In which I stuff and roast myself.

Finn, Canuk, and I hit the Engstligen pistes again yesterday. Finn went home early, but Canuk and I stayed through lunch. It was bright and sunny, and we did realize that we’d forgotten our sun screen, but we kept skiing. We had a great time flying down all the runs and slicing through old tracks. We took videos all day—I have discovered that I do not have a talent for filming and skiing simultaneously.

We went snowtubing before Canuk went back home to pack up. My first run down was extremely fast, and I spun in rapid circles.
I laughed till it hurt. My second run wasn’t as great, but Canuk’s was, and it was a fitting end to a wonderful ski season for her. I stayed on to get my money’s worth from my day pass, getting home after about six hours out there.


I could feel the burn developing on the bus ride home, but I didn’t get the chance to ice it till I got back to the Chalet. Finn and company had put up the trampoline in my absence, and everyone was so worn out from working and bouncing that they were laying about in the sunshine. I covered up and joined them, as I was tired from skiing all day and then carrying my gear up the hill. The Guild gave us a parting gift, and we spent it by going out to dinner together. Finn, SAussie, Canuk, Sloan, Bowie, Brazil, Dutch, and I headed into town and ordered Swiss food. I finally got my Rösti, complete with Alpkäse and Spiegelei, but no Speck (a cake of hashbrowns with melted local cheese and a fried egg on top, ordered without bacon). It was utterly delicious. I had a couple deciliters of Fendant with it, then ice cream for dessert. I tried the pear and the Ovomalt flavors, and they came in a huge sundae bowl with sliced strawberry, melon, a fig, and a cookie. We had money left over, so we went for coffees a few doors down. We capped the night off with a good bounce as soon as we got home.

I was all pink from the neck up by the time we got inside again, and Canuk had developed a blatant goggle and helmet burn. I’m hoping lotion will help keep it from hurting. It doesn’t hurt yet, though it’s blistering a tiny bit. Dutch got a similar burn when out walking on the Silleren Schneewanderweg last week, and she recovered well, so I have hope. I didn’t go out again today, though I really wanted to. Instead, I stayed in and tried to get some work done. Our internet’s out again, though, so I could only do so much. I had asked the new center manager if she’d go skiing with me this afternoon, but we lingered at lunch and missed our bus. Instead, I did a bit of the Staff Challenge and watched a video with the other junior staff members about this place in the early 1930s. Those women out hiking and skiing in their thick skirts impressed me with their hardiness.

I was sad to have missed out on my last chance on the pistes today, since I don’t have another day off until after Engstligen closes, but I ended up getting tomorrow off as well. I pointed out that I had one fewer day off in May than the other junior staff members, so Dutch said I might as well take one of the next few days. We don’t have guests for another few days anyway, and I was hoping to get one last day on the slopes. I’ll slather on loads of sun screen and hope for a more overcast day.

Chocolate + natural splendor = CH.

I’d been looking forward to today all week. It was Interlaken day, which meant natural splendor, friendships, and all the Handgemacht Schweizer Schokolade we could eat. We took the Guild to Schuh Chocolatier immediately. While the first half went in with Finn and Brazil, the other half treated SAussie, Canuk, and me to coffee & tea for being patient. We admired the fancy marble WC and drooled in the shop while we waited. They have truffles with cream, nougat, cherry, pistachio, vanilla, chocolate mousse, lime-orange, caramel, mocha, marzipan, almond, hazelnut, and pineapple crème, as well as whole almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate nibs, and walnuts, plus those with Baileys, vodka, kirsch liquor, grappa, champagne, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, and latte macchiato inside. These mostly came in Dunkel and Milch, but there were a few Weiss chocolates. My favorite through the glass was the Swiss Töpfli, which contained praline chocolate and waffle in traditional Swiss fashion, and had edelweiss and Swiss flags patterned on top. The official Schuh truffle was 70% Granadan cacao solids. They also had pavé, which were cubes covered in cacao powder and looked to be the melt-in-your-mouth sort. These truffles all looked extremely fancy, but they were priced beyond my range, even for chocolate. Besides, our chocolate show was coming right up....

