Cheese, Chocolate, and the Top of Europe!!

This past weekend my Mom and brother, James, came to visit me here in Zürich. They’ve been traveling around Europe for nearly a month now and this was the last stop on their journey before flying back to ATL, so I made to sure to plan many things for our time together.

The most popular tourist destination in Switzerland is probably the Jungfraujoch (a.k.a.-The Top of Europe). It is the highest train station in Europe and it is situated along the ridge between the Jungfrau and Mönch mountains towering above Interlaken and many little mountain villages. This is a very expensive day trip so I was hesitant to plan it as I knew we were all three on a budget. However, I found out that James was able to go for free this year because he hasn’t yet turned 16, as long as he rides with Mom. So we went for it…well…I decided we’d go for it.

It was mostly a last minute decision. The conditions up there are very weather dependant. If you don’t go on a nice day there is no point in paying the money at all…visibility will not be good and that’s most of the appeal…the view! So, I decided for certain on Wednesday night that we’d go but waited until mid day Thursday to message mom about it. In order for the timing to be right (the bad weather was heading in about lunch time!), Mom and James needed to get off their night train two stops earlier than Zürich and I was planning to go down on the first train of the day to meet them there at 6:30am.

So I messaged Mom and never heard from her, I called her and it went straight to voicemail…I went through several ideas on trying to get in touch with them and I was just about to can the whole thing when my host dad came up with a crazy plan…the train my Mom was coming in on was also passing through a place in Switzerland called Spiez and he has a friend there. His friend offered to go over at 5:40 in the morning and get on the train to pass a note off to my Mother to have her get off the train at the next stop. Well, thank goodness for the kindness of strangers (at least a stranger to me…). We were able to work it all out and by 7:00AM the three of us were on a train heading into the mountains!

The train ride up to Jungfraujoch is very time consuming, 2 ½ hours from Interlaken and you change trains at two stations. The altitude change is enough to make you light-headed or sick feeling. Along the way the train passes through the Eiger with two stops inside this mountain and large picture windows facing out of the mountain for photo opportunities. The ride itself affords some spectacular views but it is the view from the top that can take your breath away.

It was not the clearest of days when we were there but it was still quite nice. The temperature was at 38 degrees Fahrenheit and it did snow for a bit while we were there as well. I’ve read that on a very clear day you can see as far as France and also to Germany’s Black Forest from the top. They also have opportunities to do a few different activities (we decided against all of them) and there is an ice palace built into a glacier a lot of sculptures inside. I’m really glad I was able to experience it with my Mom and James.

On the way back down I decided to also take them to Trümmelbachfälle (see previous post about sleeping in the straw!) because I found it so breathtaking the first time I saw it. I think Mom and James were impressed as well. Though it was a lot of walking and train riding, on top of being woken up at 5:40AM I think they had a good time that day. We headed home to my house (4 hours on trains to get home!) and my host parents were waiting with a hot dinner. We had one of my favorite meals: Rösti (a hashbrown pancake), Fleischkäse (a meat, really can’t describe it…GOOD!), and a green salad. Then we were able to sit around a really catch up on what they’d seen on their European Adventure!

The next day, Saturday, we decided to take it easy and just see some things around here. We didn’t leave the house until nearly lunch time and then we took a train to Rapperswil, which is on the opposite end of the Lake of Zürich, to have a look around. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating with me and Mom and James were unable to witness how beautiful this place truly is. So, we came home fairly early.

That night my Swiss family had some of my friends over to visit with my American family. It was great. My new friend Dawn was here and also my American friend down the street, Beth, and her husband, Thomas, and baby, Eliane. We had a BBQ which consisted of grilled bratwurst, marinated pork, and skewers along with roasted potatoes and grilled veggies (zucchini, kohlrabi, and carrot). For dessert we had the last of my birthday cake (for those of you who think it sounds majorly gross, don’t worry! We made a small cake and a big one back in March and froze the small one until it was eaten this weekend!). It was a perfect evening. I’m so glad my Mom and James got to meet a lot of my friends here.

