A Taste of the Alps

This morning the duck is headed South, as all ducks are wont to do and we followed it to Interlaken West train station. Smart ducks conserve their energy and take the Golden Pass Train to Zweisimmen. Climbing out of the Simmental Valley, we arrive at Zweisimmen nestled at 4,000 feet in between some high mountain pastures. Boarding a small bus almost as wide as the road leading up a series of switchbacks, we're headed to a typical Alpenage, a Swiss Alp cheese dairy.

We can see the village far below

The air changes; it's a bit cooler than the valley although the bus interior seems to have brought along some of the heat from down below. A bright sun and the sound of cow bells greets us as we arrive at the summer pastures, wood-framed buildings and barn that marks our destination. The view is everything one would imagine. Across the valley, the other mountainsides are dotted with small buildings and pastures rising up to some snow capped peaks. There is even a glacier in the distance.

Our hosts for the tour today are a rosy-cheeked young woman whose boyfriend is the chief cheese maker, along with his mother, her sister and her sister's boyfriend who all tend the cows from early spring until early fall. When winter comes, and the upper pastures are snow covered, she is the receptionist at a ski school, and he is a ski instructor.

In the old days, the cows were herded up and down the mountainside, but modern times and machinery have changed all that. Cows are now given a lift by truck to save time and precious energy; they're here to graze on herb pastures and produce milk for some of the best cheese in Switzerland. Each of the decorated cow bells hanging from the rafters represents a prize winning cow.

Our guide explains that 9 to 12 hour days are the norm during their stay here, bringing cows in; milking; letting them out; making cheese; feeding the swine (who eat the whey produced - nothing goes to waste here); and conducting the occasional tour. They also rent out the building for weddings.

The cows have their tails tied to keep them out of the way when milking

It's a combination of both modern and primitive with well-worn timbers and spotlessly clean machinery coming together to produce stacks of cheese rounds aging on wooden racks in cool rooms. Part of the daily ritual includes the turning of the wheels of cheese as they age and marking their progress.

Mountain air gives you an appetite. Lunch today, made by the alpenage hands starts with fresh salad, a local wine and a local soft drink that tastes a little like ginger ale, potatoes and a delicious cheese known as "Raclette." 

The cheese is melted from large blocks under special heaters and scraped off onto your plate just before becoming burnt. It has a unique taste stemming from the pasture with its herbs that the cows eat.

Special warming units for preparing raclette.

After lunch and a few more pictures, it's back down the mountainside to catch the next train to Montreux. We're winding our way across one of the passes and enjoying the view as we leave the German-speaking part of Switzerland headed for the "Swiss Riviera." French is spoken here and gray stone houses slowly replace the half-timbered woody German-style chalets. The mountains are jagged and are called dents, the French word for teeth. 

Breathtaking views include deep gorges and valleys prompting one in our group to ask "how far down is it?" The reply from Andrea is swift and to the point: "In Switzerland we say it is two meters down and then Eternity."

At last, the hillside gives way to breaks in the trees for brief glimpses of  the Western end of Lake Geneva and the town of Montreux. Palm trees at the station where we change trains let us know that the weather is influenced by the Mediterranean. We also arrived in the middle of a heat wave and discovered the temperatures in the 90s!

We didn't expect palm trees in Switzerland!

This is the only station in Europe with three different rail gauges; regular, narrow for crossing the mountains and very skinny (the Rochers de Naye train) taking visitors to a nearby peak. We're on our way to our final destination for the day, Brig.

On arrival in the early evening, a wide avenue greets us outside the station where the duck leads us on the usual "short walk, 10 minutes, slightly uphill" through the heart of the city to our hotel. Rooms at the Schlosshotel, Art Furrer, either overlook the small park outside or the snow capped mountain that stand between us and the top of Italy.

An evening meal with salads, a delicious carrot soup and a choice of entree topped of with glasses of Coca-cola with real ice and good conversation rounds out our day before bedtime.

After a very full day, the duck is dog tired.

Maybe you will have enough energy to watch this short video about Swiss "cow culture."

The Roof of Europe

We'd been checking the weather reports for the last 36 hours. Would it be clear enough to make the trip to the Jungfraujoch worth the extra price of the ticket? It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a special train up to the "Roof of Europe," but would be pointless if the weather were overcast.

We were in luck: it's a bright, sunny day as the duck leads the way to the train at Interlaken Ost for our trip to the village of Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch mountain via the Kleine Scheidegg. Passing the airport at Interlaken, we see the remains of a weekend festival being cleaned up to make the airport useable again. Apparently, everyone attending had a great time listening to the bands and other entertainment.

The cog railway winds its way through the Black Forest countryside, moving ever upward. Grindelwald sits at 3400 feet in the Bernese Alps and has about 3800 inhabitants. From most anywhere in town you can see the glacier, Kleine Scheidegg, looming above you on the mountainside.

We take a walk "slightly uphill, about 10 minutes" to the quaint little Grindelwald Museum. The museum sits next to a lovely church where we can hear the service going on, as it's Sunday morning. 