We got a video narration by one of the chocolatiers, in addition to the explanation on the film itself. She went through the chocolate-making process and showed us the secret of how the Swiss get their chocolate so smooth. The chocolatier then made four truffles in front of us, as well as a bunch of pavé. She finished up by molding a tri-colored chocolate cow, showing us how to paint the mold and how to get the walls and base the proper thickness. Finally, she turned us loose to look at the giant chocolate sculptures in the showroom, ask questions, and eat all the chocolate discs we could from three-tiered displays. They had the truffles she made available for snacking, but I let the Guilders try those and filled up on dark, milk, and white discs, plus the trays of pavé and a few nibs. The milk chocolate was a bit sweet for me, so I mostly ate the dark bits. SAussie said Canuk and I were banned from the chocolate shop during the next trip for eating so much, but I think she’ll relent.

Our next stop was Lauterbrunnen Valley. Inside one of the cliff faces is Trümmelbach falls, the sole escape for the melting snow from the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau. The twelve or so falls run through caves in the Cliffside outside Lauterbrunnen, which is a small town deep in a sheer valley. The ride through the valley let us see the layers of rock in the cliffs—they were shockingly straight lines, then suddenly pitched and whorled over themselves. Many smaller waterfalls came down the cliffs all along the valley, setting us up for Trümmelbachfalle. We got a lift up a steep funicular inside the cliff, then climbed up through a series of caves. There’s a bit of light coming through the top of the caves, but they’ve lit up some of the falls as well. I wish I could post a video of all of them, top to bottom, but the separate pieces will have to do. It was incredible. These falls drain about 20,000 liters per second through the cliff, and the falls are all thin and swift.

We spent the afternoon strolling through Interlaken. The town itself isn’t very exciting, apart from the chocolatier, but the walk along the Aare river was pleasant and we could watch the paragliders landing in Höhematte (the high meadow). This park used to be the monastery farmland, but now it’s a calm public space. They’re starting to set up for the Euro Cup soccer tournament that will consume Switzerland and Austria for May and June, but that won’t pick up for a while, apart from the fussball merchandise in all the shops. I wanted to swing through Unterseen, the old town, but the others wanted ice creams instead. I’ll be back in Interlaken in May, so I can explore more and go on a hike at that point. There are also a few castles on Lakes Thun and Brienz that I’d like to visit.

We just got back from a closing night campfire with all staff and all the Guilders. They sang while we sipped hot cider and whispered. Our cooks leave us the day after tomorrow, to be replaced by a temporary fellow from London, so we gave them their presents during the campfire. The Guilders handed us a little packet as a reward for taking such good care of them. Word is it’s quite a bit of money, enough for us all to go out together.

Finn, Dutch, Canuk, and I stayed on a bit, circling around the embers. Canuk and I sang each other’s national anthems for the curious Europeans, and they sang us theirs. The Dutch one’s hilarious. It was written as a joke by the Spanish, or something like that, and they just kept it as an anthem, all nineteen verses. We compared songs, but the only ones we really had in common were various versions of Frère Jacques and the Do Re Mi song from the Sound of Music. They’ve both been translated into all sorts of languages. We all knew a fair number of English songs, too, but we gave up after a bit and headed for the kitchen. Leftover fondue, you know.

Fondue, funding, and storytelling.

Work was easy today. I finished up an orienteering project I’d been working on for weeks, then did a bit of tidying. The Guild spent the day in Adelboden, on that sleigh ride I arranged, or wandering the hills around here. A few went on the hike out to Bonderfalle, but reported back that it was still snowy enough deep in the crevice of that valley that they couldn’t safely make it to the foot of the falls. Some Guilders pitched in on our work, and others told us stories about their adventures and marveled aloud that we should be able to travel on our own at such a tender age.

