Italy/Switzerland May, 2009
The hiking trip we did on our own to Switzerland in 2008 was so successful that we decided to branch out in 2009 and take in 2 countries. Headwaters, a UK adventure company, offers independent trips to both Italy and Switzerland--all accommodations and 2 meals a day included, with hiking routes and guides added to the mix. Using their US agents, Breakaway Adventures, we selected "Gastronomic Walks in Tuscany" and "Classic Swiss Alps Walks." We added a few nights in Bologna before we started and some in Zurich before we flew home.
When Sue originally booked the flight to
Packing is always the worst part of the trip, but Sue did most of it, and we were ready to go around
For dinner, we had decided to walk over to the airport and eat at Garduno’s (since closed). I figured we wouldn’t be eating any Mexican food for a couple of weeks. The walk took about 15 minutes, but when we got there, they were serving only a buffet. We decided to stay, and had their fajita buffet. It was OK, but I ate too much, as I have been doing lately.
Back at the hotel, we left a request for a
Besides our checked bag we each had a back pack. Checking through the security went fairly quickly, but one has to remember to take one’s shoes off and all metallic objects out of one’s pockets. We went through the line that had the new x-ray machine. One had to stand with his hands behind his head after removing everything from his pockets. I had to go back again, probably because I forgot to take out my passport and a paper clip. It would be easier to arrive at security in one’s underwear and get dressed after the process.
The plane took off on time, although “Omar” had to submit to another random search. We were in first class, so we got breakfast included. These United flights have eight first-class seats.
After arriving at Dulles, we had to wait five hours for our plane to
At
The flight started out with wine and warm nuts. These nuts were almonds and macadamias, with a few pecans and cashews. For dinner I ordered the beef stroganoff. Dessert was cheese and port. After dinner, I put in my earplugs and went to sleep. For three hours. Then they were serving breakfast, which I eschewed.
The landing in
After getting the boarding passes, we spent a few minutes in the Business Lounge eating bananas and drinking a glass of water. The place was very busy.
The Business Class seating to
The flight was little over an hour, but it took some twenty minutes to get our bags. Yes, they had arrived, too. On the way out, I was chosen for another “random” security check. He wanted to know if I had any liquor or cigarettes. I said “No” and he let me pass.
I bought some Euros before we left the airport. With the exchange rate, the commission, and the fee, I received 52 euros for $100!
The cab we got was small, of course, but it was air conditioned! Our bags fit in the back, just. The drive to
The Hotel Touring is on a very narrow, one-way street. Parking for motor bikes only is allowed on the other side of the street; there were a couple of large, rectangular garbage cans, too.
We arrived at
At 12 we went back down to the lobby. This time we were told it would be 20 minutes before our room was ready. I sat down and dozed off. At
So, we left our stuff in the room and went back to the lobby. Our papers said we ordered two beds, but one of them read “1 double,” which Sue had been told meant two beds. I expected that they would have no other room with two beds, and that we would be out on the street. The clerk seemed nonplussed and said we would have to talk to the woman. She was in a conversation with a customer for several minutes, then she was in the safe, then she was able to talk to us. To my amazement, there was another room available with two beds. Of course, it wouldn’t be ready for another half hour.
After finally getting into our room, we showered and slept for two hours. We got a map of the city from reception and took a walk to the downtown, which was very close. There were a lot of food shops near the Piazza Maggiore. The brochure said they closed on Thursday PM, but they were mostly open. Fish, vegetables, meat, and, surprisingly, no flies. I took photos of the food, which I always do.
After getting back to our room, still without our passports that we had left with the clerk, I typed the above and went to sleep. I woke up briefly a few times but got back to sleep quickly.
I was up at six and showered. We read a bit and went to breakfast at
After getting ourselves together we decided to take a walk around town following directions suggested by Breakaway Adventures. We’d gone about a block when Sue remembered that we were looking for more euros and that we were passing a bank. There was a guard outside that indicated it was a bank. I had Sue hold my camera while I went in. The two cashiers were busy, and there was a man ahead of me. When my turn came, I went up to the woman and asked “Can you change dollars to euros?” In her halting English, she said I had to go to the other cashier, who had the exchange rates. When he was free, I asked him “Can you change dollars to euros?” In Italian he said no and a lot more while waving his arms around. I got the impression that I had to go to another bank up the street on the right. Hmmm.
