Kelsey stops to talk to the calves.

The humble hikers in Gimmelwald, Switzerland

Look at the lace curtains that look like butterflies, and how the satellite TV dish has been painted brown so it is not so obvious.

Soon it was time to leave enchanted Gimmelwald and return to Interlaken.  Back at the gondola station, one of those electric vehicles arrived to drop something off.  You can see the girls on the swings at the park up above.  We let them play until the last moment.

Here's the gondola.  Hurry up, girls!

Descending into the valley below.

Kelsey's just a little too short to reach the handhold in the center of the gondola.  Kelsey's 4'10" and Aubrietta's 5'3"

Getting closer.

The sun is setting and the farms in the valley are in the shadows now.

 We took the bus through the valley back to Lauterbrunnen, then caught the train to Interlaken.

Back in the hostel, we were walking past the windows looking down into the garden area outside the kitchen, and we noticed the unusual spread of food this family was enjoying.  No wonder the hostel kitchen smelled like a Japanese restaurant... Look, they're eating mussels!  In Switzerland!  I can only imagine how much they had to pay for those.

This was the view from our window as we got ready for bed.  That paraglider is not really above the mountain -- it just looks that way because of the perspective from which I took the shot, from the valley looking up.

Pretty nice view from a bed in a backpacker's hostel, don't you think?

It was a full and wonderful day.  Tomorrow we check out of the hostel and head up another valley to Kandersteg, where we will be staying at the Kandersteg International Scout Camp.

NEXT:  Day 34 -- Interlaken to Kandersteg International Scout Camp -- Tuesday, July 17th  

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Day 32 -- Ballenberg Open Air Museum -- Sunday, July 15th

Our hostel included a free breakfast.  It was pretty basic:  Bread, jam, nutella, butter, corn flakes, milk, yogurt.  For each night of our stay each person got 2 tokens.  One load in the clothes washing machine cost 2 tokens.  One coffee drink from the self-service espresso machine cost 1 token.  The machine ground the beans fresh for each cup brewed, and real milk was used for the lattes and mochas.  It wasn't as good as a coffeehouse, but it was a nice way to start the day.

Aubrietta in the breakfast room.  We were the only caucasians in the hostel that night.  There were a few East Indians, one Muslim couple (the woman wearing a full burqua!), and the rest were Japanese or Korean.  This made it not your typical rowdy youth hostel experience, which I was kind of hoping to introduce the girls to.  The mood was very quiet and relaxed, which was refreshing.  The only sign of the true youth hostel experience was if you went to the communal kitchen late at night, or before the cleaning crew arrived in the morning.  The kitchen was a disaster of dirty dishes and pans, food scraps all over the floor, and stove tops black with burnt food which has overflowed from pots boiling over.

There was a TV broadcasting a live image of the Jungfrau, THE mountain everyone comes to Interlaken to visit.  It was on our itinerary, too, but obviously we weren't going today.  It was not only totally socked in with clouds, but snowing, too!

Instead, we were headed to the Ballenberg Open Air Museum.  I first visited it when I was 17 and staying with my dad and new stepmother in Switzerland for the summer.  I had never seen such a place -- with historic houses to explore, cheesemaking demonstrations (and samples!), and staff in period costumes.  I was instantly in love and knew that someday I would bring my children there.  Twenty-six years later, here we go...

We decided to take a 98 year old steam paddle-wheel boat up the Brienzersee, which took more than twice as long as the train.  It was free with our railpasses, so how could we pass up this opportunity?

Hard to believe these mechanics are nearly 100 years old.  Just the day before yesterday we'd been on a similar boat on Lake Luzern, but we hadn't had enough of boat rides past pretty waterside chalets.

This boat had a surprise in the bow for the kids: a playroom!  Two older women and a small dog were supervising.  

The girls found the playroom was well stocked with German strategy board games, so they begged me to stay below deck and play a round with them, because this game needed more than 2 players.  It was a fun game and I enjoyed it, but the old lady supervisors were not pleased that I was lingering.  They kept giving me the evil eye and asking if they could "help" me, and when I said I was just finishing up this game with my daughters that needed more than 2 players, they'd back off for a few minutes before asking me again, if I needed "help."  I knew that what they were really asking was if I needed help finding the exit.  Apparently this area was for children only, no parents allowed.