Brazil and I held a Swiss Night for evening program. We had a few volunteers act out the story of Wilhelm Tell. They did a splendid job, bringing the whole room to laughter. I missed half of it while melting up a batch of rich chocolate fondue, but I could still hear the goings-on through the hatch. We split them into nine teams for the quiz on Switzerland. Staff members had been slipping answers into their spiels on the bus all week, and the Guild did well. We awarded them fondue with cookies, apples, and bananas. I had planned for ten groups and Brazil had created nine, so we had our own plate of treats for dipping into the leftover sauce. At the end of the night, they presented Sydney with a check. The Guild raises money for one of the four centers each year, then visits it and donates the funds. We’re going to use ours as a scholarship to help pay for flights for staff members from developing countries, so that they, too, can work here.

Out & about.

I was on program today, and we headed off to Meringien, a town on the other side of the Thunnersee and Brienzersee from me, in the heart of Switzerland. As you might have guessed by the name, it’s the birthplace of the meringue. Canuk, Brazil, and I were on Meringien duty, with SAussie and Finn taking another group into Bern for the day. The three of us checked out every Bakerei in town before heading off to wander the town. We looked at a small church, notable for its impressive flower garden and religious woodcarvings, then walked by the Spital for me and the Schule for Brazil, who is a teacher back home. We found a locked gate in the face of the cliff that lines the back of the village, and we walked along a little trail until we could see one of the waterfalls. Next was a bigger church with a lovely graveyard. I had decided to sample the water in every Swiss public fountain I came to, and the one in the graveyard and the mossy one across the street were no exception. Canuk and Brazil are convinced I will die of this practice, no matter how safe the water is reputed to be. Since I was as good as dead already, Canuk dared me to slide down the banister in the biggest church in town, then filmed me to ensure everyone would know I’m destined for hell. (It was a good banister, sturdy, long, and smooth.)

In addition to the meringues, Meringien is supposed to be where Moriarty finally got Sherlock Holmes, at the Reichenbach falls. They had a Holmes museum, hotel, tour, and statue, but aside from a quick rest on the detective’s bronze knee, he couldn’t pull us away from the bakeries. (The rocking horse and giant chess set could for a few minutes, though.) We got back to the main street at just the wrong time, though: much of Switzerland closes down every day from noon to 1400, as well as Sundays and all afternoon on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We ate our sandwiches at the train station, but that didn’t kill enough time, so we walked by the stream coming off the waterfall and looked at the tower on the edge of town. We arrived back at our bakery of choice, only to notice that the sign said they were closed from 1200-1330, not 1200-1300, as we’d though on our last glance. Brazil went off to look at another school, and Canuk and I hiked to the foot of the waterfall, then back into town along the top of its old rampart. The wall looked like it was designed to keep people in rather than out, and the rocks were slippery.

We all made it back to the bakery at 1330 exactly, then bought a large box of meringues to bring back for the rest of the staff. The proper way to eat one is in double crème, and the proprietress of the meringue shops look awfully disappointed if you don’t want the crème with yours. I also bought what turned out to be a slightly soft chocolate biscotti sort of thing, with a thin raspberry filling.
We met back up with the tour bus at 1400 and were shuttled up into Grindelwald, a touristy village in the nearby Alps.

Canuk and I immediately set out for the gorge, as we’d missed a good one in Meringien, but we accidentally chose the long way and couldn’t go the last fifteen minutes if we wanted to make it back to the bus on time. We’d come down a long way into the valley as it was and hiked uphill very quickly to make it back. We did get to see some better scenery than in town: old churches and houses, Swiss villagers out for a stroll, a receding glacier, and the gorge from a lot closer than in town. We could not see the top of the Eiger, Monch, or Jungfrau, unfortunately, due to the clouds. We’ll be back in Interlaken (between the aforementioned lakes) in a couple of days, so perhaps we’ll see the famous peaks then. There’s a train right through the Eiger that takes you to a saddle high on Jungfrau, but it’s hardly worth the exorbitant fee even on a clear day.

The highlight of Grindelwald turned out to be its playground. (Sorry this is sideways.)