Well, maybe they didn’t meet too many on Saturday night but on Sunday we decided to make a trek to the French-speaking part of Switzerland to visit a cheese factory in Gruyères and a Chocolate factory in Broc and we took along a few more of my friends. Again Dawn came with us, but also Megz and Mckenzie. It’s never a dull moment with these girls around. I think it was a good break in the trip for James as he’d been traveling with Mom and one of her friends and then with me…he needed some other company. It would have been better for him if he hadn’t been sick the whole day, though.

We met the girls at the clock at 9AM and made our way toward Gruyères. This was my favorite part of the day. I LOVE CHEESE!! And Gruyères is one of my favorites. The first thing I noticed walking into the building was a glass-enclosed room they call “The Cellar”. It’s a HUGE room full of cheeses, stacked to the ceiling. Of course you can’t go into it, that wouldn’t be sanitary! As we entered the factory we were given a sample of the cheese to take with us. There were three pieces: one aged 6 months, one 8, and one aged 10. We took a tour of one of the factories that makes this kind of cheese. There was a brief explanation of how the cheese is made and the flavors of things that the cows eat to create part of the flavor and good milk it is produced from. This was given from the perspective of the cow…a bit strange, I must say. After that we were able to see just a bit of production, but really not very much.

After the cheese factory we made our way to the Gruyères train station to catch our connection to Broc. We discovered that we had almost an hour to wait so we ate our pre-packed lunches sitting at this tiny station. I basically only at cheese for lunch…it was the best ever! Finally we were able to get our train back to Bulle and then we were to take a connection on to Broc, but that one also was an hour wait so we decided to look around Bulle for a bit. We walked around the outside of a 13^th century chateau and then to a park, but as it was raining we didn’t feel like wandering too much and mainly just sat at the train station.

Finally we were on our way to Broc. The ride took only about 10 minutes and when I saw the Cailler/Nestlé factory come into view my heart skipped a beat because I was so excited. We went in and found that there was a self-guided tour starting immediately (and it was all free…which was the best part!!). We watched a movie, all in French, about chocolate over the years and production. Then we were able to walk through a hallway of old advertisements and chocolate molds, mostly bunnies…hehe. We also got to sample some of the raw materials used in the production of chocolate (WARNING: the cocoa bean does not taste good before it’s made into chocolate!!). And finally we were in the tasting room…I was disappointed by it’s size…I imagined it would be a really HUGE room full of all sorts of chocolate. We very quickly realized why they didn’t need a room that size. I thought I’d be eating my weight in chocolate but after about 3-4 pieces I was stuffed. So we made our way to the gift shop and then headed for the train station to go home.

Poor James had a massive headache all day (and we later found out, a fever as well), we had to wait several times for right at an hour on train connections because I didn’t write down the exact timetables, and the weather wasn’t that pleasant; but, overall I think we had a great day. For my part, I’ve discovered that though chocolate and cheese are probably my two favorite things to eat…that’s all of it, I like to eat them but I don’t necessarily have the patience to sit through a movie or a presentation on their production.

And then it was Monday, the day Mom and James were to leave for Munich again. We’d thought at first of going to the Rheinfalls (see earlier posts, it’s the largest waterfall in Europe) because there is a boat ride you can take and they allow you to climb up to the top of this massive rock in the middle of the falls and the water is surging all around you. However, because of James’ fever and everyone being tired we decided to eighty-six that idea and opted instead for lounging around. Mom and James ate lunch with us and then I drove them to the train station where they caught an early afternoon train back to Munich. They flew out for ATL this morning and I’ve just been informed that they’ve landed safely and all their luggage arrived too.

I’m glad to know they had a good time and I hope that we can all come over in the years to come for a big family vacation in Europe. I think that might be really fun (or maybe a really crazy idea….who knows!).

Well, I’m signing off for the evening. Will write again soon!!

Ciaoness,

LuLu

4th of July-Swiss Style!

