Into the mountains

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We got up pretty late and spent a lazy morning packing. I think we were all a bit sluggish from the overcast, dreary weather that moved in overnight. Eventually I said goodbye to mom and Patience and headed to the train station to catch the 11:14 to Milan. I was sad to leave them, but we had a great time together and it was really nice spending Christmas with family. Who knows when I'll be home again though?

My train left about 10 minutes late, and the journey was a bit of a pain because of all of the tunnels (ears popping constantly). After an especially long one we emerged on the far side and found blue skies and sunshine. That lasted for 45 minutes and then after another tunnel it was overcast again. Weird. I pulled in to Milan with just enough time to catch the train into Switzerland, so I hustled aboard and found my seat next to a large man who had already broken out the beer. The Swiss train left precisely on time (shocking, I know) and we were on our way north. The ride was slow, but as we meandered along the scenery became increasingly dramatic. When the Alps finally came into view I remember thinking "now those are mountains!"

Border formalities leaving Italy were easy -- they just glanced at my passport. The Swiss did their check once the train was already underway in Switzerland. They were a lot more thorough, although they still didn't give me a stamp. The gorgeous scenery showed no signs of letting up and I had my eyes glued to the windows until it became too dark to see the surrounding mountains. I switched trains in Spiez and got in to Interlaken around 630.

The first thing I noticed when I got off the train in Interlaken was the cold. It was probably 30 degrees F, but I hadn't seen temperatures that low in a long time and so I was a bit unprepared. I had to dig my fleece vest out of the bag to go with the windstopper shell and my hat. The second thing I noticed in Switzerland was that the ATM gave me 100's. I filed that away for later reference and started walking towards the hostel. The third thing I noticed about Switzerland was how spotless the streets and sidewalks were. There weren't a lot of people out walking, but a number of bikes whizzed by despite the cold and I couldn't help but think how very different this was from Italy.

It took about 15 minutes to walk to the Funny Farm hostel, where I managed to get a cheap dorm even though the guy at the counter initially insisted they only had the small, expensive ones. What a tool. I paid my 25 francs per night for 3 nights and was a bit surprised to get a 5 franc coin back. That seemed rather large for a coin. I made another mental note about this fact. After dropping my bags I headed off to the nearby supermarket to get food, but it had closed just 30 minutes earlier. There was a bigger one across from the station so I decided to walk there in the hopes it would still be open. I missed that one by 10 minutes. Argh. So, I reluctantly headed over to the station and found a vending machine. Now, I've seen expensive food at train stations, but this blew my mind. 3.50 francs for a soda. That's 3 dollars! It was at this point that I put the pieces together: 100's from the atm, huge coins, and 3.50 for a coke. Switzerland is expensive! People had told me this, but I just failed to believe them. I thought it wouldn't be so bad once you figured the exchange rate in, but it was. So, with a small water and a candy bar in hand (all I could afford with the 5 franc coin) I walked back to the hostel. I spent 25 minutes using the internet and it cost me a shocking 5 francs. That's like 8 dollars an hour. Those are Venice prices, what the hell.

The next morning I woke up around 9 and was floored by the gorgeous views of the Jungfrau out the window of the dorm room. Suddenly the expense of Switzerland didn't seem so bad any more. Eventually I picked my jaw up off the floor and headed over to the supermarket to get some real food. I found prices to be higher than I had hoped, but still manageable. I headed back and ate while deciding what to do with the day. Eventually I decided to just head into the mountains and walk around a bit, maybe get up to Gimmelwald if I had time. I took a train from Interlaken into the mountains a ways where I switched to a cable car that rocketed us up about 1000 feet in just a couple minutes. From there, it was a cog railway over to Murren. Once I got to Murren I made the decision to try and walk over to Gimmelwald, which was 30 minutes away according to the signs.