When I got back outside, Sue and I walked up the street a couple of blocks, turned right, and noticed an ATM machine and then a door next to it. It was a bank. I gave Sue my camera again, and went in. It was a much larger establishment with desks on the left and right. In the back of the large room were what looked like cashiers. They were both busy, so I waited. When I got up to a cashier, I asked “Can you change dollars to euros?” She said “No.” They did change money but only for their regular customers.
This was all very strange. Why was it so hard to get euros? We went back to the hotel to see if they could recommend some bank that would change money. Of course we could try using our credit cards and passwords, but we had cash with us. When I asked the hotel clerk, she had to check around with the various people there and finally suggested another bank that did more business with the local people, not just businesses. She said to be adamant about changing money, saying I had to get euros. As we were leaving the hotel, she said if they still wouldn’t change money to have them call the hotel.
A longer walk finally got us to the recommended bank. I gave Sue my camera to hold and went inside. Again, it was a big room with desks and rooms on the left and right, but the cashiers were straight ahead with numbers displayed in lights. There were people sitting around and only one person at each cashier. Hmm. I finally figured out that one had to get a piece of paper with a number on it to get waited on. I looked around trying to find the machine and found it when a man came off the street and used it. With my number 088, I sat down in an easy chair to await my turn.
When my number was called, I went to the cashier and asked, “Can you change dollars to euros?” She said, “No.” She said they did it for their customers, but not for people off the street. She suggested I go to the bus terminal and exchange money. I said I was staying at the Hotel Touring, that they had recommended my coming there, and that they should telephone the hotel. There was some discussion between two of the clerks. Eventually, how much money did I want to change? --they decided they could do it. She made it very clear, though, that it was a favor that they were treating me as a customer. During the process of the exchange, she said that I wasn’t such a regular customer and that they would charge me a commission. Even so, I came out ahead of a money changer. The rate was better and there was only one commission.
Wow. What a process. Now we could start our tour of the city.
Italian people smoke. They like clothes and shoes, some of which are really rather strange. They enjoy sitting outside eating and drinking, but there are very few fat people. The banks are not friendly. In the early afternoon many stores close for a couple of hours. Most of the people are friendly and many speak a little English.
We walked south toward the road that follows the original town walls around the city. I noticed no new buildings; they all looked as if they had been there a couple of hundred years. They were stone exterior or stucco. Streets are narrow, many one way.
The road circling the city was four lanes; cars and the common motor scooters were zipping along. Crossing over, we went into a large park, the Giardini Margherita, and sat by the water for a while, interesting some pigeons. Italian pigeons are very like American pigeons, except for the language, of course. A walk a bit farther into the park brought us to a restaurant. We had brought energy bars along for lunch, but we don’t often get a chance to buy a sandwich in
Sue started talking about the
After lunch we continued along the road that followed the city walls. It changed name every five blocks or so. Houses and buildings were on both sides of the road. Our goal was Piazza di Porta Saragozza, where a gate of the original wall still stands in excellent shape. Via Saragozza runs through the gate, but the opening in the gate is so small that only traffic in one way can pass at the same time. The gate is attractive, a bit over two stories high and made of stone.
We continued up to Via Ugo Bassi and to Piazza Maggiore, where a statue of Poseidon and several licentious women were frolicking in the water of a fountain. We walked down the street we walked yesterday, past all the food and cafes to two large towers. The taller one, the Torre degli Asinelli, is straight and is quite tall. The shorter one, the Garisenda tower, leans. It leans more than the one in
After a good rest in our room, we were ready to have dinner about
We were hungry, so we walked down to the Piazza Maggiore to see what we could find. One restaurant was putting table cloths out, and Sue asked when they served dinner. He said “20”, which I assumed was
We both had a good sleep and a good breakfast. After packing, we went for a short walk. At eleven, our ride appeared, although we had been told he would arrive at 12. It took an hour and a half to get to Palazzuolo sul Senio and our hotel Locanda Senio. The road was very twisty and dropped down to 1 ½ lanes in some spots. The scenery was attractive after we got off the major road. We were the only passengers; our driver didn’t speak much English and didn’t have the radio going, so it was a pleasantly quiet drive.
They showed us our room, with a queen bed and a single one. With the bureaus it was tight moving around the room. The bathroom was small (4 ft by 10?), with the shower in the middle of the room surrounded by a curtain. The window was open and had no screen. A bee came in later, but we ushered it out. We were shown around the hotel: the dining room, the lounge, the pool, the sauna, the Turkish bath, and the herb garden under a large, plastic tent. I then sat down with the map and hiking directions to read up on the walks for the first two days.