Last Friday was the 4th of July; the day most Americans have off work and celebrate the independence of our country by going to some festival or parade or party…or maybe all of the above! Well, no surprise, 4th of July isn’t observed here as a holiday. So, I worked as usual that day and, since it was a Friday, I planned to go to the lake with some of my friends in the evening where we were going to have a little party. We planned to bring traditional American goodies and some drinks and after dark we were set to light our sparklers!

I arrived early and enjoyed just over an hour by myself eating a little bit of dinner and then reading my book. When the girls (two other Americans, an Aussie, and a Kiwi!) showed up we broke out all the goodies- we had chocolate chip cookies, marble cake with white icing and red and blue M&Ms for decoration, chips, and of course we had the American drinks. It was a feast!

The evening was going along nicely when on of my American friends got a call on her cell phone from a guy she knows here in Zurich. He was out on his sail boat on Lake Zurich and offered to dock and take us aboard…were we interested??? What kind of question is that…are we interested?! Of course we’re interested!! So we packed away all our things in the space of about 30 seconds and we were off to the dock.

You see, where I’m from the popular thing to do for all warm-weather major public holidays is to go out on one of the many lakes dotting the landscape of Northeast GA in a boat and stay there for the day. I’ve never actually done that…but this year…in a foreign country, as I celebrated the 4th of July, I got the opportunity! It was great. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a sail boat before and so I was very interested in watching how it all works. We sat and talked and after a bit everyone decided to jump off the boat for a swim…well, everyone but me. I was the designated picture taker. Deep water scares me a bit and really a lot at night, especially because I’m not a swimmer…I guess I can swim a bit but I’m not strong at it at all! They swam for a bit and I took pictures and talked to them as we (them in the water and me on the boat) bobbed up and down on the lake.

As we floated along peacefully, night descended upon us and the many lights of the city began to flicker on in the distance. Zurich at night is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever had opportunity to lay my eyes on. The city was like a mirage coming out of the now dark water of the lake. We were still sitting out there at 11:30PM. It was great! No big fireworks or parties and we didn’t even use the sparklers since we were out on the boat (nope, no sinking for us that night!)…just a few friends singing the national anthem of our country and enjoying our time together…lovely!

Well, Mom and James arrive here on Friday. I’m so excited to show them around my country. I think they have had a nice trip going all over Europe so far but I’m sure they look forward to coming to a place that is a little more laid back and less rushed (that’s what I’m hoping Switzerland will be for them!)

I hope all had a lovely 4th!

Love you all!

LuLu

“This is What They Make Cows Do!!”-Schlaf im Stroh…and Other Adventures

This past weekend some friends and I had the brainiac idea that we’d willingly go pay to sleep in a barn for a night (Schlaf im Stroh!)…hehe…It was interesting, definitely! This is something that is offered at over 200 farms across Switzerland and we decided that we’d check it out.

As I understand it, many farmers in Switzerland take their cattle to graze at higher altitudes during the summer because of the heat and because of this their barns are free. So they rent them out like you would rent out a bed for the night to Swiss people and tourists alike who want to participate in this unique experience.

A group of 5 of us we decided to head down to Interlaken, Switzerland (the adventure capital of Europe…and this was going to be, afterall, an adventure!!). There was myself, Dawn and Angela (two new American girls), and Stephanie and Mckenzie (to seasoned au pairs, like myself, from Canada!).

On the way down I decided to make the most of the trip and stop in Einsiedeln, a village just an hour from here, which is famous for its Benedictine Monastery. The place has been the focus of many pilgrims for over 1000 years now. It is said that the night before the dedication of the place a bishop was praying inside and had a vision of Christ descending in all his glory. According to the Catholic Church (Pope Leo VIII confirmed this as a miracle) Christ himself dedicated this monastery to his holy mother Mary.

There is also a quite famous statue called the Black Madonna holding her Child that is housed inside the “new” chapel which was erected in 1817. It is said that this statue was originally a peachy flesh-tone but over the years the smoke from candles and incense have caused the statue to have a black color. I also read somewhere that this statue has survived three fires. This is a place I’ve wanted to see since I first read about it in my Switzerland guide book nearly two years ago. I finally got to go inside the enormous chapel and I was just blown away by the detail and beauty of the place. If you have a chance to see it please don’t pass up the opportunity!

