Switzerland

I have returned from the Alps unscathed and unsunburned (is that even a word?). Here is a brief rundown on my activities and experiences.

Thursday: flew to Zurich via Swiss Air, avoiding utter chaos that was going on in what I shall call the terminal 5 debacle at Heathrow. Spent a few hours being driven through what could have easily been mistaken for Oregon to get to Lauterbrunnen, near Interlaken. Was disappointed that much of the in-between was filled with industrial and commercial buildings where aluminum siding reigned as king. Lauterbrunnen, luckily, was primarily composed of chalet-looking huts nestled into the hillside on the sides of the valley. Oh, and had a small case of sticker shock when I paid 3.40 swiss francs for a 1/2 liter of coke, roughly... $3.40. Became acquainted with the local beer, Rugenbrau, which is brewed in Interlaken and is really your only option well, everywhere that I went. Luckily it was pretty good.

Friday: after all you can eat breakfast situation where I felt like a coffee fiend as the glasses held only about 3 oz and my normal morning mug is 18 oz. Went up to Wengen to watch others rent skis, went to the top of the mountain, others left to ski while I had a brief meander then took the train down the other side of the mountain to see what went on. It was around 12 and all the stores were closed for lunch, so things were not lively. Went to meet skiers for lunch at slightly extortionate restaurant conveniently located next to a train station at the bottom of a ski run. After lunch, went back over the top of the mountain to pick up cookies from my hotel room to take to the apres ski meet-up. This took approximately 2 and 1/2 hours. Mark became concerned at my lack of arrival at apres ski in Wengen, and we handily waved at each other as my train climbing towards Wengen passed his train heading to Lauterbrunnen.

Saturday: after another massive all you can eat breakfast situation, hid Mark's ski boots and dragged him up to the highest point in Europe accessible without having to exercise, Jungfraunoch. Or something like that. It's over 11,000 feet high (think we peaked at 11,700). It was us and Japanese tour groups. It was a bit odd. Anyways, it was cold and windy, but breathtaking (literally, the air was quite thin up there) and very beautiful. Photos can be seen on picasa. We were up top for about 2 hours, nearly half of which was sent sitting on some very comfortable chairs staring out the window, catching our breath. We then had a quick lunch in Wengen and looked around some shops, where we purchased a lovely cowbell for our souvenir cabinet. Apres ski was in Lauterbrunnen that day at the round table in the bar. You should all be aware that it is a privilege, not a right, to sit at the round table in the bar.

Sunday: after my daily ham and swiss cheese breakfast roll, the skiers shipped off up the mountain and I went the opposite direction to Interlaken. This was primarily so I could mark Interlaken on the 'where I've been map' on facebook. There are lots of cute hotels in Interlaken, but no people as they were all skiing. The shops were closed, but McDonalds and Hooters were both open. Some people were sitting outside in the sunshine enjoying the, um, wings. Was continuously befuddled by the fact that, even when closed, stores kept out their sidewalk displays. It was very tempting to start stealing postcards and things as it was impossible to acquire them by any other means. Found one open shop but it had a distinct Deliverance vibe to it and was just happy to escape with my life. Took train back to Lauterbrunnen, hotel room wasn't clean yet so felt obliged to leave again. Took the aerial tram up to Murren, which was on the opposite side of the valley as Wengen (with Lauterbrunnen in the middle). Was very pretty but alas, everything was shut and the place was pretty much abandoned except for the 70-something set carrying walking sticks. Eventually went to apres ski in Wengen.

Monday: after dropping two croissants during my breakfast eating attempts, sat around hotel for a few hours before heading towards the airport. Stopped at a service station that involved what was essentially a mall straddling the freeway. Next to the bathrooms there was a very open, um, 'adult' shop, which I thought was not a good place to put such a thing as it was where everyone waited for their other party members to come out of the bathroom. I could only imagine the questions kids waiting there for long would came up with to ask their parents. Flew back to London, where it was suddenly spring time and all was sunny and relatively warm.

So that's my Swiss alpine adventure. Things I enjoyed: that when I mentally thought of something as an alpine village, I was able to think, yes, actually, it is an alpine village; the German word for 'exit' on freeway off-ramps is 'ausfahrt'; it was very pretty. Things I didn't enjoy: the stores were never open, making it less than entertaining for non-skiers during the day time; being a ski resort-like area, everywhere could get away with charging extortionate prices; the glasses for coffee and orange juice at breakfast were tiny. Oh, and the stores aren't closed so the owners could take disco naps, nothing seemed to go on in the way of night-life either. We were continually the last people at dinner, having sat down at 7:15. I have no idea where everyone went.

Anyways, pictures are up, captioned and everything, on picasa. Above photo was taken at approximately 11,700 feet.