August 30, 2015

August 30, 2015

I saw a glow out our balcony and found that Neuschwanstein Castle is lit at night. So I went out with my mini-tripod and tried to get a shot. Nice photo but the castle is just a bright spot in an otherwise dark scene.

With the closing of Mary’s Bridge, I am still desperate for a good photo op of Neuschwanstein.  I had read there might be a trail to the opposite side of the bridge from the ski hill to the north of us.  Aimee and I drive the mile to their parking lot and hike along a path back towards the Castle.  It takes us past a field of loud bell-hobbled cows but only a slightly better view.  We backtrack and take what looks like a seldom used maintenance road up one of the ski hills.  We eventually find a spot high on the meadow that gives us a great view of both Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.  That will have to suffice.  If there is a trail up the cliff, it is overgrown with vegetation.

On our walk back to the car, we discover the ski company has erected a luge run.  I get a ticket for both of us.  We sit in a little car with rollers and a conveyor system drags us up the hill.  At the top we are released and we roll down the concave metal luge.  A lever controls the breaking system so you can go as fast or as slow as you want.  I go fast, Aimee brakes the whole way.

In the afternoon, we decide to drive south into Austria and visit a real medieval castle.  It is not very far, but it is bumper to bumper traffic almost the entire way winding between tall mountains. After an hour we near Ehrenburg Castle and can see it sitting high on a rock alongside the highway.  The Castle was built to guard and collect tolls on a major trade route across the Alps.

After we arrive, we have a steep hike up to the castle ruins.  Not much of the castle is left.  With the advent of gunpowder, the enemy found a nearby hill to rain cannon fire down on the defenses.  Despite the destruction, it feels more real than Neuschwanstein.

August 29, 2015

August 29, 2015

Our hotel in Hohenschwangau, Germany is at the foot of Neuschwanstein Castle.  We can see it from the balcony of our hotel if you peer around the corner.  This morning, after breakfast we walked to the Ticket Center and got reservations for the two castles in town.  The castles are only visited on guided tours with a specific entrance time.  The tours sell out every day because this is the top tourist destination in Germany.  Most day trip here from Munich.

Our first tour is Hohenschwangau Castle at 9:50. The castle is a short hike up a steep hill.  Like yesterday’s Linderhof, there are no photos allowed.  Hohenschwangau was built as the mountain summer home of the Wittelsbachs, an alternative to Nymphenburg Palace we saw yesterday.  It is not elaborate, but it does have murals on almost every wall in the house.  Most depict medieval legends and mythology.  One is of the marriage of Lohengrin, the Swan Knight. Interestingly, our ‘Here comes the Bride’ tune comes from the Wagner opera of that scene. The swan was adopted as the icon of the Wittelsbachs so they decorate almost every room.  Even Hohenschwangau means High Land of the Swan.

The Mad King Ludwig II spent a lot of his childhood in the castle and apparently developed an obsession with the romance of Medieval times, probably because of the constant reinforcement from all the frescoes in Hohenschwangau.  Neuschwanstein, our second tour, is Ludwig II’s attempt to recreate the romantic medieval castle.

Our tour of Neuschwanstein Castle is in two hours.  We look at the vista from the local lake (which not surprisingly has a lot of swans) and then start our journey up to the castle.  It sits on a piece of rock high above the valley.  It takes us forty minutes to hike up to it.  The best view of this castle is from a bridge that spans a gorge facing the castle.  Alas it is closed for repairs.  I am bummed  We hang around the entrance until our time is called.  Neuschwanstein was built in the 1880’s but never completed.  Only a few of the rooms were ever decorated.  The tour is pretty much a letdown, like seeing the Disney castle (which was inspired by Neuschwantstein) up close and finding it is made of concrete and is only a facade.  I am not sure why every tour of Germany flocks here.

Neuschwanstein was Mad King Ludwig II’s final straw.  The Bavarian Ministers were concerned about the financial drain of these fantasy castles.  His uncle had him declared insane and he was soon found drowned in a Munich lake. His uncle had his brother declared incompetent and took over as prince regent.

