Right before Kate ended her so-called “work” trip back to the New World where she apparently did nothing but play disc golf and speak horrible, terrible things about the lack of patriotism in her family, those of us still left in the Old World took a sojourn into the deep, dark, behemothic mountains of Switzerland.
Although I don’t really think behemothic is a word, it’s a feasible explanation for how massive the massifs in Switzerland seem when you are where we (Jay, Linda, and I) were (Interlaken, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, you know, the Swiss mountain towns we’ve written about twice already).
Normally the drive there and back isn’t too bad – about 4.5 hours on a clear day with no autobahn traffic and no stopping for #1 (and certainly not for #2) breaks. But our drive was made extra special by the excess baggage we call dogs, who joined us to get a little mountain air and perhaps sniff out a yeti.
The first night we spent in Interlaken, a very typical Swiss city, complete with lots of clocks, toot-tooting trains, and Swiss people yodeling, eating Swiss cheese and drinking Swiss Miss. Although on this trip we didn’t spend much time in the city (just in and out, like Swiss gangsters holding up a Swiss bank account holder with a Swiss Army knife…OK, too much?), we enjoyed the morning views of the mountains on our way down to Grindelwald nonetheless.
Well, we enjoyed them as much as we could as the whole country seemed to be shrouded in a foggy mist (which is better than a misty fog, who I think was a porn star from the 70s). When we got to Grindelwald, our first stop was the Pfingsteggbahn (yes, that’s a real word) where we rode the cable car up to a restaurant that probably offered majestic views of the snowcapped peaks.
Aside from a short jaunt down a rocky path peppered with viscous farm animals who wanted to eat Jay and Linda’s dog Baci alive, we mostly hung around the restaurant taking turns throwing top-heavy dogs down a slide built for bottom-heavy children. The result: Greg Lugainous ain’t got nothing on my triple-sow-cowing hound! (There’s even a video of the ridiculous daredeviling stunt pulled off by Pecos….and with enough fan support by responding to this post, you too can watch a 20 lb. dachshund fly through the air like a seven-year-old Chinese Olympian.)
That afternoon we took the windy brookside drive to the town of Loud Fountain (Lauterbrunnen) where we climbed the slippery steps leading up to the waterfall which, in times of snowmelt, gives the city it’s name. Although a little anticlimactic, the town is still picturesque, located smack at the bottom of some craggy summits.
We then made our way up to the hotel we were staying at the second night, the Jungfrau Hotel, in the mountain town of Mürren, where everyone plants edelweiss outside their shop. Although the food (rösti and fondu) cooperated with us, the weather was not cooperative, which allowed us to nap and which allowed Jay and Linda’s second dog, Dodger, to sneak into other unsuspecting guests’ rooms (notice the plural) and play cute high-five games while they sit on the toilet, covering themselves up from their uninvited visitor.
Although the temperature most likely got down in the 50s that night and the heaviest thing I could come up with to wear was TWO short-sleeved shirts, the “coolest” part of the night in my book was being in the same room with travel tsar Rick Steves, author of many budget guide books and the site ricksteves.com. He was leading a tour that went through our town and his gabby American guests were staying in our hotel.
The next morning we ventured into the Trümmelbach fälle, a torrent of a river fed by the glacial runoff from the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau mountains that ripped a hole (gorge) through a mountain and left behind a series of loud, icy waterfalls. Very cool and definitely added to my buzz already-stoked by seeing Rick Steves in person.
After a lunch back in the skiers town of Grindelwald, we called it a trip. Very short. Kinda rainy and foggy. But certainly one for the memory books. Especially Pecos falling off a slide.
Although I don’t really think behemothic is a word, it’s a feasible explanation for how massive the massifs in Switzerland seem when you are where we (Jay, Linda, and I) were (Interlaken, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, you know, the Swiss mountain towns we’ve written about twice already).
Normally the drive there and back isn’t too bad – about 4.5 hours on a clear day with no autobahn traffic and no stopping for #1 (and certainly not for #2) breaks. But our drive was made extra special by the excess baggage we call dogs, who joined us to get a little mountain air and perhaps sniff out a yeti.
The first night we spent in Interlaken, a very typical Swiss city, complete with lots of clocks, toot-tooting trains, and Swiss people yodeling, eating Swiss cheese and drinking Swiss Miss. Although on this trip we didn’t spend much time in the city (just in and out, like Swiss gangsters holding up a Swiss bank account holder with a Swiss Army knife…OK, too much?), we enjoyed the morning views of the mountains on our way down to Grindelwald nonetheless.
Well, we enjoyed them as much as we could as the whole country seemed to be shrouded in a foggy mist (which is better than a misty fog, who I think was a porn star from the 70s). When we got to Grindelwald, our first stop was the Pfingsteggbahn (yes, that’s a real word) where we rode the cable car up to a restaurant that probably offered majestic views of the snowcapped peaks.
Aside from a short jaunt down a rocky path peppered with viscous farm animals who wanted to eat Jay and Linda’s dog Baci alive, we mostly hung around the restaurant taking turns throwing top-heavy dogs down a slide built for bottom-heavy children. The result: Greg Lugainous ain’t got nothing on my triple-sow-cowing hound! (There’s even a video of the ridiculous daredeviling stunt pulled off by Pecos….and with enough fan support by responding to this post, you too can watch a 20 lb. dachshund fly through the air like a seven-year-old Chinese Olympian.)
That afternoon we took the windy brookside drive to the town of Loud Fountain (Lauterbrunnen) where we climbed the slippery steps leading up to the waterfall which, in times of snowmelt, gives the city it’s name. Although a little anticlimactic, the town is still picturesque, located smack at the bottom of some craggy summits.
We then made our way up to the hotel we were staying at the second night, the Jungfrau Hotel, in the mountain town of Mürren, where everyone plants edelweiss outside their shop. Although the food (rösti and fondu) cooperated with us, the weather was not cooperative, which allowed us to nap and which allowed Jay and Linda’s second dog, Dodger, to sneak into other unsuspecting guests’ rooms (notice the plural) and play cute high-five games while they sit on the toilet, covering themselves up from their uninvited visitor.
Although the temperature most likely got down in the 50s that night and the heaviest thing I could come up with to wear was TWO short-sleeved shirts, the “coolest” part of the night in my book was being in the same room with travel tsar Rick Steves, author of many budget guide books and the site ricksteves.com. He was leading a tour that went through our town and his gabby American guests were staying in our hotel.
The next morning we ventured into the Trümmelbach fälle, a torrent of a river fed by the glacial runoff from the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau mountains that ripped a hole (gorge) through a mountain and left behind a series of loud, icy waterfalls. Very cool and definitely added to my buzz already-stoked by seeing Rick Steves in person.
After a lunch back in the skiers town of Grindelwald, we called it a trip. Very short. Kinda rainy and foggy. But certainly one for the memory books. Especially Pecos falling off a slide.
And, because I didn't have any pictures, here's two of me losing at my company's organizational day picnic. The first one is me playing Texas Hold 'Em (I came in second). The second one is me playing ping pong (I think I came in last).
4 comments:
Bring on the video!
Make with the Video!
I want to see the video of Rick Steves on the slide. Did you get that one? If not, Pecos would be nice too.
This video is awesome. You have to see it.
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