Katie and Tommy: Around the World

We left Lauterbrunnen Wednesday morning, hiking with our backpacks in the cold morning down to the train station. We caught a train to Interlaken and another to Geneva, about a three-hour journey. The scenery was lovely; we passed through many quaint Swiss towns and beautiful lakes, all with the snow-capped Alps peeking through the background. When we arrived in Geneva however, it was overcast and dreary. Still, even just on our short walk from the train station to our hostel, we could see that it was an interesting city. The home of the United Nations in Europe as well as the Red Cross, it has been called home by many foreigners, and this was reflected in both the people we passed on the street and the buildings lining it. For one thing, on a single block we passed Indian, Greek, Thai, Vietnamese, Egyptian, Chinese, Moroccan, and Japanese restaurants, an assortment of ethnic food that we haven’t seen in any other city on the trip thus far. We were eager to do some more exploring. Unfortunately, the dreary day persisted and it even began to rain a little, so we spent most of the rest of the day catching up in an internet cafe and making fondue in the hostel kitchen. We briefly went out in the late evening and thought about getting some drinks, but the sight of $25 cocktails persuaded us otherwise. Switzerland may be beautiful, but as we’ve mentioned before, it isn’t cheap.

Thursday we set out to see the town. We walked down to the banks of the Rhone and Lake Geneva, watching as people fed the swans and seagulls. We treated ourselves to some excellent coffee in one of the many little cafes, and then caught a tram to International Hill, where the United Nations and Red Cross buildings are situated. There is a nice museum in the Red Cross building, and I really enjoyed learning about its history. It was originally conceived by a Swiss man named Henry Dunant who witnessed the neglect experienced by wounded soldiers at the Battle of Solferino. He concieved of a society that would indiscriminantly give aid to anyone in need, and which could be considered neutral by both sides of any conflict, ensuring protection of the wounded and those providing help. It is perhaps fitting that the humanitarian society that was born is centered in Switzerland, famous for its neutrality in international conflicts. It was an enlightening visit.

Following the museum we took another stroll around the lake to see the Floral Clock and the Jet d’Eau, supposedly Europe’s highest fountain. After a lunch of crepes, we had to pick up our luggage and head to the airport. Geneva was a lovely city, and probably a place that deserved more than 24 hours of our time, but it was time to head to Prague.

Hoping to get the most out of our Eurail pass, we spent Saturday jumping around greater Switzerland trying to soak up as much of the scenery and sights for as cheaply and quickly as possible. In about 6 or so hours, we ended up literally crisscrossing the country its entire length and nearly half its width. This was partially due to our own error– we were confused as to why our timetable book mentioned that the Como-Zurich train mentioned a stop midway in its route. When we arrived later in Basel, not Zurich, we sheepishly realized our mistake. Fortunately, due to Switzerland’s small size, we were in Zurich in less than 45 minutes.

We spent about 2 hours exploring Zurich, largely window shopping at the beautiful watches, jewelry, and other expensive, credit-busting toys available for purchase. After picking up some groceries, we returned to the station and took a series of trains that eventually led us to Lauterbrunnen, deep in the Jungfrau valley. We had about a half mile hike with our backpacks and we were actually quite glad to have them because they provided a bit more insulation from the cold! The thermometer on our backpack read about 23 degrees Fahrenheit! It was exciting walking in the dark. The moon was getting close to full and it illuminated quite beautifully the snow-capped peaks that surrounded us.

The hostel/campsite we stayed at was fairly unremarkable except for the fact that the bathrooms could only be reached by walking out in the cold and that they seemed to want us to pay for every little expense. We were suprised when we entered the communal kitchen to see a coin slot next to the cooking range. 15 minutes of cooking cost two dollars!

Our first day we decided to spend quite lazily. After a late start and even later breakfast, we chose to spend the day hiking north, deeper into the valley. It was a very nostalgic day for me as I was here only 2.5 years ago. I still remembered many geographic landmarks, even though much of the surroundings were covered in snow or ice.