I enjoyed the views over the lakes as we rode home, and the tunnel between Frutigen and Adelboden was closed for repairs, so we got to go a different way than usual. I smiled at the sheep grazing slowly uphill, their fleece recently shorn so that they finally don’t look like their spindly legs shouldn’t be able to support them. It’s spring in the Alps, at long last, even if spring is schizophrenic and can’t choose between thick snow, bright sunshine, or misty rain.

Cheese, Grommit!

The group went to Ballenberg yesterday, which is an outdoor museum of Swiss history. They’ve got traditional chalets set up for touring, plus different types of farming, cheese-making, woodcarving, paper cutting, weaving, and all sorts of other crafts. The museum is laid out sort of like Switzerland itself, with Geneva and French CH info in the west, Lugano and Italian CH in the south, and Appenzell in the east, etc. I’m not sure I’ll make it there myself, but it sounded neat. I think I’m getting enough information about Swiss culture by living in a traditional mountain farming town and traveling all over the country.

I cleaned up the barbecue, stocked the T-Bar, and had a bit of time off. It was a fairly light day of work. When they all returned in the evening, I helped with dinner and hosted the evening program, which was a movie about Adelboden in Swiss-German. It’s tough enough to understand German, much less Swiss-German, much less Adelboden (or any little village) Swiss-German, but I learned quite a bit about the area. I’ll try to bring home a copy of the DVD. I liked the portions about soldiers hanging out in town during the war, all the skiing over time, and how the farmers supplement their incomes by working the ski lifts in the winter. It makes sense, but it’s got to be a tough life.

They went off on the usual hike to Engstligen today, so I heard all kinds of stories about snowstorms, slipping down the hills, and building snowmen this evening. One more guest came today, so I showed her around. I just got back from hosting a Swiss wine & cheese night. We had white, rosé, and red Swiss wines, of which the white was best, plus a whole room full of cheese platters:

• Frühstückskäse, from Adelboden [breakfast cheese]
  
• Raclette, from Adelboden; creamy and fruity [usually used to make the meal of the same name]
  
• Appenzeller, from Canton Appenzell [very pungent]
  
• Gruyère, from Gruyères; nutty and the main ingredient in fondue
  
• Emmentaler, from the Emme Valley in Canton Bern [This is what much of the world calls “Swiss cheese,” with the holes and all.]
  
• Alpkäse, from near Adelboden [Alp cheese tastes different depending on the time of year, which farmer made it, which flowers and herbs the cows ate, and any number of variables, but they’re all strong cheeses.]
  
• Rotschmierkäse, traditionally made in monasteries [red mold washed rind cheese]
  
• Mutschli, a softer and aromatic mountain cheese
  
• Hüttenkäse, made locally and with herbs [cottage cheese]
  
• Sbrinz, from the Berner Oberland; hard and grainy

Plus two foreign cheeses: (They were made in CH, though, so it was okay.)

• Brie, from France
  
• Gorgonzola, from northern Italy, near Milan

Luzern, day two. [unfinished]

[notes]

• Bus:(1hr: CHF 2.80) Lucerne (8:11- 8:25) --> (8:30ish) Kriens, Linde-Pilatus (25min)
• Gondola to Mt.Pilatus: CHF 64 (1/2: 32)
Aeriel panorama gondola:(8:30-16:45) Kriens --> Krienseregg --> Framkmuntegg (30min)
Aerial cablejavascript:void(0)
Publish Postway: (9:00- 17:15) Framkmuntegg --> Pilatus Klum (18min)
• Hike on Mt. Pilatus
• Gondola back down (bus or walk to Lucern)
• Town, Brewery, Picasso & Klee & impressionists
• Train home, arriving at midnight

Zug zug!

I have decided that the Germans call a train a Zug because it's onomatopoetic. Zug zug zug zug.