After hiking back down to town, we relax the rest of the day, window shopping and sampling the desserts and beverages of Bavaria.

August 28, 2015

August 28, 2015

We checked out of our hotel in Munich and picked up a rental car.  Our goal over the next week is to explore Bavaria, not easy if we stick to trains only.  From Munich we caught the Autobahn headed south.

An hour later we exited and drove through small towns to the World Heritage site of Wieskirche.  This pilgrimage church was still having a mass so we participated until it was over.  Even if I could have understood German, I couldn’t have followed the Mass.  My mind was focused on the interior.  It was gorgeous, decorated in the late Baroque, over-the-top Rococo style.  The all-white interior had a ceiling painted with a blue fresco and the walls were ornamented in gold leaf.  During the Reformation, Bavaria was the hotbed of Catholic fidelity to the pope.  Whereas northern churches were getting rid of statues and ornamentation, Baroque and Rococo was the Catholic Church's Counter Reformation response showing the power and splendor of the church.

Our next Bavarian stop was nearby Oberammergau. This little town is famous for putting on a Passion Play since the Middle Ages. The townspeople promised to do this if they were spared from the plague. Unfortunately we are a little early.  It is only performed every decade and the next one is not until 2020. Oberammergau is also famous for woodcarvers.  We strolled through a few shops. While some artisans are working on monumental pieces, most of the action is in smaller tourist items, especially nutcrackers and cuckoo clocks.  Some of the cuckoo clocks are large and very intricate.  Alas they also come with a hefty price tag.

Ettal Monastery is on the outskirts of town.  We stopped there, ate our lunch, and then visited the Basilica.  It is large and similar to the Rococo decoration of Wieskirche.  We sat and admired it for a few minutes and then continued our Bavarian tour.

Our next stop was six miles away at Linderhof Palace.  Bavaria is well known for its dreamy castles built by Mad King Ludwig II. He built several fantasy castles in the second half of the 19th century. Linderhof is the one he lived in most frequently.  We have to take a guided tour with no photos allowed of the interior. Linderhof is probably not much bigger than our house, but it is definitely something special. It is hard to describe but no money was spared on its decoration. The master bedroom has a window with a view out to a huge waterfall cascade.  The living room has mirrors along the wall situated so it looks like there are an infinite number of reflections. The paintings have carvings so the characters look like they are climbing out of the pictures.  What Aimee and I really like is that this is the first palace that didn’t take several hours to tour.

We finished our day driving to Hohenschwangau in the foothills of the Alps.  To get there we had to drive a very narrow winding road through the mountains that had lots of two way traffic. We passed a teal colored alpine lake and even dipped into Austria.  We saw heavy traffic leaving Hohenshwangau as we pulled in.  That is why we are staying right in town.  Our hotel has a view of Mad King Ludwig’s most famous castle, Neuschwanstein.

August 27, 2015

August 27, 2015

This morning we took the tram to Nymphenburg Palace on the outskirts of Munich.  This was the summer home of the Wittelsbach ruling family of Bavaria.  We are here at opening to avoid the huge tour groups that mob the major sites at prime time.  We start off with the palace interior. In the first few rooms I can already tell I like this place better than the Residenz yesterday. Since this palace was in a rural area during WWII, it suffered little damage.  It had no strategic war value.  Nymphenburg looks, smells, and sounds authentic.  The floors creak, there is a slight moldy smell, and old paint is peeling.  There are no blank spots where restoration hasn’t caught up yet.  Like all palaces it has some special rooms, which are usually the ballrooms and dining rooms. Nymphenburg is no exception. One of my favorite rooms is small. The hall of beauties. King Ludwig I was a man of my own heart.  He liked pretty women.  This room is filled with portraits of beautiful girls from all walks of life.

After touring the main palace, we walked the grounds.  While modeled on Versailles, they are fairly plain.  The one thing in common is the enormity.  What I like are two of the pavilions on the grounds.  One has an early swimming pool, and the other, Amalienburg, a hunting lodge, has a cool hall of mirrors.

