Exploring Underground and a Hike in Ihlara Gorge...

Hello all!

It's me agin, we're making a habit of this daily writing, so far. It's quite cold out so we haven't been doing much exploring after dark and thus our opportunities for some quality internet cafe time!

Though the weather wasn't fantastic, today we decided to go on a tour of the Cappadocia area. First stop was a panorama lookout point. We stopped to take a few pics and then we were on our way. It was about 45 minutes in a bus to the Selime Rock Monastery. It was quite impressive with it's many passageways and rooms, and even some frescos (though badly faded) in the cathedral area.

After that we drove to a lookout point in Yaprakhisar, looking back to the Monastery. The landscape looks like a scene from Star Wars, so says our guide...so I've added a picture of it just for James (hope you enjoy, Bug)!

Then we were again in the bus for nearly an hour to the Ihlara Gorge. It was so beautiful, and the bad weather cleared just in time for us to take a 3km hike along the river to a restaurant where we enjoyed more traditional food and getting to know some of our fellow tour members.

Soon we were on our way again, and this time to the underground city of Derinkuyu...definitely the highlight of my day! It is thought that the tunnels and underground rooms (going down 8 floors) was first begun around 2000BC but has been used throughout the years for many peoples (Hittites, Christians, etc...) to escape attacks by their warring neighbors and also attacks of persecution because of their religious beliefs. The tunnels were very narrow and so small even I had to duck going through a lot of them.

Then on last stop at a panorama overlooking a place called Pigeon Valley. The "fairy chimneys" in this valley have very distinct places cut into them for pigeon nest. Pigeon dropping are used in the agricultural production of the area as fertilizer.

It was quite a long day but worth it definitely. The tour took us to many things we'd already decided to see here. Tomorrow morning we are boarding a bus for Konya, a very large city which is extremely devout in it's Islamic beliefs. Hope we can message again soon, but we'll have to see the situation in the next place.

Love you all...hope you enjoy the pics!

LuLu

ps-to my family in Switzerland...I LOVE THE CAMERA! It takes such wonderful pictures, as you can see! Thank you again!!

Reaching the Depths of Delerium....

Hello all!!

Megzi and I have FINALLY made it to our first destination, Cappadocia in Turkey...more specifically the town of Goreme. This town is charming, which is more than I can say for our hostel, hum...

Let me start at the beginning. We did board a plane in Stuttgart last night around 11PM. Our flight landed in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, around 3AM local time and we then proceeded to the main bus terminal there, which is HUGE and we waited around in a cafe with a lovely German couple until they caught their bus at 7:30AM and we got on ours at 9AM. It was excurciating...the waiting, the lack of sleep, the lack of food...it would appear that Megan and I don't cope well with that sort of stress!

So finally we were on our way and we made it to Goreme, with only one bus change in between, around 1:30PM. We checked in and rested for a bit, making ourselves comfortable with our sleeping accoms for the next few nights, and then we headed out to the Goreme Open Air Museum. It is housed in ancient formations called "fairy chimneys" which were formed by volcanic eruptions what is believed to be at least a million years ago. During the time for the Hittites, around 2000BC, the people carved into these rock formations and some people even still live in there today. It's such a special place! The Open Air Museum is a collection of churches housed in these "chimneys" which contain some of the most beautiful Bizantine frescos I've ever seen...it was amazing!!

I'm adding pictures for you all to see, I hope you enjoy! Tomorrow we are headed to one of the over 35 underground cities in the area.

Love you all!

LuLu

Day One...Lets Try That Again!!

Hi everyone!

Megan and I are currently STILL sitting in Stuttgart. Germanwings canceled our flight but as a plus put us up in a really nice hotel. So we have been enjoying that for the last 12 hours. At first we were really disappointed, then excited to find that we were staying in luxury for one more night....now the long night and potential of no sleep looms over us and are anxious to get it all out of the way and just be there already.

Just wanted to send you all this short note for an update...hope this finds you well!

LuLu

Pick an Emotion…and the Slumber Party that Almost Was!

Well folks, today was my last “official” day of work here. I guess technically it was two weeks ago, I’ve been working without a permit for the last few weeks…hum….Anyways, tomorrow I leave for my big trip.

Megan and I head out by train tomorrow, around lunch, to Stuttgart in Germany and then a flight quite late tomorrow night to Ankara, Turkey! We are so excited about this adventure!

