Swiss blog order

If you would like to read the blog in (chrono)logical order, go to Switzerland 2009 and then read up or follow these links.
1. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/switzerland-2009-cbgt_28.html
2. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/jungfraujoch-top-of-europe.html
3. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/schilthorn.html
4. http://besancons.blogspot.com/2009/02/swiss-blog-order.html

The mouse hole

Rick Steves is always pushing his "through the back door" concept. It's quite good except for the fact that he's so famous now, we often find that his back doors and other recommendations are all filled with people holding Rick Steves guidebooks. Nevertheless, we like Rick Steves and are almost always satisfied with his choices. On this trip, we went though the mousehole.

We found the Chalet Berna online and they only spoke German. Correction, Swiss German. The son (30 years old) greeted us when we drove up. He had the thickest Swiss accent and looked a lot like Adam Morrison:

I had no idea what he was saying half the time. It took two times talking to him, once to his mom, once to the caretaker of the cows, and by the second time I talked with his mom, I had a pretty good handle on things. It seemed like everyone else I had to talk to spoke german German and were easy to understand so I don't know how we lucked into the thick accents.

Schilthorn

After visiting the Jungfraujoch, the following day we went to the top of the Schilthorn and had a buffet breakfast at Piz Gloria restaurant at 10000 feet. We woke up at 6:15, got four young boys ready to go, drove away by 6:55, and arrived with ten minutes to spare for the 7:55 departure. This allowed us to get the breakfast and lift ticket for the same price as a normal lift ticket.

Whereas we had taken the train to the Jungfraujoch, the path to the Schilthorn was all by lift. They had large cars holding around 40 people that were carried by cables strung hundreds of feet in the air over the mountains. We had to change in Gimmelwald, Murren, and Birg in order to reach it but it was worth it.

Once atop the Schilthorn, the views were amazing. The restaurant rotates so we go to see all the surrounding mountains and the Thunersee and Beatenberg. The weather was immaculate - we could even see Mont Blanc over a hundred miles away in France! The Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau were also up close (apologies to Corban on the right - the restaurant was rotating too fast).

The breakfast wasn't that great, but was still pretty good. When you're used to eating bread, jam and some cold cuts in a normal hotel buffet, getting all you can eat link sausage, bacon, endless coffee, waffles, and bad champagne was quite a treat. Needless to say, we didn't require lunch.

After gorging ourselves on American sized portions, we went out on the observation deck and took photos before hustling back in. It wasn't as cold as the Jungfraujoch, but the wind made us go inside asap. Still we got a few good photos.

There were lots of skiers on the lift and we expected them to all get off in Murren, but they all went to the Schilthorn to ski down from the top. Look at this snowboarder, he's crazy. Off piste from the top. Just jumped the rails and took off.

Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe

On Tuesday we went to the Jungfraujoch, the highest point in Europe accessible by train. We drove in the morning to Lauterbrunnen,
and then took the cable car up past Wengen

to Kleine Scheidegg. Then we transferred to another train and rode through the middle of the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch. Phuong has a busted lip and doesn't like our pictures so here's one of the Atkins on the platform with the glacier and mountains behind them. It's cold.


It was kind of cloudy in the lower altitudes but by the time we made it to the top, it was beautiful...and freezing cold: about 3F with winds of 30+ mph. Here's a picture Albert took of me with the Monch in the background. Notice the ice on the pole on the left of the picture that the wind has blown sideways. Notice also the grating beneath us that blew ice cold air up our pants - no time for fill flash!

We also visited the ice palace inside the Jungfraujoch complex. The kids had a great time and so did we. Albert nearly broke his wrist trying to slide around like we do on the parquet here in Paris.

Switzerland 2009 - CBGT

In response to Phuong's post after this one. I'll tackle the first item.

We could only find one place in all of Bourg Saint Maurice, Chamonix and Interlaken regions that fit our criteria of being dirt cheap and near snow. We found it in Interlaken, to be more precise, Beatenberg. They only spoke (Swiss) German. We didn't have any idea where Beatenberg was or what the conditions (snow, temperature) would be like. I assumed that since it wasn't in the resorts of Murren or Wengen that we would be in the valley and wouldn't have any snow. Was I ever wrong!