The last thing we toured was the Royal Stables museum.  It has dozens of carriages of all sizes and types. One was gaudily gilded for a one-time coronation ceremony.  Another was a hearse for a queen mother.  There were also dozens of snow sleighs.  In the back was all the horse tackle needed to pull the coaches.  A second building held still more carriages and tackle. The upper floor was filled with porcelain and silver tableware.  It went on room after room.  All this made me realize the huge amount of stuff that a king needed to buy to be a royal.  It must have been a full time job ordering and acquiring and maintaining it all.  And then travelling.  When one wanted to visit another place or move to summer gigs, it all had to be packed up and shipped to the next destination.  A life full of baggage has new meaning!

After spending the entire morning at Nymphenburg, we take the tram back downtown and then the subway out to Olympic Center.  We are headed to BMW World, but first we look around for a picnic spot.  The neighboring Olympic Park has a nice park area. After eating lunch, we can’t help but migrate further into the Olympic Park,  I recognize the unusual architecture of the Olympic stadium.  It looks like a circus tent.  On closer inspection it is a web of steel cables with panes of glass attached to them.  We peak inside the swimming pool hall. The pool is enormous with lap lanes on one end and diving boards on the other end.

Back at BMW World we walk around the exhibits.  Mostly it is a display of cars, some BMWs, some Mini-Coopers, two Rolls-Royces and a bunch of motorcycles.  It is not that exciting.  On the mezzanine we overlook the ramp where buyers can pick up cars ordered directly from the factory. That is something we are going to investigate for next summer. We decide we are not up for the BMW Museum and head back to central Munich.

Downtown is car-free and made for strolling.  Aimee shops and I take a few pictures.  I am shocked at the number of women in full black burqas.  Apparently after France passed the “no head scarf” rule, Munich is now the new hotspot for travelling Saudis and Dubaians.

We accidentally walk into the courtyard of the Rathaus.  I have found several spots I missed over my first visit years ago.  I think I was more focused on the biergartens then and not the sites.  We have dinner in the courtyard restaurant.  It has great ambience and delicious food.

August 26, 2015

August 26, 2015

We are up early because we have a train to catch.  On the way to the station we buy some snacks and a bottle of French wine for the journey.  One of the joys of train travel is being able to eat, drink, and sleep (or knit) while somebody else does the driving.

In less than an hour we are in Zurich close to the border with Germany.  Switzerland is surprisingly small.  It would just about fit between Tucson and Phoenix.  In Zurich we catch a train east across the northern section of Switzerland.  It is very different; mostly flat with rolling hills, larger farms and no snow-capped peaks. The terrain, once we cross back into Germany is similar. We see lots of solar installations in the German countryside. Surprising considering how little sun northern Europe gets.

Aimee and I perused a German language paper left on the train.  We are able to discern the gist of several articles.  German is not the inscrutable language I thought it was.  We studied a little German for this trip, but you can decipher quite a lot with just your ears.  After all English and German have a common Teutonic origin.  Many words of German seem like English spelled very poorly with a thick accent.  For Example, the train regularly flashes “Nachster Halt”.  Knowing it is pronounced “Nexta Halt”, you can readily guess it means “Next Stop”.

After a 5+ hour journey, we pull into Munich and walk to our nearby hotel.  At first I think we got off in the wrong city.  I don't see any Germans.  All we see are people of Middle Eastern descent.  Probably Turkish. After WWII, Germany imported lots of foreign labor to help with rebuilding their infrastructure.