Dinner didn’t start until
Sunday May 24
It seems that every time I want to sleep in, Sue is up early. Even so, I didn’t get out of bed until
At eight everything was about ready. Ercole showed me how to make Italian coffee, which appeared to be all they had. A twelve-foot table was full of choices. We had fruit, including fresh strawberries, bread and cheese, and a small pastry. A hot plate was available, and I fried an egg. I had forgotten to grease the surface, but after Sue poured some out, I was able to get it under the egg and then flip it. The yoke was dark orange.
After we finished dressing and slathered sun screen and insect repellent, we were ready for our first hike. The one lunch we ordered was too big. There was a two-liter bottle of water and two pieces of fruit which we didn’t need, so Ercole took them back.
We left at
When we got back to Palazzuolo we stopped and got a beer. That tasted very good. As we had approached the town, we could hear a loud speaker on a vehicle going around. It was on a truck; there were two trucks that were selling T-shirts and caps for a bike racing outfit. Lots of people were out on the street waiting for a bike race to come by. I waited about ten minutes and then went to the hotel. Sue stayed and saw the bikers race by, followed by their support cars and trucks. I took off my shoes and lay on the bed, resting my eyes for a couple of hours. It’s tough getting old!
We showered in the tiny shower and rested until
Monday May 25
Just Sue and I were at breakfast. I chose tea instead of coffee, fried another egg, enjoyed the fresh cantaloupe and strawberries. Lunch was the two cheese sandwiches we requested and peaches, which were quite fresh and tasty. Today’s walk was the longest on the schedule, but was not supposed to be as strenuous as the first day. It was entitled “A Walk Through Time” at 16.6 km and 5 ½ hours. If the path were smooth all the way and three feet wide, it wouldn’t be bad, but going up and down rock paths, trying to get through thickets of sharp stuff, and trying to wave off a dozen flies buzzing around and on the head makes it a bit more of a chore. It was a walk through time since we passed a half dozen or so ruined farms. They were not very interesting; the insides were full of junk and beams and piles of stone. The outsides were more attractive, and I photographed them.
A short time after starting we came to a point where we were told to go right. As happened several times on this walk, there were two roads going right. The seasoned walker knows intuitively which to take, but we were of two minds. I suggested we take the narrow, paved road, and Sue wanted to take the dirt road. Sue found a woman walking (we saw two people walking and three sitting on a porch this day) and asked her which was the way to Mantigno. She indicated the paved road.
The walk was gradually up; the sun was shinning; the birds were singing and flying about; flowers were in bloom. It was quite attractive. Every once in a while we would pass a building or two; we might hear some sounds, but we saw no one. The paved road turned into dirt; at one point it passed between a house and its barn. Several points were labeled on our map, Ortali and Cortine, but there were no signs anywhere and these points were just one or maybe two farms. Another fork in the road came up and we spent five minutes deciding on which to take. I figured the left fork just went to a farm down the way. We took the right fork and carried on.
A little bit after going by several nice looking buildings, we came to another junction in the road. The left went between two wooden posts and the left post had blue paint on it. The right fork went up hill. I suggested the left fork and Sue the right. She, as usual, was carrying the directions, so we went right. Ten minutes later Sue has rereading the directions and decided we had taken the wrong turn. We went back and turned into the other fork. After we had crossed the creek and climbed the opposite hill, we could see that we had passed Mantigno without knowing it. Mantigno had been the several nice looking buildings.
In a shady spot we ate lunch, accompanied by very busy ants and some flies. Our seats were some flattish rocks on the road side, but it wasn’t very comfortable.
Continuing on the dirt road we came to a large ruin of several buildings. It must have been a very successful farm at some time. The stone walls were still standing and it looked as if someone had recently put roof tiles on one of the buildings. Reconstruction of these ruins seems to be a slowly ongoing process. It is so slow that the decay is often faster. Passing through several fences we burrowed our way through a long bunch of bushes below another ruin.
Trees were overhead for the next portion of the hike. We passed some other ruins, Campertole and Frassineto; I assume these were the names of the farmers. Another fork in the path confused us for a while before we climbed a bare rocky portion of the hill. After reaching our maximum height of 830 meters, we and our flies started down hill. We successfully got past a house, after waving to the men on the porch, whose occupants apparently misguided hikers on occasion, sending them out of the way to a nearby town.
