September 2-4
The town of Grindelwald sits nestled below three mountains; Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau. The views from town are all like this!
For the last two days we have been in an amazing place called Grindelwald, Switzerland. I know, I've been complaining about what a rip-off Switzerland is, but we already had the non-refundable rooms booked so off we went. I knew a little bit about Grindelwald, particularly that it was a great place for hiking. (I guess I'm becoming a glutton for punishment). Even with all the pictures I had seen though, I was not prepared for the beauty of Grindelwald. We must have been walking from the train station to the hotel with our mouths wide open.
The hotel Tschuggen was quaint and quiet, run by a Husband and wife team named Monika and Robert. They were extremely helpful and nice. This was the first place we booked where we had a shared bathroom, which made us both a little nervous, but so many of the rooms had their own bathrooms that it never became an issue. We had a little sink in the room to wash up at night and brush our teeth. The shower was right next to our room and we never had to wait to use it. Maybe everyone in Grindelwald was a little relaxed about their hygiene? We certainly were by this point. We can't wait to get to Paris on Tuesday to wash some clothes!!
But enough about our filth, lets talk food. We arrived fairly late in the afternoon and we hadn't had lunch yet so we went next door to place recommended by Monika. The Swiss seem to love Swiss food and Italian Food and not much else. Lucky for us they do Italian pretty well. It was getting close to 4 when we ordered so we got salads and a pizza hoping make this an early dinner. The pizza was ridiculous. It was called Pizza Carbonara and it was covered in bacon and had a fried egg in the middle. That is something I first had in Paris years ago, the fried egg on pizza. It sounds gross but it is so tasty! If you ever get the chance give it a try- you won't regret it!
We could not believe the view when we sat down to lunch
We were only slightly distracted by the pizza carbonara. MMMMMM, Fried eggs and bacon...
That afternoon, Shaun went for a run and I went for a walk. As I wandered up and down the streets with the Jungfrau looming over everything, I was awestruck by the beauty of this place. The sun was going down and the tops of the mountains were bathed in a soft pink light. The world seemed so small and quiet and beautiful in that small valley in the shadow of the Eiger. I will always remember the peacefulness of that moment.
Can you believe this place?
When Shaun got back, we went for a little walk together and then went back to the room to rest up. Travel days are exhausting regardless, and the altitude, the late afternoon beers and the big lunch made us both sleepy. Grindelwald at this time of year is very laid back and quiet at night so we weren't missing out on much. We set out into town and looked at a few places before settling on a place right near our hotel. Mystery Bar had relatively inexpensive drinks and food, so we split a burger and fries and a glass of wine and headed back to the hotel. We opened one of the little two euro bottles of wine from Freiburg and watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords on Shaun's laptop. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you rent this. It's a little HBO comedy series about two bumbling musicians from New Zealand trying to make it in New York. They only made two seasons before calling it quits but those two seasons are priceless.
Saturday was a fabulous day in the Jungfrau. Shaun and I awoke to the smell of breakfast and went downstairs to find a Swiss feast. We sat down at a table and Monika brought us a pot of coffee and a pot of steamed milk as well as glasses of juice and a big basket of breads and croissants. There were three different pots of jams and a small plate of butter and cheeses to go with the bread. And there was a little buffet station with meats, fruits, vegetables, yogurt and granola. And my favorite, hard boiled eggs that had been painted a beautiful swirl of red and orange. The breakfast alone made the Tschuggen worth the money. Purchased separately, I suspect breakfast would have cost 742 francs!
Bellies full and ready for a hike, we walked to the grocery store in town (our old friend The Coop) and picked up supplies. Similar to the hike in Freiburg, we opted for Ham, Rolls, Waters, Nectarines and Plums. We skipped the wine and picked up a bag of chips instead. We stopped by the tourist information center and picked out a hike that was about 3 hours long (but mostly downhill this time) and we were ready to go!
Shaun walking in the area near our hotel
That morning's weather was perfect. It was in the 60's in the morning and the high was expected to be 70, but the sun was warm and the sky was blue and cloudless. We only had to walk about a quarter mile to the cable car station. We bought a ticket to take us from Grindelwald at 1050 meters to First at 2168 meters. From there we would take a scenic hike up to the lakes at Bachalpsee (2265 meters) and then descend the mountain to Bort at 1570 meters. From Bort we would take the cable car back down to Grindelwald. It sounded easy enough, and as I said, it was mostly downhill so I was really looking forward to this.