After checking into our hotel, we walked to the nearby Old Town.  I was here some 31 years ago, so I give Aimee the dime tour showing her the Glockenspiel on Marienplatz and St. Michael's Church.  We walk into the famous Hofbrauhaus intending to have a brew, but it is mobbed with tourists.  So we instead head to the nearby Residenz, the home of the ruling family of Wittelsbachs.  They ruled the kingdom of Bavaria for some 700 years until the end of WWI.  We first tour the palace theater.  It is very lavish and and can easily hold hundreds of audience members.  When the Wittelsbachs hosted symphonies they must have invited every German royal. Afterwards we toured the Treasury Rooms where we saw lots of gold crowns and jeweled scepters and ornamented everything.  The Wittelsbachs had a lot of money.

We had intended to leave the palace museum till tomorrow, but we discovered the large tour groups are gone by late afternoon.  So we go for it.  It is a chore though.  The Wittelsbachs city home is palatial.  It goes on and on and on. Unfortunately much of it was destroyed in WWII. Over the years a lot of it has been restored, but it is still a mixture of original with recreation. Some of the rooms are fantastic.  The oldest, most authentic, and most impressive is the Antiquarium, originally built to house antiques, but turned into a banqueting hall. I have mixed emotions after seeing this palace.  On the one hand I am saddened by the breadth of cultural loss by the bombing.  On the other hand, the restoration seems kind of fake because of what is missing.  But seeing these kind of riches, I am always surprised how these monarchies got away with sucking the wealth out of society for so long. In the end, we have to sail through it, to finish before closing.

We are tired and thirsty so we stop at the first biergarten we see and have potato soup and a couple Bavarian pretzels with a big mug of Spaten beer.

August 25, 2015

August 25, 2015

It is a beautiful day so we journey across the river to finish our tour of the Old Town of Luzern, Switzerland.  There is a farmer’s market along the river this morning.  We check out the wide variety of merchandise and end up buying food for our long train ride tomorrow.  Afterwards we stroll the Old Town.  Other than murals on some of the older buildings, there isn’t much to see.  Mostly it is an urban pedestrian shopping mall.  I am bored, but Aimee is happy.

We stopped by the boat office intending to buy a ticket for an afternoon lake cruise only to find summer ended last week.  Now that highlights tour only runs on Sunday.  We punt and buy tickets for the regular ferry service to the other end of the lake.  Unexpectedly in a hurry now, we rush back to the hotel for warmer clothes, and then stop at the grocery for picnic items.  We make it back to the ship with only a few minutes to spare.  

The cruise down the lake is nice and relaxing, a welcome change of pace from our normal power touring. The weather is delightful, and the scenery beautiful.  I keep looking at the incredibly steep meadows on the hillside and wonder how a cow can graze standing up.

The Swiss name of Lake Lucerne is Lake of the Four Forest Cantons.  Here around 1300, the four counties surrounding this lake revolted against their Austrian overlord and swore an oath of freedom. William Tell of the arrow and apple fame is supposed to be one of the key players. Over successive years, 22 more cantons joined the Swiss Confederacy.  We got off the ferry boat at Rutli Meadow, the legendary site of this birth of the Swiss Nation.  Like all Swiss sites, it is up a very steep hill. Surprisingly for this “Liberty Bell” of Switzerland, there is virtually nothing to see.  Just a flag, a tiny signpost, and some rock chairs.  Oh, and a goat to keep the meadow grass trimmed.  

Seeing all there is to see, we rush down the hill to catch the next ship back to Luzern.  This one turns out to be an historic steam paddle-wheeler from 1926.  The engine deck is exposed in the middle and I keep looking all over to see if I can spy a Nalco drum.  Almost a hundred years ago my former company got its start treating the steam boilers of locomotives and steamships. They still have a small legacy group that continues this business.

The Swiss Confederation is arguably the world’s oldest living democracy.  This was a major accomplishment considering all of its much larger and more powerful neighbors were autocratic monarchies.  Fortunately for the Swiss, mountains were considered less than worthless in olden times.  To toast the Rutli Oath, on the ride back, Aimee and I drink an Ur Brau, a beer made here in Uri, one of the four original cantons.  Just before 5 pm we pull back into central Luzern.

