enzian

Ah, Switzerland. I hesitated to write a trip report, as this was my fourth trip, and I was afraid I could not see it with fresh eyes. But we went some new places this time, and it will help me enjoy the memories to write the report. “We” were a family group of seven: DH and I, one teenage daughter, and two grown sons with their girlfriends. All there to celebrate my birthday! (A big one).

DH, daughter and I flew from Seattle to Zürich on SAS—this was my choice. We usually fly British Air because of the price, but given all the hassles at Heathrow and the lost luggage, I’m really glad we chose SAS. DH and DD did not care for the food on the plane (and SAS used to be so good—what has happened?), but they loved Copenhagen airport, and the efficiency of the SAS service.

Despite a tight connection in Copenhagen (50 minutes), we made our flight and we arrived on time in Zürich at 4:00 pm. So did our luggage. We hopped the train into town, paraded down the fancy shopping street with our rolling suitcases (fortunately it was Sunday, no shoppers to annoy), and made our way across the river to Hotel Adler. We liked this hotel a lot. We had a nice room on an upper floor with a balcony over the pedestrian street below. It was a very hot evening, and everyone was out enjoying it, sitting at outdoor cafes or strolling along the river and lake. After quick showers, we joined them for a walk before dinner, enjoying the swans and the scene along the lake–teens jumping in from a bridge, young parents with their babies in prams, and a few late triathalon finishers. Zürich was a great place to enjoy a summer night. (Note: the Adler does not have air conditioning, if you care. We do not.)

I had made dinner reservations at Mere Catherine, a small Mediterranean-inspired place in a quiet cul-de-sac in the pedestrian zone. Since our home land-line service does not include international phone calls, and the restaurant has no website that I could find, I had made the reservation by post. They were quite amused by this, and gave us a very nice table outside as we requested. DD, who remembered liking this place on our last visit, ordered sesame-crusted seared ahi on a bed of greens, and I ordered fera, a local fish, which was delightful. I don’t remember what DH had, and I promise I won’t report on what we ate at every meal! But this place is very nice, and I recommend it highly. We enjoyed a nice bottle of Swiss wine with our dinner, and then it was off to bed. Mercifully, we slept, and suffered little if any jet lag.

The next day, we traveled into Germany for a meeting, which is not part of this report. We met up with one son and GF there, and returned together to Switzerland. For our first night, I chose a new place, Rigi Kaltbad, halfway up a mountain that rises above Luzern and the lake there. We approached from Arth Goldau on the other side of the mountain, which meant taking the Rigibahn railway up and over the top (Rigi Kulm) and down the other side, which faces the lake. As we rode up, we entered the clouds (the weather had changed considerably since our hot arrival day; it was now cool and rainy). At the top we couldn’t see a thing. Dropping down the other side, we left the clouds just as we arrived at the stop for Rigi Kaltbad. The first thing we saw was our hotel, the Alpina, right across the track. I had chosen this hotel because (a) it was the most affordable place in Rigi Kaltbad for the 5 of us; (b) the owner was very charming and funny when I e-mailed him for a reservation; and (c) the website shows this lovely gameroom with views out to the lake, where I could envision us having a game of Scrabble after dinner (we carry a travel set with us). http://www.alpina-rigi.ch/html/hotel.html for a photo of the gameroom. Of course, we couldn’t see a thing from the windows when we arrived. But so long as it was light out, our goal was to hike, so we quickly settled into our rooms, donned our boots, and headed out into the fog. It would lift occasionally, giving us tantalizing glimpses down to the lake and beyond. Even without the views, it was nice to get out for a walk after the train trip. We met and talked with several locals who were carting groceries up the hill (no cars here); they were happy to tell us about some of the older houses, and to help us identify some of the unfamiliar flowers we saw in the beautiful gardens that everyone had. They were about the friendliest people I’ve ever come across in Switzerland.

But hunger set in, and dinner waited. Herr Caminzind, the owner, had explained when we arrived that his regular cook was off for the evening, so we shouldn’t expect too much. But the food was OK. Not great as Swiss food usually is, but OK—nice fresh chicken breast with a mild curry sauce and rice. The problem was that we were next to the Stammtisch (local’s table), where people would drop in for a glass of wine and conversation. . . and a smoke. DH has zero tolerance for smoke and smokers, so we ate quickly and headed upstairs for our game of Scrabble. I fell asleep on my third turn, and we all called it a night quite early.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. DH and I got up early and went out for a walk in the sunshine, leaving a note for the others. What a beautiful place this is—a lovely green hillside with the lake spread out below; mountains off to the west, the town of Luzern to the north, and Weggis on the lake below, with the sound of cowbells wafting up from the meadows all around.
We returned to the hotel to find the family already at breakfast. After a quick meal, we all headed out for another hike, this time retracing our route of the previous day so we could see the fine views. Then it was time to head for the cablecar that would take us down to the lake, where we would catch a boat and start the next leg of our trip, to Wengen. The Plan (which I printed out at home in advance from the SBB website) was to take the cablecar to Weggis, boat to Luzern, and immediately catch a train heading for Wengen, arriving there around 3 pm. But when we got to Luzern, we wanted to stay and look around, so we tossed out The Plan, stowed our luggage in a locker (next to Track 14), and set out for a look at Luzern. Actually, we only had time for a short walk across various bridges, and then lunch (at Opus—great salad and antipasto bar!) And then it was back to the 14:55 train, and off to Wengen.

