Chateau de Chillon

Saturday, May 19, 2018

With a (series of) last looks at the views from Beatenberg as we headed down the mountain, we were off on our last day in Switzerland.  As we drove through a series of villages, we were slowed by a traffic jam of sorts.  A large herd of cows was being led through a small town by a party of men and boys, who were more or less successfully using long poles to keep their bovine charges in line.  We were in a line of cars plodding along behind them until there was a break in the oncoming traffic and we were urged to move on past by the same pole-wielding crew.  The clang of the cows’ enormous bells would be fitting competition for car horns in urban traffic!

 

We drove through Montreux, with its beautiful promenade along Lake Geneva, lovely Belle Epoque buildings, and swank hotels, to visit the Chateau de Chillon.  The castle, built on a rock just steps off the lake shore, has played an important role, both defensively and in political terms, as its strategic location afforded control of trade and traffic between northern and southern Europe.  It is Switzerland’s most visited castle, and Byron’s narrative poem, “The Prisoner of Chillon” helped to secure its cultural importance.  In 1816, Byron visited the cellar where, 300 years earlier, political prisoner Francois Bonivard had been held in chains for six years.  Along with many others, Byron etched his name into one of the cellar prison’s pillars; his inscription is still visible, protected by a Plexiglas screen.  We used the helpful audioguides and spent a couple of enjoyable hours in the cellars, courtyards, great halls, living quarters and defensive structures of the castle that seems to float like a great rock ship on Lake Geneva.

 

We made a quick pass through Lausanne, set on three stair-step hills above the lake, and then it was on to return our car in a French town just across the border from Geneva.  The same gentleman who’d shuttled us from the airport to pick up the car at the start of our trip was there to take us to our hotel this afternoon.  He wasn’t particularly jolly a month ago and the intervening weeks hadn’t improved his mood.  He was extremely upset with his boss, because she’d assigned him to drive us to a hotel that he felt was too far for him to travel.  We were pretty amused when he called her and vented at great length (in French) about the traffic he’d encounter, the distance, his refusal to ever do this again, etc.  When he realized that I had a (very minimal) knowledge of the language, he really went off – on his boss, not us, he went at great length to assure us.  I couldn’t understand why he kept talking about how bad the traffic was going to be late on a Saturday afternoon in a pretty sleepy area until we rounded a corner and a line of cars going in the opposite direction stretched on and on.  That was what he’d be facing on his return, and suddenly we understood his pique. 

 

We walked a short distance to a restaurant near our hotel for dinner before packing up one more time before tomorrow’s flights home.  It’s been a lovely trip, but we’re ready to come off the road and put our suitcases away – for a while, at least.  We’re just hoping that memories of snow-capped mountains and rushing waterfalls will keep us cool as we return to summer in the desert.

Lauterbrunnen

Friday, May 18, 2018

With a cloudless sky this morning, we headed to Lauterbrunnen, close to our home base and also to our destination yesterday.  Lauterbrunnen is situated in a two-mile-long valley between two sheer rock faces, which are punctuated by multiple waterfalls; Lauterbrunnen means “only springs.”

 

Having learned that the weather here changes with great frequency, we decided to cover the higher elevations of the region while the skies were clear.  After taking a gondola to Grutschalp, we walked the Mountain View path to Murren, which was just over four miles.  The views across the valley to the peaks of the “Swiss Skyline” were indescribably beautiful.  We were seeing not just a different face of the Eiger and other peaks from yesterday’s view, but a panorama that was untouched by clouds; it was all blue sky and snowy peaks – so close, they seemed just across the street!  Our trail roughly paralleled the tracks of the train from Grutschalp to Murren, and we could see it chugging along its short route below us quite a few times as we walked through pine forest, crossed mountain streams rushing downward, and passed wildflower slowed by the irresistible number of photo ops.  (Trail markers in Switzerland don’t indicate distance, instead they show the time a hike should take; this information is useless when a man with a camera is trekking!)

 

We’ve had picnic lunches on the road in some extraordinary places, but even so, today’s spot in Murren was outstanding.  It was easy to find a bench in a quiet spot with a view of the “skyline” and the hang gliders passing above and below us.  Murren is a car-free village, though there are a number of sizeable hotels and shops, as it’s a popular tourist destination. 

 

En route to the valley floor, we took a gondola from Murren, with a brief stop for a look around tiny Gimmewald.  The cable car brought us down to Stechelberg, where we began our walk through the valley back toward Lauterbrunnen.  The flat path passed through meadows filled with yet more wildflowers and small dairy farms.  The waterfalls barreled down from the cliffs on both sides of the valley, and the River Lutschine, fed by all those waterfalls, ran full and fast through the center.  The setting was idyllic and we enjoyed the 3.6-mile walk to our car park at the train station.  We were amused to find that one small farm had a refrigerated vending machine stocked with cheeses, sausages, eggs and preserves.

 

 

On today’s walks and elsewhere as we’ve traveled through Switzerland this week, we’ve noted the massive stacks of chopped and split wood.  Sometimes they’ve been alongside homes, but we’ve also often seen them along roadsides or our hiking paths.  In every instance, they’ve been precisely cut into uniform lengths (often about three feet!) and stacked so meticulously that they appear to fit almost like the pieces of jigsaw puzzles.