As our journey progresses, I will be checking in periodically from different cities throughout Turkey and Eastern Europe. I am hoping to add some pictures as I do, we’ll see how my new fandango card reader works!

As it was my last night here “officially” my girls, aged 5 and 8, and I were planning a big sleepover with all the things they aren’t usually allowed (i.e.-watching all the movies they want, eating popcorn in my bed, staying up as late as they can, etc…). However, it didn’t quite go to plan as girl aged 5 was nearly asleep in her dinner and girl aged 8 was not that much more enthusiastic either. Hehe…so we’ve decided instead to wait until I return from my trip and they’ve been missing their LuLu time!

I arrive back here in Switzerland on November 20th and then I will have three more weeks here with the family before returning to America for good. My flight home is on December 11th.

I have very mixed emotions about all the things happening around me lately. I’m excited to be finished with work and starting this big adventure with Megan. I’m sad at the thought of leaving Switzerland in December. Angry at myself for not figuring out yet a plan on getting a job, or what I will be driving, or even a cell phone…at this point I have none of those things. I’m overwhelmed/exhausted at the thoughts of two months on the road and at the same time I’m anxious to get there to see all the amazing sights we have planned for exploration!

I’m sure if you picked any emotion you can think of I feel it in some way. I’m confused about life in general but happy with the way the last two years have been and ready to see where the next ones will take me.

If you all need to get in touch with me over the next two months please feel free to email me or post comments on the blog. My trip itinerary is available through this link at TripIt.com. I hope you are all well!

Love you!!

LuLu

Alpfahrt in Urnäsch

Today I went to witness a very special tradition in Switzerland. I went to the village of Urnäsch, which is in the Appenzellerland area of the country, to see the farmers bring their cattle down from the summer alpine (mountain) grazing. This event is called Alpfahrt (mountain journey, roughly translated).

This is a tradition which dates back many centuries. I’m not sure how many because I can’t seem to find very many English translations talking about this experience. If you click on the link above it will give you a brief description of the event, only that one is from the spring perspective-when they take the cattle up the mountain for the summer. Also, if you click on this link you will get a few translations of different German words used on the other page. It’s all quite interesting.

I am told that before making their descent the farmers choose their most beautiful cow and it is chosen to lead the herd and wear the very big, and very beautiful, traditional bell. Most all of the farmers dress in time-honored attire and walk alongside their herd. The first farmer (and maybe others also, I don’t know…) is also accompanied by children who are herding the special Appenzeller goats which are hornless. There is also usually a wagon carrying the traditional cheese-making things behind the herd as well. And…there was, of course, the Appenzeller dog that accompanies every herd, keeping the cattle in line as they walked through the streets!

The day didn’t go as I’d expected it to, quite frankly. I’d thought others would join me, but they didn’t. I asked a few of my friends and all either had obligations or financial difficulties which wouldn’t allow them to go with me.

Secondly, it was a nice day when I left my house, though still a little bit chilly. I wore a long sleeve shirt and a light jacket…but, as the train grew nearer to Appenzellerland I began to notice the fog…not a good sign. A day might be perfectly lovely everywhere else, but when there is fog in a certain place it becomes gloomy and usually a good bit colder there! This was definitely the case…I ended up freezing, thought I might just shiver to death right there on the streets of Urnäsch! Because of this, and the fact that I was alone, I left just before lunch.

Lastly….I’d imagined the parade to be a continuous one. The brochure said it started at 10:30 so I arrived well ahead of time to find a good spot to see it…this was not at all necessary. I thought it would be much like a parade at home…no, not throwing candy and political candidates riding on the back of convertibles…but something of a steady flow. The way it actually happened was this: the first farmer would arrive with his cattle and pass through the village, a little later (maybe 25 min, in this case…) another one would come through…then another a little after that. There wasn’t any rhyme or reason to it, as I should have expected…it’s not like they’d all get together at the bottom of the mountain and then start off together again, now would they?!?

So, the Alpfahrt, as I now see it, is a day where the villagers (and some tourists, like me) come to the town to welcome the cattle from the summer grazing. It’s a time of leisure where people sit at the outdoor cafes and enjoy a coffee or sandwich and wait for the next herd. There is also a market set up for buying local wares and traditional foods. It’s a day of seeing your neighbor and enjoying something time-honored by the Swiss people.