The rest of the walk is hazy. It was mostly downhill, past an occasional ruin. Downhill, downhill, downhill… Almost all the way down we passed a young man who was walking up. He looked a little bit like a young Brad Pitt with a black moustache carrying a bag. We wondered where he was going. Surprisingly enough, we eventually did reach Quadalto, rested a few minutes on a real bench, and walked along the road back to Palazzuolo. The only open store was the one we stopped at the day before, so we had another beer there.
We were pretty much used up and decided to take it easy the next day.
On the schedule for
Sue had asked that one of the courses be omitted—too much food. The soup dish was skipped. The veal was OK, but the rest of the dishes were quite good.
Breakfast was again solo, and we wandered through the choices. No egg today.
At eleven we finally left the hotel. When walking around the town the first day, we noticed a walk of only three hours, and we went back to that sign. It was route 50, and we saw only one marking on it. Sue started us off between a couple of houses and by a man sunbathing in his back yard about three feet away. I said “Bon journo,” and he replied. There was almost three feet between a fence and a dog yard, which had two or three loudly barking dogs. We passed through a gate by the end of the dog yard, and there were two options. Going up some old cement steps seemed to go only into a large grassy field, so we went down, which took us past a woman talking to the postman to the main road.
After some discussion, we decided to go along the road to the point where the route 50 ended and try to find our way back from the end. We passed two women with a noisy child. Wow, we had already seen more people than on the other two walks combined.
The path led up the same road we started on yesterday. When we came to the first road going off to the right, we took it, although we weren’t sure it was the correct road. It went up quite steeply and hair pinned. At the top was a house and a man was coming out of it to get into a car. I showed him the map to ask him if we were on the correct road. “Casetti” was printed on the map, and he indicated that this house was Casetti’s. I assume he was Casetti. I thanked him and we continued up the road. He drove past us.
A bench was at the top of a rise, and we decided to eat our candy bars for lunch. A well-kept shrine was just across the road. After “lunch” we walked down to the nearby house with the map and asked where the path was. They were quite friendly, waving us down to where they were going to eat lunch. Soup plates were already on the table under the trellis. The woman did not shave under her arms, which was a little disconcerting to me when she was pointing, but she was helpful. Another point on route 50 was Poggio Cherubino, and apparently the man who lived there was at the table. The patrone waved to us. The woman took us through the yard and showed us the road to follow, saying it went all the way to Poggio cherubino. Off we went. Sue figured that since the patrone was down here and didn’t look as if he had walked, he must have driven. So we stayed on the main road and occasionally looked for tire tracks. The road was steep, and we figured we would rather walk it than drive it.
Eventually, we lost the road! When we found a big, four foot bush growing between the tire tracks, the penny finally dropped. At that point, too, the road was so steep I almost had to use my hands to proceed. We decided to go back, especially since this was an easy day. Not far back we found the tire tracks where a vehicle had come in from the side. We decided to go back anyway. When we got down to the house, I waved to the Italians eating lunch as we went by.
Back in town, we shared a bigger beer and enjoyed it even though we had walked only two hours.
That evening was to be the fish dinner prepared by three chefs. What we didn’t know was that the town had been invited to attend at 30 euros each. At
When we got back to the hotel about 8, still nothing was happening. This was not a complete surprise since the advertisement we had seen on the magazine kiosk said “
At 9 (gasp) the hors d’oeuvres were available, and we participated. A white wine was available. The most interesting dish was green olive stuffed with tuna fish and fried in a bread crumb coating. It was very good. There were, of course, other fish dishes. All of us then filed down to the dining level. The locals were seated at five long tables; Sue and I had our own table. The first course of the evening was served at
A different wine was served with each course. The woman whose company probably donated the wine to the party came around to talk about the wine in good English; she, of course, also talked with the locals. We enjoyed all the wines, although I was not excited about the wine with dessert. We enjoyed the meal except for the late hour. Our dessert was finished at
The next morning we slept in and got to breakfast about a
The walk back was attractive, although parts of it were very steep. Lunch was at a bench under the hotel; I had a bar and Sue had an apple. It had clouded over and a few drops were coming down, so we walked back to the hotel. We whiled away the afternoon, reading and playing a few games: Sequence and Typo, a word card game. It rained off and on. At dinner time it was blowing and raining hard. I wondered if we would eat inside, but Ercole had us on the dining verandah. He did close the sides with the thick plastic sheets that were usually rolled up against the stanchions. The meal was a Medieval Meal, with the sausages we had made at the mini cooking class for the meat course. Two other couples showed up for dinner. The first couple whom we assumed were Italian were not, since Ercole was speaking English with them. Sue figured they might be Israeli. The other young couple were Italian. Ercole said the rain would go away tomorrow, but he wasn’t sure when,
Thursday May 28
Two new coffee cakes showed up at breakfast. Both were good; one had apples on the top, and the other had a custard on the bottom.
