The Best Day so Far!

Just when I think it can’t get better, it does. We drove from Lucerne to Bern, Switzerland via Interlaken and several small villages in the Alps. These villages – Grindelwald, Wengen, and Kandersteg - are literally at the end of the road that dead ends into a mountain. And these are no wimpy mountains. They loom high overhead and dwarf the villages.
They include the Eiger (Mike was excited because of the Clint Eastwood movie “The Eiger Sanction”, so we got his picture in front of the Eiger –just like Clint!) and Jungfrau and many others. There are simply no words that can adequately describe what it looks like so I’ll just take a stab at how it feels.


I discovered that there is something about the mountains that attracts me. When I am among them I feel my heart rate slowing, my breath deepening, and a feeling of calmness descending. How great is that? Somehow the mountains put everything into the proper context that is missing in the bustle of a city. A city seems so self important with the business, cars, clothes, buildings and sense of control. But the mountains provide a different space – they give off strength and power. I feel more a part of the bigger existence there and also more at the proper scale. I don’t know how else to describe it – it just feels so good.


On to other observations. Grindelwald is my sort of town! There was a meditation center next door to a burrito restaurant, next door to a chocolate shop. Now…what can be better than that? As we traveled through these mountain villages, we were also on a mission to find apple sauce. As many of you know, I eat dietary supplements each morning with a little bit of apple sauce. I brought some with me but am now out and need to restock. Didn’t think it would be hard, but I was wrong. We tried several grocery stores. They have 100 types of chocolate (nothing wrong with that), 200 types of sausage, about a 1000 types of yogurt, taco shells (yep, taco shells) and NO apple sauce. It’s the oddest things that make a place feel different from home! In Kandersteg we saw people parasailing off the mountain tops. It must be a beautiful view from up there.


Mike and I both have noticed how clean everything is – and I mean everything. We’ve been in WCs in train stations all over Switzerland. They are nothing like a typical restroom in an Amtrak station, for example. These are spotless and even smell good (Mike says they smell inviting)! Where the restrooms are super clean, the food is super expensive and I mean VERY expensive. The only thing that is a bargain on the menu is the wine (nothing wrong with that).

The people have been unbelievably friendly and helpful. They mostly speak German so they haven’t been subjected to my spotty French. They go out of their way to provide advice, help, directions, anything they can. For example, we had a delightful lunch in Lauterbrunnen. The food was fresh and all handmade. We enjoyed every bite with the Beach Boys playing in the background. The woman who runs the shop told us all about the food, the area, how to get to the next village and a restaurant recommendation for when we arrived. I’m hoping to return to her shop later this summer when we come to hike.


We’re in Bern for the evening and had a nice walk around the town. We saw the town bears which are the namesake of Bern. There were actually four bears, a male, female and a pair of cubs. The cubs rolled and played while crowds of people watched. Too cute. It’s still the Easter holiday here so most shops are closed. We don’t mind and it means the traffic is much less. Unfortunately, the confectioner shops were closed today so we had to go without chocolate Easter eggs. Maybe they’ll be 50% off tomorrow! Something else to look forward to!

Before I go for the evening, Mike and I want to thank all our followers and, particularly, the commenters. We love that our friends and family are joining our trip by reading along. Keep the comments coming. We’ll respond when we figure out how!