The weather was perfect and the trail was only marginally snow covered, so the downhill walk into Gimmelwald was actually quite pleasant. It got a bit slippery in a few places, but overall I was shocked by how little snow there actually was in December. Gimmelwald lives up to its reputation as one of the most beautiful hamlets in Switzerland, and it is completely hemmed in by towering mountains. I was there in the early afternoon, but it was apparent that the sun was only going to stay above the mountains for a little bit longer so I walked around until I found the shop mentioned in the LP. There was a woman there from Oregon whose husband works at U of O so we chatted a little bit before I went inside to get some beef jerky. Unfortunately, they were out of the jerky and so I settled for some blueberry yogurt instead.

The sun was rapidly dropping behind the mountains so I hurried up the trail towards Murren a ways before stopping to eat some lunch in a nice sunny spot. While I was sitting there I was struck by how much this area reminded me of the mountains of Colorado and yet how very different it was. They have huge mountains that rise dramatically from the valley floors, and yet all around you are signs of civilization -- much more so than in Colorado. You can't turn around without seeing a cable car or paved trail. Plus, there are people everywhere. I think it's cool how the Swiss have learned to live this well in the mountains, but at the same time I hope places like Colorado never get this developed. I like being able to walk along a remote (dirt) trail and only see a few people at the most. I remember hiking up near Mt Evans, just 40 miles from the 2.5 million people in Denver and not seeing a single soul for nearly 4 hours. I hope we never lose that.

I finished the hike back up to Murren and caught the train, cable car, and then train again back to Interlaken. When I got back I grabbed some more groceries and headed back to the hostel. I had a cold can of ravioli for dinner and then spent the evening drinking and hanging out with a group of students from Wisconsin.

The next morning I woke up with a bit of a hangover (note to self: cheap, store brand beer is not always the best idea). I got myself going around 9 and decided to head to the other side of the Jungfrau to the ski town of Grindelwald with one of the guys from the night before (Brandon). The two of us bought some groceries and then caught the 40 minute train up to Grindelwald. It was pretty much how I expected it to be -- similar to any ski town in the US. We debated what to do for a bit before deciding to try and hike up towards one of the ski areas.

The trail was paved and generally followed a cable car route as it climbed steeply up into the forest. I wasn't expecting us to get far because of snow cover, but the trail was mostly clear. I think this has been a really bad year for snow in Switzerland, and it actually felt more like spring than winter. Now, the views the day before were spectacular, but the views on the way up to Bort took the cake. We decided to turn around at Bort (1500m) and so we headed back the way we came. About halfway down, we were following a group of people when we came upon a man lying on the trail. The group in front of us got him off the trail by the time we got there, but it was obvious what had happened. This particular spot was extremely steep, and although it was dry, the asphalt was very slippery. He had clearly lost his footing and took a nasty spill, slicing open his eyebrow among other things. He didn't have any broken bones and he was coherent, so the Swiss people in front of us called an ambulance and then worked on getting him bandaged up. Once he was able to move we all walked down a few minutes to a spot where the ambulance would actually be able to get to him. They seemed to have the situation under control, so we continued down. It wasn't long before the ambulance came barreling up the trail which was just wide enough for the small 4WD vehicle. They were hauling some serious ass and the smell of burnt rubber hung in the air after they passed. When we made it down to the main road the ambulance passed us again with the injured guy in the back. All in all I was impressed with the speed of the response and how prepared the group in front of us was to take care of the guy. I said earlier that I hope Colorado doesn't get too developed. In situations like this however, it pays to have a paved trail and ready access to an ambulance.

We made it back to Interlaken in the early evening and grabbed some beer and food at the supermarket. They had bagels for sale, so I grabbed a couple of those as well. We spent the evening hanging out with some Canadian girls before calling it a night pretty early.

That's it for Switzerland, stay tuned for Cologne (again).

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Photos

Jungfrau
From near Gimmelwald

Trail
The trail between Murren and Gimmelwald

Glacier
Don't see these in Colorado...