Something to be witnessed definitely! I enjoyed seeing all the people in traditional clothing and all the frills brought out by the community for this occasion. If you are in Switzerland during the time of Alpfahren (whether spring or fall) I highly suggest you see it...

Also, my host family bought me a going away gift…It’s a new camera!! I was so happy for it, the old one, while it worked just fine, was a dinosaur. This is the most amazing camera…I’ve added some pics to this post taken with my new camera…hope you enjoy!!!

LuLu

Trip to the Rheinfalls and Missing Madonna!

Last Saturday my friend, Dawn, and I decided to take a trip to the Rheinfalls (the largest waterfall in Europe-see previous posts!). This was my third visit to them but I’d never gone on the boat across to the middle and, since it was on my to-do list before I leave, I wanted to check it off! The weather was perfect!! Seriously, we couldn’t have asked for a better day to go.

We took our time getting up and around that morning and finally met around lunch time at Zürich HB (main train station). After taking a few minutes to organize her train ticket (I have one for the entire state of Zürich which got me there) we were on our way. We took two train connections to get there and finally arrived at the tiny station just down from the falls.

Because of the nice weather we weren’t the only ones around that day. There were so many tourists there, we were definitely in the minority as locals (at least that’s how I like to think of myself!). We walked along a bit of the scenic path, which I’d never been on before, and then down to the docks where we caught a boat to the other side of the Rhein River.

From the other side we were able to catch another boat that took out us out the middle of the falls. This was the bit I’d been waiting for! This was the thing I’ve wanted to do since I arrived in Switzerland two years ago! It is a bit intimidating when you are actually on the boat moving right into the largest waterfall in Europe, especially when you have an enormous fear of drowning, as I do. The water was so clear and beautiful. If I were a swimmer I might have been tempted to jump right in!

Our boat was filled to capacity and mostly with Italian tourists. That day, they were everywhere with their beautiful language and excess amounts of hair gel. Dawn and I decided that we’d sit right at the front of the boat and when it docked at the massive rocks in the middle of the falls we hurried to get off to be the first ones at the top. It turns out that this is not an advisable plan. First of all, there are about a bazillion stairs to climb to get there; secondly, everyone else is rushing up behind you and you feel a considerable pressure to make it to the top as quickly as possible…what a workout!! The worst bit of it all is the size of the platform at the top. I’d say about 10 people might fit comfortably up there. But, there were more like 30 packed up there on the day we went, with little more to hold you in than a few metal bars and they are flimsy at best! So taking pictures is difficult and posing in any sort of comfortable fashion was out of the question completely. The people after us, the last ones to get off the boat, had the best situation I think…they took their time and didn’t rush down for the next boat back to the river’s edge.

After the experience in the middle, we made our way back to the other side of the river to the viewing pavilion. I’ve been there before but Dawn hadn’t so it was a fun time taking pictures and enjoying the sunshine! All this took a few hours and by the end of it we were tired and hungry (and maybe a little bit sunburnt!). However, we had plans for the evening…(scoping out the Madonna concert near Zürich)…so we hurried back to my house for a quick dinner.

It turns out that Dawn and I aren’t very good with planning out our time. By the time we arrived at my house (food in hand, still uncooked!), we were only an hour out from the start time of the concert. We’d never make it in time, of this we were certain. So, we made the decision to stay in and watch movies at my house. And, well….that never happened either. Something I’m beginning to notice when I spend time with Dawn is that we never get the things done we want to get done because we are too busy talking…about life, work, the US…you name it, we’re gonna talk about it! So we did nothing all evening and it was perfectly lovely.

I do wish we could have made it for the concert scoping, though we weren’t planning to pay to get in so I’m not sure how much we’d have seen anyway. But, apparently there is a hill overlooking the outdoor concert area so hearing it would have been definitely possible and there was a very good chance of seeing it as well…ah well, sometimes things don’t work out and sometimes it’s even for the best.

Well, I’ve attached some pictures to this post of our time at the falls. Hope you all enjoy. I’ll be updating a little more frequently in a few weeks…this time from Eastern Europe. Megz and I leave for our trip to Turkey and Eastern Europe on September 27th. We will be gone for nearly two months, returning back to Switzerland on the 20th of November…should be an interesting experience, hope the money holds out! I’ll be accepting donations beginning next Monday…hehe…..

Love you all!

LuLu

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