The museum gives us a view of early life from Alpine living to rescue teams and equipment. This area was very popular with the English and others who vacationed and often took up the challenges of the various peaks. Peggy zeroed in on the fabrics, dresses and weaving artifacts while David took an interest in the bicycle-like ski vehicle. A modern version made from wood is available but would have been difficult to stuff in a backpack or suitcase for the trip home.

After a tour of the museum, we enjoyed another great luncheon at the restaurant "Hirschen" in Grindelwald with local dishes at tables next to open windows looking out over the town and surrounding mountains. It was a perfect day - - almost.

We will now take a short intermission before the film on Jungfraujoch for a brief look at the Swiss Medical System and how it operates. For those of you who don't know, Peggy tripped and fell on the way downhill to get our tickets for Jungfraujoch tour. (As of this writing, Peggy is doing fine and the last scan has shown the epidural hematoma on her brain re-absorbed by 85%.) I was getting bottled water in a local market for our trip when Rauati came running up to tell me what happened. I was greeted by a very badly bruised and bleeding Peggy with EMT's caring for her.

A local doctor was called to her office and arrived as we did by ambulance. Holding Peggy's hand and telling her for the umpteenth time that everything's going to be okay and I was there to take care of her, the doctor looked for approval that I wasn't going to be fazed by blood and stitches. Eight of them later (two in her upper lip outside and six inside) I had learned a new surgeon's knot tying for my fly fishing hobby. After a tetanus shot, some prescriptions, and taking care of the expenses, the ambulance crew gave us a ride to the train to Interlaken and we walked the mile back to our hotel to rest and begin to recover.

The problem in Europe is that they seemingly don't believe in ice. We got some cold packs at the pharmacy, but can you believe a hotel with no ice?

The next morning we would leave Interlaken and travel to Brig. A little battered and sore, Peggy would make a quick trip to a gift shop near the Interlaken train station for some oversized "movie star" sunglasses to try and disguise the bruised cheek and swollen lip. 

Now for the movie. They say that adversity brings people closer together. I'll never forget Peggy saying I should "go ahead" and my reply - "I'm your husband; this is where I belong. I love you and would never leave without you."

Ours was a great honeymoon.

First, a quick overview of Grindelwald:

And the Jungfraujoch (and now you've seen as much of it as we have!)

Bern, Bears and Tubing

Following a breakfast including croissants, cheese and coffee, the morning lecture introduced us to the capital city of Bern resplendent in history, heraldry and hills surrounding a peninsula that is home to 130,000 people. Once voted as Europe's most floral city, its ranks swell with the influx of tourists and parliamentarians who visit and work in this World Heritage Site recognized by UNESCO.

Old Town Bern

Once again, we followed the duck to the train station at Interlaken West, this time, for the Intercity train trip at mid-morning. Large windows and comfortable seating allowed relaxed viewing of the countryside along Lake Thun. Bern is a shopping paradise. Alighting from the train and just across the way, the ambience of Old Town, where traffic is not permitted, greets you with a medieval street plan filled with shops of every kind.

Open Air Market

A pedestrian city 

First, however, is the guided tour of Bern's highlights. Not to be missed is the animated Clock Tower (Zytglogge) with its clockwork figures which have marked the hour since 1527--another testament to the Swiss love of precision and time. We joined the crowd around the tower at noon when the "show" is the longest.

The old part of Bern is filled with fantastic fountains, the most interesting of which (or creepy, depending on your viewpoint) is the "Child Eater" fountain. No one knows exactly what it represents, although the legend is that it marked the edge of the city and the Ogre at the top was to keep children from straying too far from home.

The Child Eater Fountain

We passed by the house Einstein lived in while he was (as we've all learned) a Swiss patent clerk.

Einstein Haus

the Bern Munster, a cathedral with the tallest spires in Switzerland,

And, because Bern is Switzerland's capital, the Parliament building or Bundeshaus, with its 26 fountains representing each of the Swiss cantons.

We grabbed lunch on our own at the Migros cafeteria with its free wifi, 

and then made the choice to skip the museums and go "Tubing." No swimsuit is required. Tubing is the Swiss term in Bern for shopping under the porticos lining the two main shopping streets in the western half of the city; Marktgasse and Spitalgasse. The porticos covering the walkways resemble long tubes as they stretch down the street and are filled with shoppers, vendors and outdoor cafes. There is no Walmart here, but if you can't find it, you probably don't need it anyway.

Bern is in the Swiss German part of the country, so brush up on your "Guten Morgan" and your "Danke" as we'll as English, French and even some sign language. There are bargains to be had; there are very expensive, haute couture brand name stores; there are very friendly people; and there are good times to be had tubing in Old Town, Bern. Attempting to speak the language brings you laughter, bargains and new found friendships on the spot. We had a delightful time covering lots of shops and lots of sights before returning to the Bahnhofplatz for our trip back to Interlaken.

Take a moment for the video tour and you'll see what we mean. A short rest and another wonderful dinner at the hotel left time to walk around Interlaken and do some holiday shopping for family and friends.