More children came so I left the girls to play with their new friends.

There was a table for coloring, blocks for building, a fully-furnished doll house, and much, much more.  The girls spent the entire passage below deck playing.  I didn't even bother trying to extract them to see the views, they were so happy to be in the company of other children.

Meanwhile my husband was also on the bow of the boat, but topside.  He had his binoculars on and was standing right up front.  He stood almost the entire way, breathing all the beauty into his soul.  He grew up sailing and bobbing around on boats, so he loves being on the water.

My eyeballs kept drifting to this unattended sleeping baby.  The mother was off chasing a toddler, and I guess she knew her baby would be just fine in the company of mostly elderly Japanese tourists.  

This was a more modern lake boat, used for parties or when extra capacity was needed for tour groups.

Let the tour de chalets begin!

Boathouses where the boats can be lifted out of the water are a great idea.

Many of the lakefront villages had a walking path with benches along the shoreline, so homeowners shared the view with everyone.  I liked that idea.  It has always bothered me that home in Seattle so much of the shoreline is private property and inaccessible to the public.

The lake was blue because of glacial flour, or pulverized rock.  Look at the color in the rock face in the above photo!  Isn't it beautiful?

There were lots of pretty waterfalls along the lake.  This one had a footbridge crossing it, continuing a public walking path.

When the boat stopped to pick up more passengers I watched as this old gardener went back and forth dipping watering cans in the lake and watering hundreds of potted plants and flowers.  Imagine doing that every day, all summer long.

When one sport is not enough: This man obviously likes canoeing AND cycling.

 

Off the boat in Brienz.

Steps from the boat, connecting trains and buses await.  We needed the bus.  Our ride was a nailbiter -- we wound up and down steep one-lane roads at high speed, and slithered between 300 year old chalets built close together back when the only traffic was horse and cart.  There were a number of times when we came within inches of retaining walls and corners of houses, and yet the driver barely slowed to make the turns.  What would such a ride be like in the dark of winter, on an icy road?  These European bus drivers are fearless.

We passed a lot of pretty chalets on the half hour bus ride to Ballenberg.  This one was a newer construction.

Look at this beautiful carved directional sign!

We arrived (safely!) at Ballenberg and entrance was free with our Swiss Rail pass.  It would have cost about $45.00 USD had we not had our pass.  I just love their logo, above, don't you?

We began touring the old buildings, but hunger got the better of us, so we started looking for one of the many cafes and restaurants on the property.

Ballenberg had great multilingual signage.  I could tell we would be spending a lot of time reading signs.

We stopped at the first restaurant we saw, and strategised how to afford lunch when the cheapest menu item was equivalent to $15.00 USD.  The girls shared a traditionally Swiss macaroni and cheese with ham, which came with a side of applesauce made on site.  For Daddy and me we ordered a $19.50 appetizer sampler of cheese and cured meats, also made on site.  It clearly stated on the menu that it was intended for 2 people, and we said we wanted 1 order, but the waiter brought out a double order and charged us $39.00, which I think was a dirty trick.  Also, he was clearly appalled when we declined to order drinks.  It was another case of us not wanting to spend $20.00 for bottled drinking water which flows freely from fountains found around every corner in Switzerland, and him refusing to serve us tap water because we were expected to buy mineral water or soda, or better yet, wine.  Most of the smoked meats you see above we found to be inedible.  That bacon was RAW, apparently a delicacy of the region, but it was so fatty, stringy and chewy I couldn't get it to break down in my mouth in order to swallow it, so I'm ashamed to say I had to spit it out in my napkin.  Luckily the girls loved their lunch.

 

Kelsey really wanted to ride the horse drawn carriage, but a sign on the side said it was equivalent to $70.00 USD for 2 people, so we had to break her heart and say no.

Lunch out of the way, we continued touring the houses and barns.  Above is a grain storehouse from 1685.  Even utilitarian buildings were dressed with flower boxes bursting with geraniums, and not just here in the museum, but throughout Switzerland!

Freshly made sausages hung to dry in a barn.  The smoky aroma was intoxicating as we walked through.  It's hard to believe that I was once a vegetarian, given how much I was salivating while in that barn.