The day seemed promising, so we arranged a ride to our start point. A rain coat went along, and I wore a T-shirt, long sleeves, and long pants. Luigi drove us to Villa Fantino, a house, in a half hour, and left us walking up the road at
The walk went up and up till we reached the base of M Prevaligo. Not far from there, we started seeing horses. They were wary of us, but not frightened. A half dozen colts were in the herd and one burro. They numbered about 25, and all seemed in good physical shape. A little later, a fox dashed across our path. We were walking down a shaded path when I saw a large white dog lying at the side of the path. He wasn’t very sharp and did not notice us at first. When he did see us, he gave a couple of barks. A few soothing sentences got us by him OK. Sue figured he was a sheep guard. No sheep were visible, but there was a sheep bell dinging somewhere up the hill behind the trees.
When we were almost back, we took the wrong turn. Three large earth movers were at the top of the hill, and they may have moved or blocked the waymark. Or we could have overlooked it. It probably added 20 minutes to the walk. At
At 6 Luigi drove us to see a local farm. Sue and I were expecting to see some pigs, small animals, and herbs. We did see some chickens and dogs, but Marco’s plan was to give us a history lesson. He lectured for an hour!! He had a heavy accent but could be understood. Marco started out talking about euros. The paper money is all the same throughout the Common Market countries, but the coins are designed by each country, although all countries will take any euro coin. He took us into an interesting room filled with armor. I remember only a little of what he told us. Pigs are associated with hills and sheep with planes! Barbarians were associated with hills and pigs, Romans with planes and sheep. He drew some conclusions from this, but I don’t remember what they were.
He said that in WWII, Churchill’s V for Victory sign with his fingers was really an old English custom of archers showing that they had won their wars and still had all their fingers. Defeated archers had those fingers amputated.
At dinner, the last night’s Italian couple were also there. They were staying in a suite across the “road.” The woman had a small white dog with her, which she put in her lap. It just sat there all during dinner. It was rather cool, so Ercole closed the sides of the dining area again.
Friday May 30
Breakfast was enjoyable. Sue had scrambled eggs with cheese on bread. She didn’t ask me if I wanted any. The two coffee cakes were still good, and I also had a slice of cheese on bread. As we were finishing, the young Italian couple came in with the dog. I said “Bon journo,” and they replied. I was curious how she would work the buffet breakfast with the dog, but we had to meet our ride.
Luigi picked us up at nine and drove us to Passo del Paretaio. There was a car parked there and three men were getting their hiking material ready (gasp). I said “Bon journo,” and they looked at each other and mumbled something. Not very friendly. They passed us about 20 minutes into the hike without saying anything. One fellow had two walking sticks, one had one walking stick, and one had none. We did not see them again.
Nearby was a memorial to about 250 Italian partisans whom the Germans had murdered in 1944. It was said to be in the middle of a field, but we did not find it.
It was a nice day. Lots of sunshine, but not as cool as the previous day. Trees were with us for most of the day, although we did climb down a rocky hillside. Several ruined farmhouses were on the route. Of course there were two or three problems with the directions, but we did not take a wrong turn.
The descent was difficult for me, as usual. It was steep and long. We got back around
We packed just about everything before we ate. Sue and I were the only people at dinner, and we ate downstairs inside. The outside was cold. Everything was enjoyable, and we split a bottle of wine.
Breakfast was at
The second train took us to Brig, in
Sue asked her if she spoke English. She spoke excellent English, spoke a lot of English, had spent a year in
It was not a long wait and the ride took about five minutes. When told that we expected to be picked up at the station, he said they couldn’t meet all the trains in a rather irritated tone. We had received a printout of our trip two weeks before and assumed he had been notified, too. At any rate, we were finally picked up by Peter.
At the hotel, we left our bags by the desk while he gave us information about the area. He talked about half a dozen hikes, which sounded clear at the time, but when the time came to go on them, they kind of melted together. We were given a pass to get us a discount on local rides, and a voucher for free lunch on one day. I had a cup of hot tea while we went through this.
