Blogs from Engelberg, South-West, Switzerland, Europe

Four years ago I spent a glorious month hiking and cycling through the Canadian Rocky Mountains, from Banff to Jasper and back (with a detour to Yoho National Park as well) along the Bow Valley and Icefields Parkways. The epic scenery, unforgettable wildlife encounters and sense of being at one with nature that I experienced during those four weeks have been etched into my sub-conscious ever since. But as much as I would love to make it back to the Rockies some day, I have also long since wondered whether I might be able to find a comparable landscape in Europe - and so it is that I found myself planning a trip through the Swiss Alps. And though my partner Linda - with whom I have spent months exploring both the East and West coasts ... read more

Our first stop was the Glass factory and I do find this place to be a tourist destination. It is not every day that you get to see glass being made and have the opportunity to make your own glass. Glass making for the Glasi has been around for 190 years. The Glasi Hergiswil was established in 1817 in Hergiswil. We had the opportunity to observe people making glasses, bowls and glass stars. As they were working I found it very interesting that most of them were where shorts, flip flops, short sleeves, and no protective eye wear. Back in the states I am sure that if anyone was working with such extreme heat they would have to wear long sleeves close toed shoes and protective glasses. After we were done watching them work we went ... read more

Thursday, May 28 we said goodbye to Engleberg and hello to France. Before we said our goodbyes to Switzerland we went and visted a glass factory. I really enjoyed it. We took this little tour that took us back in time and taught us the history of glass. I never knew glass was pretty much just sand which I thought was a really interesting fact. After the tour we ended up were the men actually make the glass. Let me just say that I'm pretty sure that they do not work codes because there were men in sandals, shorts and short sleeve shorts handling rediculously hot lava type material acting like it was nothing but I'm sure they konew what they were doing. In America that would never fly. Anywho we were all entranced how they ... read more

Visiting the glass factory today was so much fun. The factory is definately an attraction for visitors because there is two muesums. The 1st one is a walk thru with all the history of the factory. The second one was an interactive muesum with different glass attractions that you could play with. After the walk thru muesum you come out above the actual factory and you can watch the workers making/blowing the glass into different shapes. Right there you can pay 15 CHF to blow your own glass. I paid and blew the glass into a small ball, which they give you a string to hang it from. I am going to give it to my mom she will be thrilled that not only did I get her something, but I actually made it! There are ... read more

Ok so today was free day. Me, Kat, and Chris decided to walk around Engelberg and explore the town! It was really cool. Just following the river around the town for a few hours. I discovered a part of Engelberg that we hadn't really explored as a group, and also discovered that there are trailer parks in Switzerland too!!!! We then stopped for lunch at a place we didn't know and where almost no English was spoken by employees! She handed us 3 menus, and pointed at one and said "special!" I knew through local language, french in high school and just being in kitchens that it was some kind of chicken with french fries. I ordered what basically translated into Vienna pork! Well first comes salad, it was the burl leaf lettuce with cream dressing ... read more