August 24, 2015

August 24, 2015

The scenery of Murren and the Lauterbrunnen valley is incredible, almost too beautiful to be real. Unfortunately the Swiss know this and have found many ways to relieve tourists of their cash.  They have trains and cable-cars that will take you anywhere you can imagine for unforgettable views and hiking, but each one is very expensive.  Just the lift down to the valley floor from Murren is $44 round-trip for the two of us.  Fortunately we had pretty good weather the last three days and we got to explore each area.

It is cloudy and drizzling this morning, so parting with Murren is easier.  From the Lauterbrunnen station, we travel back down the valley floor to Interlaken and then east along Lake Brienzer and the Aare River system, then over the hill to the Reuss River system.  We pass two more lakes until we reach Lake Lucerne.  These river systems consist of strings of teal lakes lined by mountains, the result of gouging by ancient glaciers.

At noon we arrive in Luzern (or Lucerne).  After seven days in the mountains, we have a little culture shock hitting the big city again.  After checking in our hotel we give ourselves a walking tour of the Old City.  Most of the architecture of Luzern looks like it had its main heyday in the run-up to WWI when railroads put Luzern on the tourist map.  Despite the modernization, most of the medieval defenses have been preserved. High stone walls line the north side, the Reuss River protects the south, while two wooden defensive bridges cover the east and west approaches.  We walk most of this perimeter.  

Near the end, we make a detour to the see the Lion Monument carved into a stone cliffside.  The Dying Lion is a memorial to the 800 Swiss mercenary soldiers killed in 1792 protecting the King of France during the French Revolution. 

Aimee and I are too tired and thirsty to tour the inside of the Old Town, so we stop early and have a beer along the lakefront with the main wooden bridge in the background.

August 23, 2015

August 23, 2015

The weather forecast was for rain today, but we woke instead to clear skies.  We left our rain coats in the chalet and took the train and cable car down to Lauterbrunnen to explore the valley.  It wasn’t long after we got there that clouds moved in and it started to drizzle.  I am sure if we brought the raincoats (we usually do), it would have been dry all day.  In the end it only rained a few drops here and there.

From the valley floor, Lauterbrunnen could almost be a twin for Yosemite. Both have very sheer towering walls.  But this is not a national park and people have lived here for millennia. Add in the greater rainfall and Lauterbrunnen is much greener with more waterfalls.  Plus the Swiss penchant for making money means hotels and ski lifts abound.

It is a very pleasant walk down the mostly rural valley floor to the other train station of Stechelberg.  There we eat our Swiss lunch of cheese and crackers and watch para-gliders land in an open field.  We even see three base jumpers in their wing-suits leap from the cliff rim above us, opening their chute at what seems the last second.

After taking the gondola back to Murren, we rest up for an hour or two and then take the local funicular a 1000 feet above our hotel.  A leisurely hour hike back down brings us home. On the way to the hotel Aimee and I spy a base jumper heading to the rim. I follow him down hoping to get a shot of him making the leap. I watch him suit up, but at the last minute he moves laterally twenty yards down rim behind a tree before jumping.

August 22, 2015

August 22, 2015

This morning we set out to explore the other side of the Lauterbrunnen valley.  So we took the train and gondola down to Lauterbrunnen and then another train up the other side to the alpine town of Wengen. Wengen, like Murren is perched on the rim of the cliff.  It is not as high, nor does it have as good a view of the high peaks.  It does however have a better view looking down the Lauterbrunnen valley. From Wengen we took a cable car up to the ridge called Mannlichen.  We hiked a few hundred yards uphill to a small peak called Mannlichen Gipfel.  There we got a great view of Interlaken and Lake Thun.  We also spend some time watching a couple paragliders take off.  A cow kept trying to lay down on one poor guy’s chute.