Each little farm had its own kitchen garden, growing different things representative of the era and the region.  The museum featured 15 different architectural groups from different time periods.  This was the Central Midlands area, with the garden typical of the early 1600's.

This was a medicinal herb garden, with a special exhibit on fragrance and essential oils made from plants.  There were these cylinders on posts throughout the garden that contained cotton balls soaked in essential oils, and you had to guess which plant they were made from.  You lifted the top, as Aubrietta is doing in the photo, took a sniff, and then checked your guess on the little flip sign below.  It was a fun challenge! 

Every plant had a tag so that you could know its name, both common name and latin name.

This field had different rows of heritage grains, such as emmer and barley.  Excellent signage described whether the grains were used for baking or feeding livestock.

As always, the girls were attracted to all the hands-on activities.  Here an exhibit on carpentry features an area for kids to drive nails into logs.

Women weaving hats.

Textile weaving.  

The girls bought some lavender sachets in the shape of kittens.

This basket weaver stops to take a measurement, making sure the diameter is consistent.

A wine-grower's house from 1780, with a young vineyard out front.

This espaliered pear tree was amazing, and just dripping with fruit.

I know that cowbells are historically relevant and supposedly help farmers hear where their herds are off in the mountains, but I've always viewed them as a bovine torture device.  So large and so loud, and constantly clanging as the cow goes along grazing.  It must be so irritating to the poor animals.  As a human, though, I find the cacophony of ringing bells, each with its own unique sound, absolutely beautiful to listen to.  It is like a handbell concert, the notes combining to create lovely melodies.  Still, I wish the cows didn't have to endure them.  Can't we track cows by GPS microchips now?

 

Inside a large dairy barn was a big exhibit on modern-day farming in Switzerland.  None of the signage was in English, but we got the gist of it from the great photos, charts, illustrations, and hands-on activities.

Ballenberg had a lovely play area about halfway between the East and West entrances.  There was also a carousel, but given the choice between a carousel ride and an ice cream, the sweets won out.  It was getting warm and very muggy, so the ice cream was necessary.

Ballenberg features 250 different native farm animals, some being nearly extinct "heirloom" varieties, like these Pfauengeiss goats.

The girls were so excited to hold the baby goats, until the goats started nibbling on their hair.  Here Kelsey is squealing under her breath that I need to hurry up and take this photo before she drops the goat who had just had a chunk of Kelsey's hair in its mouth.  Kelsey was disgusted that her hair now had baby goat slobber all over it.

Aubrietta was a little more comfortable holding the baby goat, although just after I took this shot the goat turned and grabbed the chincord of Aubrietta's hat in its mouth and started tugging, which startled Aubrietta.

I had somehow forgotten just how large Ballenberg was.  I know that I was a lot younger, but I also think that the last time I was here I didn't walk the whole length from one entrance to the other.  The property is 163 acres, long and narrow.  The map we purchased warns that it is impossible to see everything in one visit, and suggested routes covering just half the grounds take a minimum 4 hours.  Our leg muscles were burning from all the hiking, and tromping up and down stairs in all the houses.  I bet we walked at least 5 miles, probably much more.

We were really happy when we finally reached the East Entrance around 17:00.  In the gift shop we bought patches, and bandanas with edelweiss flowers on them.  The girls also got juice pops, which in the photo you can see them rushing to finish before boarding the bus which is pulling up behind them.  Minutes after we pulled away on the bus the sky opened up and a torrential downpour hit.  The whole time we were on the bus it just poured, but miraculously as we neared Brienz the rain stopped.

Instead of taking the bus back to Interlaken, we were taking the train.  These elderly Japanese tourists who had been with us on the bus crowded around the automatic ticket machine trying to figure out how to buy train tickets.   I really felt for them -- after 5 weeks of travel and trying to figure things out in languages I didn't understand, I knew the stress and fear of making a mistake.  Buy the wrong ticket and you could get fined or thrown off the train.  Get on the wrong train and you could end up hours from where you intended to be, sometimes without a way back if it was late in the day.  I don't travel to spend time with tourists, but I admit that other than the chain-smoking the men do, I really enjoy being in the company of Japanese tourists.  They are usually polite (although they can be pushy in crowds), perennially cheerful and enthusiastic, genuinely interested in learning about what they are seeing, and so grateful when you offer to take their photo with their camera for them.