Peter took us up to our room 437 in the elevator. We had been on the first floor, “E.” It was a nice room with garrets, which proved to be a small problem, a king-sided bed, and a small bed. Also, there were a desk, a small table, and three chairs.
We put away our clothes and went down to dinner. They gave us a table with our room number sitting on it. The room was full with people eating and the waitresses hurrying about. They spoke English, so there was no problem communicating. There was a set menu that night; for future nights there were two menus that were signed up for after breakfast. There were four courses and no aperitif, as there had been in
On the way up on the train, Sue’s right foot began to hurt. It hurt so much she was limping. She had no idea how it would feel the next day or if she would be able to walk. It was still raining after dinner, and we did not know what the weather would be the next day. So we went to bed not knowing what we would do the next day.
In the morning we showered, which was an interesting experience. There was no shower. The tub was in one end of the room and a shower head hung about 4 feet up in the middle of the tub; the roof sloped down toward one end of the tub. I washed my hair sitting on the edge of the tub and the rest of my body in various positions. Breakfast was a
The good news was that the weather had cleared up and Sue’s foot was much better. We decided to go walking.
One of the lifts up the mountain was working only today and tomorrow. Peter re-briefed us, and we walked to the train station. The bus was waiting at the station and our pass got us on free. After the train came in and the passengers taking the bus were on it, the driver took us to the cable car. I had not purchased a ticket at the hotel because they needed cash to pay the cable company; so I was going to buy our tickets at the cable car, but I forgot to bring my credit card. We paid cash.
When we got up to the cable car, it looked pretty full, and I wondered if we should wait for the next car, but the “conductor” waved us on. Then he waved another half dozen people on. Then he got on. I found later that the cable car ran every half hour. The car got to the top, the door opened, and we burst onto the platform at Sunnbüel.
There were a few white clouds in the sky; it was pleasantly cool. A great day. The walk we took went down rather steeply, took a long ramble across the rather flat part, then went up rather steeply. The grass was full of flowers in bloom; the mountains had snow. The Hotel Schwarenbach was closed as we expected, so we sat on a bench and ate our bars. Two young couples were sitting nearby eating salami sandwiches, which smelled very good. The path went on for a couple of hundred yards and then turned left up to Gemmipass. A large snow patch was visible on the path with hikers trying to navigate it. We figured we had gone far enough and started back. Clouds were building up, and it was fairly cloudy when we got back to Sunnbüel. After a visit to the WC, I went up to the gondola, which was just leaving.
When Sue came up, the gondola had left, and we went into the restaurant and had a beer, then took the next gondola down a half hour later. Originally we had planned to take the bus back, but it ran only every hour. Rather than wait 50 minutes, we walked back to the hotel. It was cloudy, and the sun came out briefly.
We sat at the same table and had the same waitress. Food was good.
In the morning, we “showered” and went down to breakfast. A couple who had been at breakfast at the same time yesterday was there. We talked a bit. They spoke very good English, of course, were from
We were down at the train station about
After we got off the train, we went over to the busses. Sue showed him our rail ticket, he stamped it, and we sat down! The bus driver talked to a good number of the passengers, but as the clock in the bus turned to
It was another great day, with only a few clouds and cool temperatures. Initially we walked through trees with a dirt path and only a few rocks. No flies showed up. Snowy mountain tops were all around over the green hills. Behind us up the valley was a glacier, bright white in the sun. The path left the trees behind and continued down the valley. Occasionally there were climbs, some steep. Every once in a while a small cluster of abandoned houses appeared. They were all built up on rock foundations. Swiss houses have a peaked roof, but not a really sharp peak, and most are made of unpainted but probably varnished wood. The houses in this valley were of a darker wood.
In Blatten, there had been restaurants but no stores. The second woman Sue had talked with said there were no stores in Blatten. The only town that had one was Wiler. As we came up to Wiler, we crossed the river and walked into town, using the in-town road. The houses and vegetation were interesting, and we took several photos. The church, in session, had an attractive steeple—with a clock. Several locals were walking about. The day was a holiday, but we weren’t sure what the occasion was. The store was on the street with a large yellow sign reading “Pan.” It was a small store of two rooms. One room had lots of candy, and I bought a small box of lime yogurt in chocolate, which turned out to be quite good. By the cable car we sat on the steps and ate some of the chocolate.
After eating we retraced our steps through the town and across the river to the hiking trail. We soon found that we had taken the long way, since there was a bridge across the river near the town and one a short piece down the road. One I had not seen on the map, and the other I wasn’t sure where it was. We were in no hurry anyway.