The cable car ride was worth every ounce of fear. Unike the other cable car rides we've taken, this one was fairly long. It took at least 20 minutes to get to the summit with two stops in between. It didn't feel as though we were as high off the ground as some of the others cable cars we had taken though, so when we started passing herds of cows below us, I was happily taking pictures.
Yep, Cows below us on the cable car ride
Besides the cows, we were passing above beautiful countryside with those quaint brown Swiss houses dotting the hillside. And that was just below us. All around us were the mountains. Eiger, Jungfrau and Monch were behind us as always, snow covered and magnificent.
That is Grindelwald way down below. We only had to make our way about halfway down before catching another cable car.
The hike up to the lakes was steep but the view was so incredible that it took your mind off anything else. We got to the lake after about an hour of climbing interspersed with picture taking. Unlike our walk in The Shauinsland, this one was clearly marked at every turn and at every major crossing it even told you how long the next leg would take. I suppose we should have expected as much from the Swiss, those masters of the time piece.
Once we arrived at the lake, we laid out our picnic lunch on a bench and ate in the most beautiful spot overlooking the lake and the mountains. We finished lunch and started the longer leg of the journey, the descent to Bort. The first hour was fine. The trails were mostly gravel, with some rocky areas, but no gorges or ladders or anything too technical. It wasn't until we got to Waldspitz for the last leg that things got difficult. It was made up of hundreds of steep stairs built into a forest. You basically were climbing downhill on these steep stairs for about 40 minutes. It wasn't really the stairs that hurt though, it was the incline and your feet pushing into the front of your boots. I was one happy camper by the time we reached Bort. I was thrilled to get on that last cable car.
The look on my face is saying "OK, one more cable car but then I am DONE!!
Our last afternoon in Grindelwald took us in two very different directions. After our big hike, I was exhausted. We returned to the hotel and I took a nice long nap to recover. Shaun on the other hand, could not pass up the opportunity to go mountain biking in this amazing place. So I slept for an hour or so and then showered and changed into what relatively clean clothes I had left. Then I Skyped with my sister Maura, my niece Amber and my nephew Ted. Skype is amazing. If you have a laptop or an Ipad with a camera, you can sign up for their free service and video chat with anyone around the world for free. Maura and Tom's house was where we stayed before the trip began and our mail is going to them while we're away. So Ted and Amber told me about what they were up to while Maura opened a few pieces of mail she thought I might need. Then I held my Ipad up to the windows to show the kids what Grindelwald looks like. Pretty cool.
In the meantime, Shaun was bombing around the Jungfrau region on a mountain bike. Actually, he had a few unexpected interruptions in his mountain biking, of the bovine kind. Remember the cows from the hike and the cable car? Apparently they also tend to stop in the middle of the road around here. So every once in a while Shaun would have to take an unintended pit stop for cow crossing. It was a first for him! Fetchez la Vache!!
For our last evening out, we stopped first at a bar called the Avocado for a local beer. The bartender was from Australia and gave us a few good tips for dinner. The place we ended up at was a little restaurant at a family run place called the Hotel Bellevue where they served traditional Swiss food. We both had our meals with Rosti, which is basically the Swiss version of a hash brown. It was quite delicious after our big day out. We met a really nice couple at dinner that night, Barbara and Phil from Montreal. Phil was originally from Wales and they were both very well traveled so they gave us lots of good advice on where to go in Wales, Scotland, England and New Zealand. We love tips from fellow travelers!
It was getting late but we stopped at one more place for a drink and to finally try fondue. It is another Swiss specialty, but neither of us loved it. It's basically what you remember from the 70's--a big pot of hot cheese served with bread and baby potatoes. Maybe we should have saved it for another time when we were hungrier.
Fondue is one of the Must Do things in Switzerland. It didn't do it for us. Does that make it a Fon-Don't?
So it was off to bed for one last night in Grindelwald. It was Switzerland, so it was still extremely expensive, but we both agreed that we wouldn't have missed this place. If I ever make my millions I would love to come back. In the meantime, we are off to Strasbourg, France for one night and then we start our month in Paris! Can't wait!!!
Best Picnic lunch scenery ever!!
"breathtaking"! "mouthwatering"!
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