  

While waiting for the train Aubrietta took Kelsey literally when she said she loved Switzerland and never wanted to leave.  "Here, I'll lock you in so you can't go home with us!"

On our train ride back to Interlaken the rain started up again.  Rain beat hard against the window, but a beautiful rainbow could be seen as we approached the town.  Luck was with us again, when we emerged from the train station, because the rain had completely stopped.  It was Sunday, so the big grocery store by the train station was closed.  We'd just missed the bus to the hostel, so Daddy walked the 10 minutes to the hostel, while the girls and I went to the convenience store to buy more microwave dinner fixings.  The store was less crowded than the night before, but it was later in the evening, so there wasn't much left on the shelves.  

Here's Kelsey getting water at dinner in the hostel kitchen.

One of the dining rooms had a ping-pong table.

No one was eating outside tonight.  The sky rumbled and lightning was hitting the hills in the distance.  It wasn't long before the rain came again, even harder than before.   We were so glad we made it back to the hostel when we did.

Daddy went to bed and I wrangled another load of laundry while the girls found a quiet corner to chat and share a bag of paprika chips.  After that they went down to the playroom in the basement, and I went to the lobby area to research transportation to the Jungfrau for tomorrow.  The rain was supposed to blow through tonight and be replaced with glorious clear skies tomorrow.  We'll see....

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Day 31 -- Train to Trubschachen and Interlaken -- Saturday, July 14th

We gathered our things and left Antje's around 11am, heading off for 6 nights and 7 days away.  We left one suitcase and a small pile of "dressier" clothes behind.  We took an express train to Bern, having a snack along the way.  Our goodies from the train station included boxes of iced coffee and Mango Lassi yougurt drinks, as well as the ever-present peperoni "party sticks" the girls love.

The girls wanted to be in the children's car, even though the play structures were clearly designed for kids who were about 2 feet shorter than they are.

Note the boy in this photo clutching a German pretzel.  Pretzel bakeries are at every major train station.

This was a little coloring and reading area, but all the books and materials were gone.

In Bern we spent the equivalent of $9.00 USD to store our luggage in a locker for the afternoon.  When we arrived in Bern we were undecided what to do with our afternoon.  We could explore Bern, or head to Trubschachen, a small town where my great-great-grandfather lived before emigrating to the United States in 1831.  On our way to the luggage lockers, we saw the departures board for Trubschachen, and decided to "go for it."

We took this pretty train to Trubschachen.  This line was supposed to run between Bern and Luzern, but there was some sort of construction work going on, so it ended at Trubschachen and anyone traveling on to Luzern had to transfer to a bus and get on another train further down the line.

In fact, our train was scheduled to be this special train, but it wasn't running from Bern because of the construction.

There was a lot to see from the windows, but this train provided more than just newspapers: at every seat there was magazine with a children's section filled with games and puzzles, so of course the girls were enthralled with that.

We arrived in Trubschachen to sunshine and warm temperatures.  To the left of the train you can see the Kambly cookie factory.

We decided to check it out.  It wasn't here when my great-great-grandfather lived here.  If it had been, he probably never would have left.

Although we couldn't tour the production line, there was a shop, cafe, and demonstration kitchen, as well as short films and exhibits.  Every single cookie and cracker they made was available to sample, and sold in bulk packages or gift tins (in stores they're sold only in boxes).  Personally, I tried about 30 different cookies (broken into bite-size bits, not whole cookies!).  

There was a cafe selling espresso drinks and tea to go with your cookies.

There were also childrens' cookie baking and decorating classes.  You had to sign up far in advance, though, so Kelsey wasn't able to participate, though she would have loved to.

Aubrietta wasn't able to have any of the cookie samples.  She tried a cracker shaped like a little owl, but just one nibble and she needed an allergy tablet, so that was all she had.  This trip has been hard for Aubrietta because she has made many sacrifices when it comes to food.  She's a good sport, but I know it is painful for her to miss out.

We left the Kambly factory and went to a small Volg convenience store, which was the only food store in the center of town.  The girls were thrilled to find Spitzbuben, but it had chocolate (which Aubrietta has trouble with) so we didn't buy any.