 

Tomorrow, we’ll leave our lovely spot on the mountain in Beatenberg and head back to Geneva, where this trip began.  We plan to explore a bit of the north shore of Lake Geneva before returning our car and checking into a hotel at the airport before our first flight en route home on Sunday.

Grindelwald (and above!)

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Today dawned sunny and clear and we decided to head for Grindelwald, a village close to our home base; it’s situated at the foot of  the Eiger, and the center of many winter and summer activities.  Grindelwald is chock full of hotels, B and Bs, restaurants, shops and concessionaires – everything a visitor could want, including a Japanese information center! 

 

We wanted to gain some altitude and decided on a combination of a hike to Bort, a spot where we could pick up a cable car to First (“Feerst”), a popular summit.  However, after due (brief!) consideration of the angle of the trail’s ascent, we came up with a much more reasonable Plan B.  Accordingly, we booked a ticket for the cable car all the way up to First, then back down to Bort; we figured we could manage the walk down from Bort to Grindelwald a whole lot more easily than the hike up.

 

The cable car ascent was fabulous; as the green valley receded, the views of the snowy peaks became evermore spectacular.  We were also entertained by paragliders (aka: crazy people) overhead, and kart and scooter riders below.  Once atop First, we walked out on the Cliff Walk to enjoy the views of Grindelwald in the valley far below and the Eiger and other peaks appearing and disappearing among the clouds above.

 

 

On our decent to Bort, the cable car system came to a halt, so we had a ten-minute interlude where we remained calm until the “continuation of the journey” – just as the printed sign inside our car instructed us!  We did consider the fact that we had our lunch with us, should our state of suspended animation continue for an extended period of time.

 

Luckily, before long we were on our way again to Bort, where we left our high perch and headed down the mountainside on foot.  This was easier said than done, especially for Tom, who was having some significant trouble with his legs as our “time on task” grew.  Nevertheless, the scenery was spectacular, and there’s no way we would have appreciated its great beauty had we been trudging upward!  Fields of dandelions, vibrant yellow against deep green, were spread out like carpets all around; we were led to wonder why they’re so often disdained as weeds!  Between them, the many other wildflowers, the peaks above, the green valley dotted with huts and chalets below us, alpacas grazing on a couple of farms, and the occasional sound of cow bells, it was a wonderful walk.  As we approached Grindelwald, the homes we passed were almost stereotypically Swiss – wooden chalets with intricately detailed trim, well-swept patios, and meticulously maintained gardens. 

Back in Grindelwald, we drove to its road’s end, and then headed back toward Interlaken.  We’ve skirted and seen from above both of the lakes that Interlaken bridges and before we headed up to Beatenburg, we took a closer look at Lake Biernz, one of Switzerland’s cleanest lakes. We drove on the narrow south shore road from Bonigen to Iseltwald, a quiet town situated on a peninsula.  After a short walk around, we headed to the north shore of Biernzee and the town of Biernz, with its church and clock tower perched above the town and the lake.

Shortly after we returned to our mountainside digs, we had a brief rain, then bright sun, then some fog, then sun, then clouds…  We’re learning the ways of weather up here!

Zurich

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

So much for our hopes for overblown weather forecasts!  Once again, all of our intended destinations for our time here were expecting rain so, feeling that an urban destination was a better play than a scenery-dependent one, we chose Zurich. 

It did rain most of the way to Zurich, and it was pouring when we arrived in the city.  Given that, we headed first to the Zurich’s art museum, but when we reached its neighborhood, the parking situation was daunting, so we headed to a garage near the main rail station instead.  As luck would have it, by the time we parked the car there, the rain had decreased considerably and, armed with maps from the TI, we headed down the main drag, Bahnhofstrasse.  We soon veered off the wide shopping street and headed for the Lindenhof, an elevated, tree-shaded terrace overlooking the Limmat River and the medieval lanes of the Old Town.  It was hard to believe that this peaceful park and the narrow streets below were such a short distance of the busy Bahnhofstrasse.  In a light rain, we wandered through those old cobblestoned streets, most lined with small shops, down to St. Peter’s Church, with Europe’s largest clock face, and the Fraumunster (Church of Our Lady), along the river’s quai. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just across the river was the Grossmunster, with its twin towers. The rain was still coming down as we left the church, and we decided that the hour had come to visit Zurich’s Fine Art Museum; it was dry, warm, and free on Wednesdays!  The museum’s collection is a fine one, ranging from Old Masters to contemporary works; we enjoyed our time there, though we barely scratched the surface.

 

We headed back through the pedestrian lanes, re-crossed the river and reclaimed our car as the rain was beginning again in earnest.  Though we put our rain gear to good use today, the heaviest rains actually occurred while we were warm and dry in the car.

 

Beatenburg and our apartment are along the road on the right side of the photo

The sun was shining brightly when we got back to our mountainside home base and the views of the lakes, snowy peaks, valley towns and green hillsides dotted with chalets was just gorgeous.  The sound of cowbells – big, bulbous bells – was the perfect audio track to the idyllic scene.