When we boarded a bus later that afternoon, we were shocked to learn that the fare for the 5 or 6 mile journey was 4 dollars per person. I was worried that we would have to walk and miss mass because I didnt have any small bills. As we are however quickly learning, Switzerland is a high price, high income area. When we asked the driver if he had change for a 50 dollar bill, he shrugged and simply replied ¨Of course!¨ I never thought I’d pay for such a short distance with a 50!

Switzerland lies in the heart of Protestantism so finding a Catholic mass was a little challenging. We learned that morning that one mass was being held in the area– it was in a small village called Wengen, up above the western side of the valley. We arrived a bit early and were delighted that we had. Imagine the perfect Alpine village powdered in snow and amongst spectacular surroundings and you will have a good idea of what Wengen looked like. It was a bit late when we arrived so we weren’t able to snap off too many pictures, but believe us when we tell you it was great. I think we know where we will stay on our next Swiss vacation….

Mass was pretty neat, too. The church couldn’t have been filled with more than 15-20 people. Before it began the priest came out and asked for a show of hands of what language people understood best, three times, in English, French, and German. Since apparently there were more German speakers than anything else, he determined that he would say mass in German. Though Katie and I are pretty sure that we were the only English speakers there that evening, the priest reread the Gospel in English after he had read it in German. He also came up to us and gave us the sign of peace, in English. We were very impressed by his gestures of hospitality. We got to speak a bit more with him after mass when the small congregation went over to a side room to share coffee and pastries.

Monday began a bit earlier as it was my ski day! We took a cable car up to the opposite side of the valley, the eastern side, to the village of Mürren where a fantastic set of slopes are situated. After her last experience on skis, Katie opted for hiking while I headed for the ski lift. I was a bit dismayed, however, to find out how fast the slopes here are! The beginner slopes here are like intermediates in Colorado. A bit unprepared for this, my first time down one of them was a lot faster than I was planning for. Many of the turns were also quite sharp with precarious drop-offs behind them! Though I had to be a bit more careful, the day was a lot of fun and at the end of it, Katie even got to use my pass to go up to the Piz Gloria, a revolving restaurant on the top of a huge mountain, where the views were amazing. Exhausted but happy, we had a wonderful cheese fondue dinner at a restaurant in town. We have been impressed by how efficiently we packed for the trip. We have had appropriate clothing for temperatures ranging from the tropical to the subzero. By just layering our clothing and wearing a rainsuit on top, we have been totally warm during the day.

A bit sore from the skiing, the third day didn’t really start until noon. We took a train to yet another part of the valley to the village of Grindelwald the site of, amongst many things, some of the best “sledging” runs in the area. We rented sleds and went down a track called the Eigen run multiple times, making up for our snow-deprived childhoods in Louisiana. It struck us that afternoon just how fabulous of a time we were having. After spending a day skiing, we were now spending a day sledding. Pure and guiltless fun for 6 months. Going on this trip is probably one of the best ideas we’ve ever had!

Our last few runs on the sledding trails weren’t as much fun as the first because the loads of snow that had managed to get into our shoes were seriously starting to freeze our ankles and the paths, wiped free of powdery snow, were now covered in ice that was near impossible to brake on. Much like the ski paths from the day before, many of the turns on the sledding run had little safety netting so we at times we’d walk the sleds down or just roll down on our pants.

Though a bit frozen, we ended the day quite late, returning to the hostel around 10:00 where we then made a steamy tortellini-pesto dinner before falling asleep one last time in Lauterbrunnen.

Photos from Luxor

Photos from Milan

Photos from Lake Como

Photos from Lauterbrunnen (a few more to come)

We’re in Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss Alps, and internet here is about 15 dollars an hour (at the cheap, slow place). Needless to say, we won’t be posting for three or four days. If you miss hearing from us, then go out and buy some cheese fondue and Swiss chocolate and stand in front of your air conditioner for a while.