Instead we focused on getting some lunch.  This was the to-go section for summer picnics, and it always fascinates me what the offerings are.  Here you can get a slice of watermelon, cubes of cut coconut, a tub of applesauce, premade sandwiches, pasta salads with lots of mayonnaise, and fresh radishes.

Every food store, no matter how small, has an oven in constant use, browning par-baked bread throughout the day.

This is what we ended up getting for lunch.  From left to right: gingerbread marzipan cakes (for Mommy & Daddy), sparkling apple juice, sausage-cheese-pickle salad (with lots of mayonnaise), paprika chips, Greyere cheese made locally in Trubschachen, macaroni salad with tomato and peas, and party sticks peperoni.  The bulk of what you see (except the gingerbread) went into Aubrietta, since she hadn't filled up on cookies at the Kambly factory.

Daddy wasn't hungry at all, so he headed directly to the church to investigate my ancestry.  The church was closed, but the cemetery behind proved to be a goldmine of information.

This was the prettiest cemetery I'd ever seen.

What a beautiful resting spot!  However, the dead only get to "rest" for about 30 years, then someone else gets the grave.  Bodies are buried naturally -- no embalming, fancy caskets, or concrete liners -- so after 30 years supposedly not much remains when another body is laid to rest.

Up to 80 percent of Swiss are now cremated at death, and this section of the cemetery is for those.  I'm not sure if these would be more permanent graves, or if the 30 year limit applies here as well.  

In the upper right of this photo you can see a man and woman.  We spoke with them for awhile about how the cemeteries in Switzerland work, as well as life in Trubschachen.  The woman had grown up in town, and knew some of my distant relatives.

We identified 12 graves with my old family surname on them, and the girls decided to water the flowers at those graves.

Of course through years of marriages and women giving up their father's name when they wed, there were probably many more resting souls related to us.  Also, only deaths going back 30 years were represented here.  The relatives my mother and her family visited in 1952 would no longer have headstones here, if they died before 1982.

 

Most of the headstones were intricately carved.  I couldn't believe this would stand for only 30 years.  What would be done with it when it was time for someone else to move in?

Some of the headstones seemed to hint at the deceaseds' professions.  This man must have been a carpenter.

What a lovely scene on this headstone.  I wonder if this man had been a dairy farmer.

After more than an hour at the cemetery, we headed back out to the street to explore more of the sleepy little town.  Just next door to the cemetery where we had spent so much time was a bakery with our old family name on it!  Unfortunately it had closed early because it was Saturday, and no one was there when we looked in the windows.  If only we hadn't spent so much time with the dead, we might have met a living relative!

Every house seemed to have a vegetable garden.

This was a hotel that was so beautiful we had to go in.  As soon as we got through the door a stern-faced woman pointed us to a door leading into the pub, where a few old salts were nursing beers.  We explained that we were curious about the hotel (we hadn't made arrangements for our last nights in Switzerland and staying here next Friday night could have been an option).  The woman glared at us angrily and perhaps didn't understand what we were asking.  She gave us the evil eye until we backed out the front door, which we did rather quickly.

Exploration of a town would not be complete without a visit to the local school.

The girls "inspected" the playground and fantasized about if they lived here and went to school here:  "What if great-great-great grandfather hadn't come to the US?  Maybe we'd have been born here!"

Zip lines are always popular.

Here's a small section of the school garden, along with the covered bicycle parking beyond.

While the girls played I continued walking up a footpath past homes and farms.  This chalet had solar panels in the garden.

The town was nestled in a valley surrounded by forest.

Every building was well maintained.  What kind of jobs can people in this small town (and other small towns throughout the country) possibly have that pays enough to maintain these chalets?  Imagine the work involved in painting all the trim, every shutter, and all the natural wood that needs protection from the elements.  Maybe milking cows and baking cookies provides a living wage here -- I can't explain it.

Soon it was time to leave Trubschachen, so we walked back to the train.

The girls were back to their puzzles, though I did interrupt them frequently to "look out the window!"

Even the smallest homes were overflowing with flowers!

Passing by another community garden on our way back to Bern.  

There's a man out training his grape vine as it grows along the front of the house.