More abandoned buildings came and went. There were some sharp climbs. The trail was wiped out at one point by a sheet of snow, probably an avalanche, but we walked across it and continued on. The day was still sunny and stayed that way until we left the valley. As we approached Gopperstein we were walking in the woods on a mountain side, very pleasant.
The trains back left every hour on the hour. The trail signs had been reading time as well as distance, and at the rate we were going, we figured to get to Gopperstein at the same time the train did; we decided to slow down, take more pictures, and get the next train. We walked into the town about 20 minutes after the hour, took all our stuff off, and ordered a beer at a restaurant across from the train station. Good beer, good hike.
We had noticed before train cars carrying automobiles. They were carried on a one-level flat car with a rounded roof, probably to protect the auto when it went through the tunnel. At first, I assumed they were new cars being shipped to point of sale, but as we sat drinking our beers, we noticed cars driving into town and trains carrying cars with people sitting in them into the tunnel. There was no road between Gopperstein and Kandersteg; the only way to go was by train.
Dinner was “something special.” Asparagus. There was a nice asparagus soup, and then we went up to a buffet set up to get dinner. Thinly sliced ham, fried fish, white and green asparagus, boiled potatoes, an asparagus sauce on biscuits, and free access to the salad bar, which normally cost 3.50 euros extra. It all tasted quite fine. There were only five tables of people that night, and we were able to determine the other two Headwater hiking couples, both British.
After breakfast I asked the waitress for our lunch. Headwater gave us two free lunches, and I asked for one. The waitress and I went through it a couple of times, then she brought my lunch “basket.” It was in a small plastic bag and contained a sandwich, apple, orange, egg, dill pickle, a small cookie, and an apple drink, which we gave back. Sue cut the sandwich in half and put some pickle on it.
Today’s hike choice was the Oeschinensee, which is the name of a lake in the mountains higher than Kandersteg. There was no river running out of it, but a “spring” appeared down the mountainside let water out of the lake. It was partly cloudy, and the mountains appeared through a thin haze. We walked over to the cable car, paid our fare, and rode to the top. It had recently been a chair lift, but now there were small gondolas that held up to six people.
It was another enjoyable walk. Partway up we were passed by two women with two dogs. The trail went up almost 300 meters to Heuberg, a point over the lake that had two benches. A man passed us. For most of the walk a helicopter was carrying material up to an alpine building on the other side of the lake on a mountain peak in the clouds. After Heuberg, the trail climbed a bit more and went across the side of a mountain. Parts of the path were wet and muddy, where water fell on the path or small creeks crossed the path. Eventually the path came to Oberbärgli, a couple of buildings where food was available. It still wasn’t open and some deep snowdrifts still were around the place. Swift water was running but the bridge over it had only two metal I-beams, about 4 inches wide. The wooden bed was taken down for the winter and had not been replaced. We went upstream a bit and crossed there.
The path now went down toward the lake, and it went down almost vertically. There were two spots where metal cable was attached to the stone to help the hikers go down (or up). After getting down the worst of it, we stopped at Underbärgli, bought two beers and a packet of chips, and ate our sandwich with the beer. The two women with their dogs were there when we arrived but left soon after. A woman with her dog were running the spot; I don’t know how she got there or how she got her supplies there, since it was still quite a bit above the lake and no road was visible. The dog had a big dog mat at the end of the dining verandah and tended to bark at passing hikers (to bring them in?). While we were there, several hikers passed by on the way up, and we passed several more when we started down. Going down never seems as interesting as going up. Down we went, past two hotels and the lake and kids and people. Down, down a steep road, past the bottom of the cable car and back to the hotel.
The sausage for dinner was bland; mustard helped a bit.
The hike for today was Allmenalp. The other lunch was ready today, so we had two eggs, two tomatoes, and a sandwich. We took the path by the river to the rail station, walked by, and followed the signs to the cable car going up to Undere Allme. The guy running the spot said they didn’t take credit cards, so I paid cash. A young man with a large backpack shared the ride up, which was rather steep. These gondolas were not new, and there were directions on the door on how to open it because there was no one at the top.
There was a restaurant by the cable car; Sue went in to say hello from Peter. The restaurant was run by a man who also made cheese. His cows would be up nearby in two weeks. It was another great day: some clouds, warmer weather, green grass, snowy mountains. The walk was mostly downhill. Kandersteg was visible way down the mountain at several spots. It was hazy toward the sun, so it was not a clear view. Also visible was the site of yesterday’s walk and the lake; this also was quite hazy.