The premiere hike on this side of the valley is from Mannlichen in the other direction to Kleine Scheidegg.  It is directly towards the base of the Eiger Peak. It should be an awesome walk, but at this time of day, we are heading straight into the sun. In addition, the trail is crowded with people and the fields to our left are full of Swiss cows. Each one has a bell tied around its neck. The din of ringing cow bells begins quaintly but after a while becomes annoying. Once at Kleine Scheidegg train station, we encountered the Inferno race.  This is the Swiss vertical version of a Triathlon, making it a killer.  It consists of a swim in frigid glacial Lake Thun, a long bike race up and down two small mountains, finishing with a killer 15 mile run up to the snowy mountain peak we rode the gondola to yesterday. Kleine Scheidegg is at the peak of the mountain biking section.  We watch a few dozen bikes crawl up the crest.  We were going to walk back down to Wengen, but we don’t relish dodging bikes racing downhill.  So we ride the train downhill and explore Wengen.  We eventually make it back to Murren where we again meet up with the racers, now on the brutal final up-mountain foot race. Aimee cheered them all on. I believe in exercising and staying fit but what these competitors are doing to their bodies is just insane.

Afterwards we finished the last bottle of red wine watching more paragliders take off on their final flight of the day.  We had dinner at the finish line of the half-marathon event where the community had pasta and bratwurst dinners for sale.

August 21, 2015

August 21, 2015

The sky is fairly clear this morning, so we decide to take the cable car (packed to the gills with maybe a 100 people) up to the top of the mountain, Schilthorn, on our side of the valley.  It is at 9740 foot elevation. Unfortunately by the time we get to the top, the clouds have moved in and the vista is not nearly as impressive as it could be. The restaurant, Piz Gloria, that sits on the peak was the star of the James Bond movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.  In the movie, the restaurant was the lair of  Blofeld.  The ski scenes were filmed on the slopes between here and our hotel in Murren.  On one floor the restaurant has a rather large museum dedicated to the movie. Sadly for George Lazenby he turned down big money to continue as James Bond.

From the Schilthorn, we took the cable car back down one station to Birg.  There we exited and hiked the rest of the way back down to Murren. The initial terrain reminds me of Hawaii with very steep wet green cliffs.  The only thing different is the snow.  The temperature is only a few degrees above freezing.  Luckily I was able to borrow a fleece from the chalet.  An hour into the hike we turned the corner and the massive wall of Alpine peaks comes into view.  The three tallest are named Eiger, Monch, and the Jungfrau. This translates to Ogre, Monk, and Young girl.  The monk is the middle peak protecting the young girl from the Ogre.

After three hours we make it back to Murren where we rest at a park bench, chill out, and watch para-gliders soar above the valley below. We also saw three base jumpers take a dive off the edge. Back at the chalet we had some wine while catching up with the world. For dinner we have pizza at a restaurant with an outdoor deck overlooking the valley.

August 20, 2015

August 20, 2015

We set the alarm to wake up early today on the off chance that my lucky charm might come through.  I looked out the windows and saw clouds again.  Drats!  I told Aimee to forget it and we took our time getting packed, then moseying down to breakfast.  I said “Cloudy again” to the hostess and she replied, “No, It is a beautiful day” and pointed out the window.  I looked and what did I see but, the Matterhorn, naked and glorious.  I gulped down a bowl of cereal, grabbed the camera and sprinted for her.  I took a dozen photos of her in various poses.  I then turned around to get some of her with the town in the foreground and I could see the cloud layer rising out of the valley.  When I got to the Zermatt bridge, she was dressed in clouds again. 

We hopped on the train and headed back north. Two trains later we pulled into Spiez, and switched to another train going east past the very large glacier-carved Lake Thun.  It is very pretty surrounded by steep mountains.  In Interlaken we transfer to another train that takes us into the Lauterbrunnen valley.  There we take a cable car up to the cliff top and then a short train along the rim to Murren.  Murren is an alpine town that is perched on the cliff edge.

After all the travelling we have done in the United States, we sometimes think we are hard to impress.  But here Aimee and I are mesmerized by the scenery.  The Lauterbrunnen valley looks like Yosemite but with green grass and waterfalls everywhere. (Lauterbrunnen means loud waterfalls).  To push the scenery over the top, the entire valley is in the shadow of a line of tall snow-capped peaks.