At this modest tri-plex house (you can tell by the 3 mailboxes) a family is gathered in the driveway for afternoon tea, along with a rack of laundry drying in the sunshine.

A newer neighborhood surrounded by farmland.

Older homes and apartment houses overlooking fields of grain.

Back in Bern we retrieved our bags and headed for the train to Interlaken.

Ironically our train was leaving adjacent to the track we'd just come in on, but we had to walk to the luggage lockers and back before we could get on it.

Our next train gave us a different view as it traveled along the Thunersee (a large lake).

Aubrietta took this photo of me lost in the beauty of the passing towns with the lake beyond.  The girls thought it strange that Daddy and I could gaze for hours out the window, whereas we were just as appalled that they didn't, choosing instead to do puzzles or read.

Arriving in Interlaken we caught a Postbus to our hostel.  We could have walked, but with luggage it was easier to take the bus.

We stayed at Backpacker's Villa Sonnenhof, a youth hostel.  It is two buildings: the old chalet to the left, and the modern addition to the right.

This is the stairwell in the old chalet, which houses the traditional dorms and a few private rooms.

We stayed in the modern addition which has mostly 2 and 4 bed private rooms.  See that rolling rack in the hall?  They were available to take into your room for you to hang your clothes to dry after laundering.  What a great idea!  I wouldn't have to be searching for a place to string up my braided clothesline tonight!


This is our room, which has the sink you see, plus off to my left a room with toilet and a room with shower.  On the other side of the sink, facing the beds, are 4 large cabinets for luggage and clothing storage.

And this is the view from our window.  On a clear day you can also see the Jungfrau mountain higher up, but not tonight.

Down in the basement I got in line for a machine in the laundry room while Daddy took a nap and the girls went to the playground across the street.

Load of laundry in, I headed out to find dinner for our family.  Adjacent the park was an open field where paragliders landed.  Above you can see our hostel just over Aubrietta's shoulder.

This is the view the girls were running toward: a grand hotel and a paraglider touching down.

I found the only food store open after 18:00, a small convenience store.  It was literally wall-to-wall people and I stood in line for half an hour with about 50 people ahead of me, waiting to check out and pay.

I had seen the hostel kitchen on my way to the laundry room, so I knew that I didn't want to be waiting for stove space to cook anything.  Instead I opted for 3 microwave meals (refrigerated, not frozen), and potato and macaroni salads.  I also got grapes and some juice and iced tea for a real splurge.  The micro meals were actually quite tasty, and unlike the ones you'd get back in the US.  They had a short shelf life because they were made of fresh ingredients, and there weren't any chemical additives or preservatives.  One of the dishes included Käsespätzle, a pasta with Emmenthaler cheese and grilled onion, similar to Italian gnocchi but smaller.

We ate indoors, just inside that door down there, but others enjoyed eating outside.  One of the drawbacks of eating outdoors in Europe is that that is often the place where smokers go, and unless there is a good breeze, you'll be engulfed in clouds of cigarette smoke, which totally destroys the ambiance as far as I am concerned.

See the little orange kitty crossing the lawn in the photo above?  We wondered if he lived at the hostel, and if we could bring him to our room.  We were missing our 3 kitties back home.

Daddy volunteers to do the dishes in the kitchen.  The girls located the playroom which was stocked with toys, and I headed back to the laundry room to retrieve our wet clothes, which I then hung on the rolling rack to dry overnight in our room.  We were all pretty tired and went to bed before 23:00.  Surprisingly, the hostel beds were quite comfortable.

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Day 30 -- Mt. Pilatus and Luzern -- Friday, July 13th

We're going to the mountains today!

After big breakfast, we walked to the train station.  We rode first North to Zurich HB, then transferred to a high speed train direct to Luzern.  Antje and Navina drove separately and met us at the Luzern train station.

On our train ride it was fun to see the community gardens along the way.

The express train was fancier than the local S4 commuter line we took to Zurich from Antje's.

There was even a children's car with play equipment inside.  The Children's cars have different themes: this one was jungle adventure.