Sloan, Brazil, Bowie, and I all went to Luzern together for the past two days. We first took a train to Stansstad, home of the Fürigen Fortress. This barrack is built into the mountain, as are a good many of the 15,000 Swiss fortifications scattered throughout the Alps. They've got cannons and gus that can shoot six miles out over the surrounding countryside, should Switzerland ever be invaded. There's a place underground for every one of Switzerland's seven million residents, and they can hold out for over two weeks. They have a system in place to destroy the tunnels, bridges, and access roads into the country, then wait in the mountain strongholds till the conflict is over. The bread lasts two years, and the rooms are all sealable and thus gas-proof. Switzerland built a network of these fortersses during WWII, in case of Nazi invasion. They refit them during the Cold War, in case of nuclear war. The Fürigen Fortress is one of the bigger ones open to visitors: it could hold 100 people for three weeks. I'd like to see one of the airstrips or hospitals cut into the middle of a mountain, but I think they're closed.

I have yet to see some of the cannons hidden in barns, but most houses around have bomb shelters and the residents of those that don't have an agreement or rental contract with one nearby. Anyway. We shot photos at a tower, then boarded an SVG boat for a cruise across Vierwaldstättersee to Luzern (see above photos). Touring the city, we saw churches, cathedrals, the town hall and its tower, lots of cheery squares, the building Goethe stayed in during his visit, and a whole lot of shops in the pedestrian old town. One of my favorite buildings was this restaurant, which has a huge Mardi Gras mural all across the front. In Luzern, they go all out for Karneval. As in the mural, the rooster crows early on Karneval, and the townspeople leap up to frighten winter away. The masked high & mighties throw oranges down to the revelers, as the fruit is rare in winter and thus marks the beginning of spring.

Of course, we also walked across Luzern's famous bridges, starting with the Kapellbrücke. It was built in the 14th centuray at an angle across the river, both to serve as a lakeside defence and to directly connect St. Peter's Chapel with the town fortifications. At every reinforcement in the ceiling of the bridge, there's a painting commemorating Luzern or Swiss historical events. The squat little tower in the middle was built a century before the bridge, for use as a water tower. In later incarnations, it was used for imprisonment, torture, and archival storage. We walked along the Reuss (pronounced "royce") River on the other side, admiring the old houses and restaurants and the stylish castle on the hill.

Halfway between the Kapellbrücke and the other wooden bridge stands the city's water control system, the Nadelwehr, or water spike dam. The drainage from the lake eventually feeds into the Rhine, but the volume fluctuates quite a bit over the year. Luzern adds or removes "spikes" in the dam to control the level of the Vierwaldstättersee, just as they have since about 1850.

I prefered the next bridge to the famous tower bridge. It's the Spreuerbrücke, or Chaff Bridge, named for the water-powered mill that used to provide Luzern its grain. It's an older bridge, built in 1408, and the artwork is from the 17th century. The paintings along this bridge all feature a skeleton, and are called the "Dance of Death" series for the way they show death gleefully coming to everyone, regardless of station. The channels are all that remain of the mill, though they've got a turbine on display from the 1889 power station and they still generate hydroelectric power in a plant hidden under the water.

Our city tour continued with a stroll by the old apothecary in Weinmarkt square. Its medieval Latin inscription, Amor medicabilis nvllis herbis is still visible, and translates roughly to "medicine cannot cure love." You can still see a lot of old paintings on buildings all across town, including many religious ones and others telling stories about Luzern.

We'd had enough of wandering the streets after visiting Hirschenplatz ("Deer Square"), so we headed over to the Löwendenkmal, a giant (20 x 30 feet) sculpture carved into the sheer wall at the edge of town. The crying lion represents the brave Swiss Guards who died during the 1792 massacre at Tuileries Palace in Paris when the French revoluted. It's got another Latin inscription, Helvetiorum fidei ac virtuti, or "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss." The surrounding garden was empty when we arrived, lending the area extra poignancy points, but swamped with Asian tourists a few minutes later. We circled up to the glacial rock display before heading off in search of an access point for the remains of the city fortifications.

After a good 45 minutes of walking, we still couldn't find a way up. All roads, it seems, lead around Luzern. We got about this close before my camera died, victim to my not charging it after the Lausanne trip. I've borrowed pictures from fthe others for the rest of Luzern. We share a lot of photos around. I really must snag more before I leave. At any rate, we did finally make it onto the wall. We climbed three towers, including the clock tower, before heading off along the lake to our hostel.