After checking into our chalet, we head to the cliff edge and have a picnic lunch while watching one paraglider after another take off to our right and sail over the Lauterbrunnen valley right in front of us. It looks like a blast but Aimee nixes us partaking in the fun.  Seeing that clouds are socking in the peaks on our side of the valley, we decide to hike along the rim downhill to the village of Gimmelwald through the forest.  Like every trail we have hiked in Switzerland, it is very steeply downhill. Gimmelwald has some tourist accommodations but the village is still very rustic and agricultural.  We take the cable car back up to Murren.

This trip we have had a tradition of drinking a glass of wine before dinner, so we take our bottle and sit on a park bench overlooking the valley.  The daytrippers have left Murren and we have the whole place seemingly to ourselves now.  Aimee and I are in heaven.

August 19, 2015

August 19, 2015

Last night Aimee and I discussed having Fondue, one of the specialties of Switzerland.  Dunking bits of bread and potato in cheese just didn’t capture our fantasy.  Instead we opted to try the Swiss National dish of Rosti.  It is supposed to be a baked combination of potato and cheese.  Since it was raining we darted next door into the restaurant claiming to be the oldest in town.  We opted for the Rosti with ham.  It was delicious and filling.  A very young American couple seated next to us chose the fondue.  The delightful elderly owner showed them the proper fondue technique.  He took a potato and instead of dipping it in the cheese, he smashed it with a fork and poured a spoonful of cheese on top.  Now it looks just like our Rosti.  I think Rosti is just pre-made Fondue at half the price.

This morning we woke to rainy weather.  The temperature is in the 40’s.  It is only supposed to get into the high 50’s.  I didn’t bring enough warm weather clothes.  Aimee and I put on every layer of clothes we have and take a walk in the opposite direction of yesterday.  Northeast uphill to the hamlet of Ried.  From the top we get a good view of Zermatt and what should be the Matterhorn.

Back in Zermatt, we stop at the neighborhood grocery to stock up on wine and chocolate for the next leg of our journey.  This is our third and last day in Zermatt and the cloudiest of all.  It looks like the Matterhorn is not to be.  

After lunch, we walk south uphill following one of the gondolas.  We pass a tree-top adventure course which is a great way to amuse children on an overcast day.  I am surprised at all the rustic hamlets scattered throughout the area. Many are probably maintained for tourists but surprisingly there are a couple in the oddest places in central Zermatt.  The ones high up on the cliffs remind me how hard scrabble a life the older Swiss had it trying to eke out a living on a tiny farm perched precariously up a cliff.  No wonder so many of them rented themselves out as mercenary soldiers in olden times.  Today the Swiss are the opposite, extremely rich, mercilessly extracting every dollar possible from tourists.

August 18, 2015

August 18, 2015

We woke in Zermatt, Switzerland to partly cloudy weather.  But it looks like the sun may be burning the clouds and may clear by afternoon.  So we do a short morning hike up the valley to the south to the little Alpen town of Zmutt.  A Bernese Mountain dog accompanies us part way.   After an hour of gradual uphill we make it to the tiny cluster of wood homes in a large meadow that looks right out of a “Heidi” filmset.

Back in Zermatt we rest, have our picnic lunch waiting for the last remnants of the clouds to depart.  It looks like we have another hour, so we decide to walk the town.  Zermatt is definitely pretty.  Most of the buildings are Swiss classic, made of rustic wood with long balconies on every floor.  All are decorated with colorful flowers.  The ground floors are shops and restaurants. We also pass a small cemetery we come to realize is just for climbers who died trying to scale the local peaks.

Finished with our town walk, we see the cloud cover is here to stay so we decide not to ride the gondolas up mountain as planned.  They are expensive.  Very!  The lift to the spot we planned today is $86 per person.  It isn’t worth it if the Matterhorn is not on display.  Instead we head back to our hotel balcony for some wine and cheese.  Like yesterday, a light rain ensues late afternoon.

