Day 9: Travel in the Rain

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Today’s plan:

Visit Wilhelm Tell and go to the top of a mountain in Andermatt where you can see 600 mountain peaks on a clear day.

Today's reality:

We drove to Altdorf and made a very quick stop to see the statue of Wilhelm Tell and then got back in the car before the rain hit. After that, we drove to Andermatt in the rain and snow, knowing full well that today would not be a “clear day”. So instead of a visit to the top of the Gemstock mountain, we walked around for an hour in the ski village of Andermatt. Certainly not the same, but still interesting.

From there, we decided to go to Hergiswil to a glass factory that we had read about. Our guide book had said it was a free attraction, and that you could even give glass blowing a try for free! Obviously the trumpet player should try that out, right? So we arrived in Hergiswil to more rain. The first stop in the glass factory was a building that had glass musical instruments that you could play with (make noise on), and a mirror labyrinth. We decided to try out the maze and after paying 5 francs (OK, I guess a maze is worth 5 francs), we got suited up with slippers over our shoes and white gloves so that we wouldn’t mess up the mirrors. With hands out in front, which proved to be necessary, we entered the maze. You could see through the mirrors in places, and with the darkness and epileptic/disco lighting, it was definitely a challenge, but we made it through to the end. After that, we headed across the street to the factory where they were actually making glass items and you could watch them at work. It was also where you could try glassblowing. Although interesting to watch them work, we soon found out that this “free attraction” was not so free after all. You want to take pictures? 5 francs. You want to try glass blowing? 15 francs. You want to go to the museum? 10 francs. So we watched them at work (no pictures!), checked out the gift shop, and were on our way.

After fighting through rush hour traffic on our return to Zurich, we proceeded to make supper using up as many of our miscellaneous food stuffs as possible before we take off for a few days. Jon had Christmas leftovers while Donna had a meatball-pizza wrap. Tomorrow, we are off to Grindelwald, hoping for better weather!

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Photos

Andermatt
Cable car up the Gemstock mountain

Andermatt
He looks cold

Andermatt
Just a little snow!