ROMANCING THE ALPS

July 8, 2008

Today we headed for the Alps, nine hours by bus. The drive to Switzerland was breathtaking. From the bus, the view was panoramic. We passed by forests and waterfalls, and mountains spotted with meadows farmed for hay.

In Switzerland, we would not be able to use our Euros. Since we needed to convert them to Swiss francs, we stopped at the Swiss city of Interlaken to use the ATM machine. The exchange rate at that time was $1 to 97 Swiss cents. We then drove for thirty minutes to our hotel in Stechelberg, passing through Lauterbrunnen.

Our hotel was Hotel Stechelberg, in CH-3824, Switzerland. The hotel was at the base of a huge mountain, the Schilthorn. The lift station for Schilthorn was a few meters from the hotel.

The hotel owner welcomed us with a get-together of cheese fondue and wine at the courtyard. The hotel owner in a proud tone said, Don't you feel like being at the end of the world because the hotel is literally at the end of the world. The hotel was in a charming valley of patchwork meadows surrounded by mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, and above it, the sky. You seem enclosed but not feel claustrophobic.

After the fondue/wine welcome, we had dinner together. Dinner was a thin slice of roast beef, approximately two ounces, with a side dish of very delicious nutmeg-flavored mashed potatoes, and steamed mix of carrots, cauliflower, green beans. Wine came with it. Dessert was soft ice cream topped with fruit. The portion size of the dinner was just right for those watching their weight. After dinner we retired to our “creaky old chalet,” while the kids still played ping-pong at the garden next to the courtyard. I went to bed with the music of the movie "The Sound of Music" in my head.

There were two activities for the next day: a cable ride to the Schilthorn with a breakfast for E90 and a hike to the other side of Lauterbrunnen with lunch for E85. Ron and I opted for the Schilthorn, the highest peak in the area, the location of the filming of the James Bond movie "Her Majesty's Secret Service." Schilthorn at ten thousand feet provided a gorgeous view of the Alps, the clouds wrapping them and covering the valley below—postcard picture perfect. As I viewed the valley below (a few pockets were not covered by clouds), I wondered about the locals' means of livelihood. Ragen, our tour director had an answer: hay, cattle, and cheese. He said the government started to subsidize the poor farmers' livelihood so that they could continue the traditional way of life (for tourism purposes, I guess) instead of migrating to more profitable places for jobs. Tourism has now become the main source of their income.

After the Schilthorn visit, Ron and I went to Interlaken, the gateway to the Alps (Berner Oberland), a small but neat city complete with banks, post office, laundry places, and shops filled with Swiss chocolates (the size of a quarter cost E6.15), Swiss Army knives, and Rolex watches. When people got the idea that mountains can provide enjoyment and are not just a cold and unattractive structure of nature, Interlaken became the original mountain resort. How we got there is a story in itself.

The others who hiked the three hills told us that the view there was gorgeous and that the kids went paragliding. Paragliding with a Pro cost E160 a piece but that would have been worth the price for an experience of a lifetime.