On every train station platform in Switzerland there are vending machines, and the same products are available in the same arrangement in each machine.  The girls now love looking to see if a vending machine exists without this pattern:  party sticks pepperoni sticks - maybe baby pregnancy test - ceylor condoms - bic triple pack cigarette lighters.  We came up with a story to go along with this:  first you go to the party and eat party sticks, then the next morning you check to see if you are pregnant, then you buy condoms so you're prepared next time, and lastly buy lighters so you can offer a light to strangers.

An advertisement in the train station for milk, something you think would not need an advertising budget in Switzerland, which is famed for its delicious milk from free-range grass-fed cows.

We took an electric trolley bus (not bound to tracks below, but following electric lines above), and it had an interesting trailer attached to increase rider capacity.  

From the bus stop we had a good hike up to where the gondolas would take us to Mt. Pilatus.

 

Along the way we passed an alphorn crafter, and peeked in the window at the workshop.

There's where we need to get on the gondola... we're almost there... it was an uphill hike and a good workout just to get to the station.

Here are gondolas on a siding rail, being detailed.  The three girls rode in one gondola, and Antje, Daddy, and I in the other.

The gondola made a stop halfway up at a station where there was a great playground.  Aubrietta and Kelsey were disappointed that we did not stop, but we had something even more fun in mind, coming up at the next station.

Antje shows us on the map where we are, and where we are going.  What a joy it is to have a personal tour guide along with us!

It was a very long ride for a gondola, about 30 minutes.  See that mountain in the distance above?  That is where we are headed.

We got off the 4 person gondola and would have to transfer to a larger gondola to get to the top of the mountain, but first, a little diversion...

Rodelbahn!  

At 1350 meters long, it is Switzerland's longest summer toboggan run.  At first the girls were pretty timid, especially Kelsey, who took it so slowly that she ended up with a crowd of people stacked up behind her.  Antje, Daddy, and I also did a run, just for fun.

Here you can see just the tail end of the rodelbahn run, when it starts to straighten out near the end, and crossing it in a straight line is the route back up, where you are pulled backwards by an overhead cable attached to the sled.

Aubrietta being towed backwards up for another run.

Soon it was time to leave the Rodelbahn behind and head to the big gondola.   Just  as it arrived in the station a mechanic hopped up on top with a power tool and started frantically working.  Let's hope he gets all those nuts tightened down so we don't end up dangling, or worse, falling!

The mechanic hopped down, the doors closed, and we lurched out of the station.  It was a long way down, and getting longer the higher we climbed.  You can see Aubrietta is looking a little nervous, and Kelsey (who is afraid of heights) has a deathgrip on that window frame.  Navina, a Swiss native who has ridden more gondolas in her life that she can remember, enjoys the view.

Looking down towards Lake Luzern and the city of Luzern to the left.

The view straight down from the front of the gondola as we hug the rocky mountainside on the way up.  Look at the abundance of flora!

We passed through some clouds as we got near the top.

At the top there is a visitor's center, a hotel (pictured above), walking trails, and an observatory (top left).

We did the walking trail which was excavated into the mountain in a big loop all the way around.

Of course I had to watch my head.

See Kelsey and Aubrietta peeking out from the left in the photo above?

How about that church?  Kind of a steep drop off if you were to go out the door and turn left.  It would be a nice workout to get to Sunday services, though.

Looking out one of the openings along the trail.

Back in the visitor's center Antje and Navina had gone to the cafe and gotten several orders of pommes frites.  Antje whipped out some cervelas sausages from her purse and sliced those up (with a Swiss Army knife, of course) to complete our quick picnic lunch.

As we sat there eating we watched this paraglider lay out his chute and strap himself in, just feet away from where we sat.  We thought it would be awhile before he took off running, but to our surprise he just took a few steps forward and was off!

Here comes our train! Instead of going down the gondola again, we were going to take the world's steepest cog railway down the other side of the mountain, and then take a paddlewheel boat up Lake Luzern.

We sat at the very bottom, looking over the driver's shoulder, for a great view.

There were lots of tunnels.

Parts of the track had up to 48% grade!  That's steep!

About to pass into a shed tunnel.

It felt a little spooky riding backwards down such a steep slope.  The girls started out where I'm now sitting, but then I switched places with them so they could see better. I spent most of my time twisted around backwards, and after nearly 40 minutes of this, I had quite a backache when I got off at the bottom station.

