“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