August 17, 2015

August 17, 2015

Walking to the train station, we notice Bern is a buzz of activity. It is Monday and everything is now open.  There are lots of guys in camouflage heading for the train. Switzerland has a long history of compulsory military service.  That is the way this small country has maintained its independent neutral status, a strong defense.

We board our train headed south deep into the Swiss Alps. We head up steep river valleys with some hillsides of green meadows.  Lush fields only come from regular rain and that is what we have today.  The low cloud cover is obscuring our mountain view.  I look at my lucky charm sitting next to me and tell her to get me some sunshine.

Two hours later we dead-end in the car-free village of Zermatt, near the Swiss border with Italy. After checking in, we set out for some hiking.  Zermatt is the home of the Matterhorn.  I came here some thirteen years ago for a day of skiing on a side excursion from a business trip.  I was lucky and had a clear glorious view of that chiseled mountain. Unfortunately I didn't take along a camera and at that time I wasn't into photography.   

With the clouds obscuring the mountains, we first talk about doing a valley hike.  After Aimee reminds me of our limited time here, we decide to chance it and head up one of the lifts.  We first take a funicular train carved into the mountain and then a gondola up almost three thousand feet to the Blauherd station.  We hike a half hour out to Stellisee at the bottom of the Findel Glacier. We are hoping to catch the Matterhorn reflected in this glacial lake.  Sadly the Matterhorn is just teasing me. She is showing a piece of her leg but won’t disrobe all her cloud cover.  

We hike an hour downhill on the Marmot Trail along a rocky cliff edge. Several times we spot an Alpine Marmot scurrying atop the rocks. They look like fleet-footed tan beavers.  At Sunnegga station we stop and order a beer on the ski-deck still hoping.  I can see a little more of the Matterhorn but she is still shy.

We then hike two hours along a mountain bike trail through the pine forest back to Zermatt. The trail is easy but straight downhill.  By the time we get to the bottom the soles of my feet are sore from sliding inside my shoes and my hips are killing me from the pounding.  I look up and catch a short glimpse of the Matterhorn disrobed and framed by clouds.  That is the best I can hope for.  A little later the rain starts and she disappears.

August 16, 2015

August 16, 2015

Last night we meet up with Becky, the daughter of one of Aimee’s cousins. She lives here with her German husband. Both are physicists with scientific jobs, living only a few minutes east of the lively and cute Old Town Freiburg. They also have the most adorable four year-old daughter. I don’t envy her finances though. Multiple tax returns. She is an American citizen (dollars), living in Germany (spending Euros), working for a Swiss company getting paid in Swiss Francs. Yikes!

This morning we hopped back on board the train and crossed the border into Switzerland at Basel and continued on to the capital Bern.  When Aimee needed $2 to use the bathroom, I knew the price of tourism just doubled.  After checking into our accommodations we give ourselves a walking tour of the Old Town.  We start off in a drizzling rain, but after an hour, the weather clears and we enjoy our first cool weather.  Finally!  

Old Town Bern, a UNESCO World Heritage site, sits on a tight U-bend of the very swift Aare River, an easy to defend spot in Medieval times. It is a cobblestoned city similar to Freiburg, just upscale.  Instead of rowdy university beer halls, there are lots of expensive classy restaurants and pricey shopping.  Luckily most are closed on Sunday. Bern derives from the German word for bear, so this animal adorns everything, including the dozen or so fountains filling the city. They even keep a few live bears in a city park. All the Bern streets are lined with medieval looking arcades, apparently to protect residents from the frequent rain showers.  

The favorite adopted son of Bern is Albert Einstein who moved to Switzerland from Germany and got a job as patent clerk here. This not-so-demanding government job gave him to time to think about the universe and in 1905 he published five groundbreaking papers in Theoretical Physics.  The most famous was his Special Theory of Relativity.  We tour the little museum that is contained in his old apartment.

My feet are tired after three days of walking, so we finish by riding the trams around town getting to know the city and stopping at nice vantage points.