It turns out that Beatenberg is on the north side of the Thunersee, up from which rise some mountains that crest at around 2000 m (about 6000 ft). We drove up the first night from Interlaken, which still had a little snow, and made numerous switchbacks as we increased our elevation. And as we went up, the snow level increased too. There was probably two feet on the ground when we arrived at our chalet in the early evening.

Although it wasn't a famous resort or resort at all, it was perfect with all the young kids. We had a snow and a hill outside the door, and a hill a few miles away with 4 easy slopes and a ski school - perfect for kids who had never skied before and intermediate skiers like us adults. So the chalet was great because Albert and Jenny's boys were gung ho about playing in the snow and since we had three feet everywhere we looked, we didn't have to make any special effort to drive to play in it, and we could warm ourselves whenever we wanted. Also we had gorgeous views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, the three grand peaks of the Swiss Alps in the Berner Oberland.

The second day (Sunday) we were there, it snowed all day, adding about a foot to what we already had as evidenced by the buildup on our cars.

Albert, KC (dad of another family from AL-Paris that stayed on the ground floor) and I decided to walk into town and buy some bread and other basic necessities from the one shop that was supposedly open. As it turns out, this shop was not even ten minutes from our chalet...in the opposite direction from the one we went in. Luckily, we found an awesome bakery/konditorei to get bread and cookies for the kids. We also stumbled onto Intersport, which rented sleds on the cheap (about 3 Euro a day), so we got two and sledded home with our loot.

Now, not only did we have about 3 feet of snow on the ground, our chalet lay on an amply sloped hill. The snow was awesome because the bottom had been compacted over time so when you sat in it, it made a natural chair so we made a grandstand area with several rows of seats. The soft overlayer of snow (about six inches) made for awesome chilled beer holders and we would sled, drink beer, and cheer on the sledders.



We had paved a path down the hill with a shovel and incrementally lengthed and straightened it by sledding. With every time down the hill, the sled run got longer and more compact. Here's a picture of KC going down on one of the initial runs:



Here's a view of the run from the side:


After some initial trials sitting up, we started to go face first down the hill using our feet as rudders to steer and then we'd hit the three feet of snow at the end. This stopped the sled instantly but our inertia would shoot us off the front of the sled and we'd happily crash into the snow. Then the gallery at the top of the hill would cheer us on.

Well this was all fun and games for the first day but after Sunday night, the track got really fast and there were two sizeable bumps at the end of the track before a ramp that Albert and KC made Monday morning, which got you a bit of air. When you went down the sled run on Monday, first of all, you went fast. Secondly, you hit those two bumps before the ramp and absorbed the sled into you midsection or crotch. Third, if you didn't let go of the sled and shoot off to the side into the softer snow, you landed back on the sled and crunched any part of your body that came into contact with it.

So KC, Albert and I already had a few close calls with the ole junk when Albert's wife Jenny decided she was going down the run headfirst. She hit those two bumps and the ramp and flew off the sled. When she got back up she was complaining about getting hit hard by the sled in the crotch. Later that night, she and Albert coined the term crotch banging good time. Voila.

After Jenny banged her crotch, Phuong mustered all her courage and decided to go down headfirst. There's no way you can get hurt, Albert told her. Albert, KC, and I figured that she had been watching so we didn't tell her about the bumps at the end of the track. Well, as it turns out, this was a large oversight. She hit the two bumps, flew off the ramp and crashed back in the sled and snow to the cheers of Albert, KC and I. Then I sprinted to the bottom of the hill.

In fact, she had not known about the bumps and had banged her face into the front of the sled which was stronger than she was. One of her front teeth was loose and her nose was bleeding. Luckily, nothing was wrong with her nose. I think she took the brunt of the hit on her upper lip, which was puffy for a couple of days afterwards and black and blue on the inside. This impact must have wobbled the tooth indirectly. Luckily, the tooth didn't move much and though it is still loose, we hope that everything will be fine with it. When I say loose, you can't move it that much and can't visibly tell that it has moved from its position before the hit, but it isn't fixed like the other ones.

And We're BACK!

No pictures yet because I need to download them from my camera and also get Albert's off his camera. But here are some quotes from our trip to spark your interest. Be warned, they are a little crass and all need explanation. Keep in mind that nothing is at it seems at face value.

"Switzerland 2009: A Crotch Banging Good Time."

"Girls bring their problems home. Boys bring their problems to someone else's home."

"If Rick Steves travels through the back door of Europe, then we must be traveling through the mouse hole."

More later...