So then off we went to Interlaken. We’d contacted a woman who owns a farm in a village called Iseltwald on Lake Brienz close to Interlaken. We made the connection to this little village by bus and then found our bed(s) for the night in the barn at the top of the hill. It was not at all as I’d pictured it would be. Before you ask…yes, it did smell! It was a mix of stale air, straw, and doodie! Though the doodie smell wasn’t a problem at all once you got into the barn and definitely not after you were there for a while…you just didn’t notice it.

In fact, it was overall more pleasant than I’d imagined it would be. The straw was very comfortable and we were given blankets to sleep on and also pillows. The next morning we were served a breakfast with bread, cheese, and jam as well as coffee and orange juice. It wasn’t a bad experience, I’d say. I would do it again, but I think not for the price we paid. We paid 25ChF a night and for that you can get a bed in a hostel so I think I’d take the bed over the smell and potential for critters and spiders (which, by the way, we didn’t have a problem with this particular night!)

We explored Iseltwald the evening before we slept there so early the next morning we headed out to Interlaken to make our connection to little village in the mountains called Gimmelwald (if you follow Rick Steve’s travel advice you will know this name well!). This is a beautiful village facing the 3 most famous of the Swiss Alps, the Jungfrau (the virgin), the Eiger (ogre), and the Mönch (monk), and the amazing glaciers that run along their peaks! It is a village quite popular amongst hikers and backpackers so those are really the only type people you see up there, besides the residents themselves.

We’d decided just to check this place out and there wasn’t an agenda…except that some people had hiking in mind and didn’t inform the rest of us (ok, maybe it was just that I wasn’t informed) so proper attire for hiking was not packed and I didn’t have snacks for the journey either (a must when I’m hiking in case of feeling light-headed and faint!)…and that’s just what happened. The other girls decided on a hike up to a waterfall you could walk under and it was uphill the whole way. I’d only packed jeans so I wasn’t dressed properly at all. I got about half way up, I think, and I was overheating quickly…then came all the signs of fainting so I decided to sit out the rest of the hike on a bench overlooking the village. It was good that I did…I’m afraid my friends would have been carrying me back down if I hadn’t! But my time on that bench was so good…I read about things in my guidebook that I want to see and just sat there in awe of the beauty of the nature around me!

Soon enough my friends were heading back down and we began our journey back to Zürich. As an afterthought we decided to go and see some waterfalls that we’d heard about which run through the middle of a mountain not too far from Gimmelwald. These are called Trümmelbachfälle. They may be the most powerful and awe-inspiring things I’ve ever seen in my life! You can really feel the force of these falls before you even get right up to them. The Trümmelbachfälle are the only falls which take the runoff from the glaciers of the Jungfrau, Eiger, and Mönch.

Because of this the water is extremely cold and clean and an amazing light green color. The force of the water has carved its own path THROUGH the mountain. You take a lift up into the heart of the mountain and then you begin to climb. There are a total of ten accessible falls which make up the Trümmelbachfälle. Now, I’m sure that most of you know I have a fear of water…deep water and rushing water alike. I don’t know how to swim all that well and so I was a bit afraid to be in this place with all this rushing water. I even got the feeling at any moment it might change courses and just come rushing straight at me! I’m so glad we decided on this detour, though. It was definitely the most notable thing I saw on the trip and maybe one of the most impressive things I’ve EVER seen.

After this little adventure Mckenzie and I parted ways with the rest of our friends. You see, we all have little tricks of making our journey’s home cheaper. They all have a card called a “Gleis7” which allows them to travel for free in Switzerland after 7PM but I’m too old for one (can’t be over 25) and Mckenzie never bought one so we traveled back another way. We both enjoyed our little ride home very much but slept most of the way because we were both so tired from the long weekend.

I’ve attached some pictures so you get some idea of the things I saw this weekend. It was all really amazing.

Love you all!

LuLu