We passed a lot of happily grazing cows.  This gal was rubbing her head on this hiker's sign.  Yes, there are people who hike the 1610 meter elevation gain, 5 hour one-way hike, but I'm not one of them.

Halfway down we went onto a siding and stopped. 

The driver jumped out to use the telephone, leaving us in a lurch on the track.  Let's hope he engaged the brake properly!

After a few minues another train came up, passed us, and then we continued down.

As we neared the station, we could see the boat waiting for us.

This boat is 110 years old, but looks brand new because like so many things Swiss, it is kept in immaculate condition.

Boarding the Unterwalden.

Built in 1902, this paddle-wheel steamer has most of its mechanics open to view.

Our little family in the bow of the boat.  

Ever hungry, the girls devour big German pretzels that Antje had picked up at the bakery that morning.

Followed by ice cream from the onboard cafe, it is smiles all around.

The trip back to Luzern took a little over an hour and a half since we zig-zagged back and forth across the lake, stopping at little towns along the way.

Hotels, homes, apartment buidings... all were decked out with flowers or elaborately dressed with decorative trim.

 

This beautiful structure is a boat house.

Even a plain-looking hotel looked lovely surrounded by flowering gardens.  

Look at those beautiful chalets and the equally exquisite boat houses along the lake below.  It was just one after another, all the way up the lake.

One of the sights that pleased me most was watching the 3 girls giggling together.  Navina and Aubrietta are just a month apart in age, but Navina is much more sophisticated and mature, whereas Aubrietta and Kelsey are clinging to childhood with a goofy enthusiasm.  I was surprised that it took awhile for the girls to warm up to each other.  They'd been Skyping and IM'ing in the months leading up to our trip, but when they were finally face to face there was shyness and hesitation on both sides.  For Navina, who speaks 4 languages, Aubrietta and Kelsey's rapid chatter was a bit overwhelming, I'm sure.  I had to remind Aubrietta and Kelsey to calm down a bit and include Navina in their conversations.

Arriving in Luzern, the gray skies intensified.  We hoped to do a quick walking tour with Antje before the rain came.

Our first destination was the famous covered bridge, Kapellbrücke.

It was first constructed in 1333 and named "Chapel Bridge" (Kapellbrücke) for nearby St. Peter's Chapel.

Along the bridge are 17th century paintings depicting Luzern's history.  In 1993 the bridge caught fire (likely due to a discarded cigarette) and many of the paintings were destroyed.  Only about 30 have been fully restored since the fire.

On the shores of the River Reuss, which the Chapel Bridge crosses, the cafes were packed with people.

Musicians and entertainers were out in force.  The girls were enchanted by this wooden headed "rabbit" that clapped its jaw at passers-by. You can see the person sitting on a stool under the cloth, operating the wooden puppet.

There were other entertaining sights as well, such as this man retrieving his cell phone from the river.  We wondered if nearby street vendors or businesses had this fishing net handy for just such occasions. 

We went into the Jesuit Church, built in the late 1660's.  There was no restriction on photography, and we were the only ones there, so I snapped a few photos.

Kelsey took a moment over the electric candles to say a prayer.

We continued our walking tour past beautifully painted old buildings.  The rain was closing in on us.

Just as we were getting thirsty, around a corner a fountain awaited us.  

The golden pretzel means there is a bakery!

Daddy was losing his patience and wanting to sit down while the girls kept ducking into shops, so we decided it was time for Daddy to start heading home.  Aubrietta and Kelsey wanted to stay with Antje and Navina and ride home with them in the car, so I accompanied Daddy home on the train.  Antje took the girls to a jewelry shop and bought them each a necklace.  Daddy and I planned to have some good conversation on the rainy train ride back, but we were both so tired that we just gazed out the window, reflecting on all the experiences and sights of the day.  As usual, we missed the connecting train in Zurich thanks to the long slog 2 floors underground from the main terminal, so that added another 20 minutes to our journey.  By the time we neared Adliswil, Antje was home and able to zip down to the station to get us, as it was now raining harder and Daddy's knee was in intensely painful.

Back home for a late dinner of salad and spaghetti, afterwards the girls hovered around the laptop watching a DVD movie together.

It was another full day in beautiful Switzerland.

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