The optional extension of the walk went uphill to Inner Üshene. We passed two other couples on the road. Before we got to the town, we stopped and had lunch on someone’s steps; the house was still not open for the summer. After lunch, we really walked down. It wasn’t too steep, but it was long, especially after walking down most of the day. When we got to the cable car to Sunnbüel, the local bus was sitting. After about 5 minutes, it took off with us in it. The bus went back to the train station and started to wait again. We went back to the hotel.
Dinner was some sort of classic gourmet feast. We were asked to be on time at
Yesterday I got very tired of walking. We’d been walking ten of the last eleven days; the waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, fields of flowers, wonderful views were becoming banal. After a leisurely breakfast of the same stuff, cheese and great breads, we read and then played a game of
The day was cloudy and cooler. A bit before eleven we got our gear together to take the short walk to Blausee, 5 km down the river. We were passed by some 20 high school age kids on bicycles. The trail was downhill all the way to Blausee. Blausee is a small resort. It has a hotel with a restaurant, an average sized pond of clear blue water and trout, playgrounds for kids, a few boats for the pond, a small “museum,” and a few other items. The entry fee was 5 francs each. It didn’t take us long to view the views. We left and had lunch at the pizzeria outside. A pizza was not necessarily what we were looking for, but it was all they served.
The path back to the hotel was the same one, only it went uphill all the way. It was not steep, however.
Dinner was another looong process. The food was good when it finally arrived.
The last day. We were ready to go home, but there was one more hike.
After breakfast with the flies, we walked to the train station and took the once-an-hour bus to the Sunnbuel cable car, which we walked past and up the trail next to the cascading river on our left. This was the trail to
When the path got really steep, we stopped for lunch: a bar and an apple. We went a little farther, but not as far as the little hamlet of
For dinner we had ordered pizza. Of course that came with three other courses!! The pizza was mushrooms and ham; they were not very flavorful, but the pizza was good. We had packed when we got back from the hike, so we went to bed and read.
Rain! It turned out to be a rainy day, like the previous Saturday. Peter gave us and another hiking couple a ride to the train station; they were British, and we chatted some with them. At Spies we changed trains and got into
It had started to rain again. We went up to room 315 and unpacked a few things. The rain had stopped, so we went out to see the area. Bahnhofstrasse has a lot of expensive clothing stores. Restaurants were on the side streets; we were looking for a fondue restaurant but didn’t find any. Bahnhofstrasse dead-ends at the lake. There were a lot of people on the streets, but we made it back to the hotel and asked the clerk for fondue restaurants; she got out a map and showed us two.
At dinner time, it was raining again, so we ate at the Asian restaurant the hotel had. We read some and went to bed early.
Blue skies and some clouds.
Breakfast was ready at
At nine we headed out for a suggested walk around town. After a little difficulty we found both fondue restaurants. Cafés were setting up for lunch. A few people were out. Swans were on the river. Interesting walk in the sun. All of the many clothing stores were closed on Sunday, as well as most of the other stores. At the hotel we arranged to be picked up by the bus to go to the airport the next morning. The cost was 15 francs each.
For lunch we went back to a restaurant where the local police band was playing. They were quite good, but the sausage was rather bland, even with mustard. The large, dark beer I chose turned out to be hard cider! Back in the hotel we read, played Sequence, watched some tennis, and packed.
For dinner we went out for fondue. The first place, the closest, was closed. The one across the river was open, although it was quite small. There were a couple of other tables occupied. The fondue was quite good; we ate the entire pot, but not the brown cheese spot on the bottom that the waitress offered us. She spoke excellent English.
In the morning we were moving our bags toward the door of the room when the phone rang. The bus was downstairs—twenty minutes early. The “bus” turned out to be a station wagon; there was a woman in it already from another hotel. It didn’t take long to get to the airport, and we were able to check in without waiting. The business class lounge was very nice: free food, wine, and beer, although we skipped the wine and beer before lunch.
On the airplane, the business class was very nice. Sue had gotten us seats in the middle, where there were only two seats and we were both on the aisle. Lots of leg room. The seats would stretch out almost flat if the passenger wanted to sleep.
The layover in
The United first-class seats to
Our bags arrived, we got our car, and drove home in the dusk. As always, it is great to get home again.