God’s Country

The weather report called for rain today but I looked outside in the middle of the night and saw lots of stars and a pretty full moon over the Jungfrau so I thought we might be in luck. Today was brilliantly sunny with no clouds, even on the mountain tops until later afternoon when the clouds arrived as they often do in the Sierra.

 

Marcy got up early to paint and decided today was a painting day. I took the cog rail train further up the mountain and then walked back to Wengen. I thought about going to the “Top of the World” near the top of the Jungfrau but decided to save that for another visit.

 

The hike down took about 2 ½ hours and was breathtaking. You get off the train and are confronted with a wall of snow covered peaks, the Wetterhorn, the Schreckhorn, the Finsteraarhorn, the Feischerhorner, the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau all between 11,800 and 13,700 feet. The trail went down through mountain meadows with shepherds’ buildings, and then wound through the forest. Every so often it would come out to a view point on the edge of the cliff from which you could see the cliff on the other side of the valley with waterfalls all around. The trail crossed a number of small creeks so I imagine those turned into waterfalls coming off the cliff I was on. I was a little surprised there were no mosquitoes since there was water everywhere. When I got back to the hotel I asked the person at the desk when the mosquitoes come and she had a blank look on her face. When she finally understood what I meant she explained that they don’t have mosquitoes here. As Marcy said, this truly must be God’s country. I also asked about deer with all the wonderful gardens and no high fencing. She also said there are no deer here. That is surprising since it is perfect deer country. Maybe they were hunted to extinction but one would think they would return since there are deer in Germany.

 

On final approach into Wengen there were more fields carpeted with wild flowers. The only time I can remember anything similar was a visit to the Carrizo Plain one spring. Need to come back another May and explore some of the other valleys.

 

Here is another example of Swiss wood stacking skill.

 

Marcy was prolific and got work done on 3 paintings.  Man, what a luxury!  I worked on 3 paintings standing on the balcony of our hotel. What a wonderful time I had, working, working, and watching the sun move!

 

We are having fondue tonight as part of our five course dinner. I don’t see how people can regularly eat 5 courses. I’m glad we are only doing it for 2 nights.

What a Difference a Country Makes

Here are a few more pictures of Lake Como before we headed off to Wengen. There is also a good photo of the house for rent taken from the car ferry.

 

There was a debate between via Michelin, the website where I planned our journey and the GPS. Via Michelin wanted us to go down to the bottom of Lake Como and up the other side. The GPS sent us to the car ferry. The GPS won. Unfortunately, we just missed it and we had an hour to kill by the lake. I figured people spend thousands of dollars to get here to sit by the lake so I can just enjoy the hour wait sitting by the lake. Not a usual Kelso attitude but it worked.

 

The ferry cost was reasonable and the trip short. On the other side we went round and round trying to figure out what the GPS wanted us to do. Turns out we were to go down what I thought was a sidewalk. On the third go round I saw another car turn down the “sidewalk” so we followed and the GPS was happy.

 

The trip up from the lake was another nerve wracking adventure with narrow roads and crazy Italian drivers. Had to drive a number of miles with my side mirrors pulled in.

 

We were actually stopped twice by the Swiss police, once very close to the border and once a number of miles into Switzerland.  Everyone was stopped not just us. Hello is a magic word. Both times I rolled down the window and said, “Hello” and we were immediately waved on. Cars in front and behind were talked to for a longer time. Not sure if they were looking for illegal immigrants or a specific person or what.

 

What a difference a country makes- a dividing line in the middle of the road and toilet seats in the public toilets and lush, green valleys. We drove through the longest tunnels I have ever been in. One was at least 8 miles long. One was about 7 and even had an interchange in the middle.

 

We finally got to the train station in Lauterbrunnen where we parked the car. Regular car traffic isn’t allowed in the areas beyond Lauterbrunnen. There is an extensive cog rail system going to many of the valleys and mountain villages. We caught one of these cog wheel trains up to Wengen. I bought our tickets at the ticket machine and as the conductor looked at us he explained that I had purchased two child tickets. Luckily they were round trip kid’s tickets, so it worked for our adult one-way. He conductor said 2 or 3 times that if we are confused we should buy the tickets in the station. We didn’t even think we were confused!

 

It is a stunning landscape. Reminds me very much of Yosemite with the high, almost vertical cliffs but there are many more trees on the mountain sides. There are waterfalls everywhere. I think we hit the peak of the waterfall season. It was snowing last week but 70 degrees today. It was supposed to be raining but the weather god smiled again and we had a dramatic sky with large clouds.

 

After seeing the cog rail system I don’t think it would be a bad idea to have such a system in Yosemite. It really makes the town incredibly peaceful and people-friendly. In fact let’s just run it up to the back side of Half Dome and to Clouds Rest.

 

We also hit the peak of wildflowers. The hills are carpeted with them. Unfortunately the photos don’t do them justice. Marcy was also happy to find lilacs, her favorite flower, bursting with blossoms. Still seeing many plants that we have at home, lupine, jasmine, madrone, cinquefoil, poison hemlock and wondering how many were brought to America.

 

We checked into the Hotel Alpenrose. Sharon T., this is a different Alpenrose than you stayed in near Interlaken.  There are three in a 50 mile radius, but only one in Wengen.  It was recommended by friends and we even got the room they recommended. It comes with breakfast, a five course dinner, a bathtub and an elevator and the friendliest front desk staff ever. They all insisted on shaking hands and introducing themselves. The rooms in Venice and Varenna had many stairs. Not like Amsterdam but enough to make your thighs burn.

 

We went on a walk before dinner and were amazed to find little farms in with the ski chalets and hotels. Almost everyone has a garden both vegetable and flower. I found my little shack that is waiting for a makeover. It is all I can afford since a small attic apartment costs about 1,000,000 Swiss Francs which is about $900,000.

 

The Swiss seem to take wood stacking to a new high. There is a photo of one wood pile that has a Roman arch and a geranium under it. Right in the middle of his stack of wood.  I read that the farms are subsidized by the state to help keep the original aspect of the area alive. Folks are doing a wonderful job with beautiful kitchen gardens, chickens, ducks, sheep, cows, horses….yes, fine, healthy looking horses , Dee! The bread we’re getting is wonderful and obviously made locally with good ingredients.  The farm idea makes me go forward with a garden at the cabin….