Next: We pass up a Blinde Kuh dinner, start the Rösti tour, and I find my first Enzian!

mvor

Wow -- what a view. So glad you decided to share your trip report w/us and that you got to see "your" flower! Looking forward to more...

kopp

Hi enzian

I knew this was your much-anticipated report. I've been looking for it everyday since you've been back!

&quot;<i>...headed out into the fog. It would lift occasionally, giving us tantalizing glimpses down to the lake and beyond.</i>&quot;

Ah yes, the Swiss views can be such a tease! They give you glimpses and then go into hiding. But what draws us back is when the fog lifts. Ahhhh....

How was the ferry ride on the lake from Weggis? Had the sun come out by then so you could enjoy the beautiful scenery?

I'll be staying tuned for your next installment in Wengen, with its million dollar views!

Oh, and for those who are wondering, here's a peek at enzian's namesake:

http://tinyurl.com/ypj3xa

kleeblatt

Hi Enzian,

Looking forward to hearing about your trip. We usually fly SAS to Seattle as well, but made an exception last year and flew with BA. Well, sure enough, Heathrow lost our baggage! Next time, we'll be flying with SAS again.

The weather hasn't been too good in Switzerland up until last week. I'll be reading your trip report and keeping my fingers crossed that you did manage to see the beauty of Switzerland without having too fight the clouds too much.

So, would you recommend Alpina? How would you compare staying at Rigi Kaltbad to the more popular Wengen/Berner Oberland?

Looking forward to more...

enzian

Hi Schuler---I would recommend Alpina to anyonme looking for a budget option there. The rooms were nice and charming in that pine-paneled way I like. It felt very &quot;homey&quot;. Herr Camenzind is very funny and welcoming---when we arrived, we were directed to the St&uuml;bli for reception, and a young mother with her child followed us in. The first thing he said, in thick Swiss German, was &quot;Oh mein Gott, I have overfilled the rooms!&quot; (He thought there were 7 of us instead of 5). We got that straightened out, but because of renovations, we did not get the triple and double rooms we requested; instead he gave our daughter a single, which delighted her (she thought for the rest of the trip she should have her own room instead of sharing with us!)

But if one wanted a more upscale place, I have read that Bergsonne, up the hill from the train, is very nice.

Compare Rigi Kaltbad to Wengen/M&uuml;rren? Apples and oranges! Both have stunning views---seeing the lake from up high like that is especially nice. I would quickly run out of hikes on Rigi, but it is so beautiful there, I would highly recommend to anyone that they include it for a couple of nights. Plus it is fun getting there, with the train/boat/cable combo.

Did you know they serve dinner in that cablecar up from Weggis? You reserve in advance, I think they put in 2 or 3 small tables, plus food and wine, run it partway up, and there you are, dangling in mid-air as you enjoy a fine dinner. Only in Switzerland. . .

enzian

More Enzian photos:

http://tinyurl.com/26d3p9

The blue is really intense cobalt blue---photos don't do it justice.

marigross

Hi enzian! Loving your report...

jmw44

Add me to your list of fans, enzian. I've already copied and filed the link for Rigi Kaltbad and the Alpina. It looks wonderful. Tour de Rosti. Yum. J.

yk

Thanks for posting. Looking forward to more.

enzian

The train from Luzern to Interlaken follows the scenic Golden Pass route. It is indeed very scenic, especially around Meiringen. My son kept hopping up to take photographs of all the waterfalls. From Brienz to Interlaken, it goes along the lake, the Brienzersee. We could look across to Giessbach and the castle-like Grandhotel Giessbach, situated just below a beautiful waterfall: www.giessbach.ch for photos. I wanted to include a stop here–a short boat ride across to Giessbach, a walk up to the waterfalls, and lunch on the terrace, but couldn’t find room in the trip schedule. Next time. . .

Leaving Interlaken on the train toward Lauterbrunne, we saw what appeared to a carnival or fair setting up on the airfield to the east—lots and lots of trucks lined up. After passing this two more times in the ensuing days, we decided it must be a truck show. There was a long, long line of very new and brightly-painted trucks, plus some construction equipment (cranes, dumptrucks, etc.). People had set up their tents, deck chairs, and grills all around, and it looked like they were settled in for a good time. It would have been fun to visit, but the mountains called.

After another train change at Lauterbrunnen and a ride up the hill, we finally arrived in Wengen. I have not stayed there before, but couldn’t resist a short stay to see what everyone raves about, even though we were going to M&uuml;rren as well. The hotel I chose was the B&auml;ren, a small family-run place known for its great food. Of the places I contacted, it was the one that offered the best combination of rooms for our family—a two-room family suite on the top floor, and a double room with balcony below. (The better-known places, such as the Alpenrose, we all out of balconies when I tried to reserve). The kids, knowing how much I love a balcony, opted for the suite upstairs, which was fine with me. Below us was the ever-present restaurant garden, and there is supposedly a ping-pong table somewhere, but we never had time to look for it. I knew we had made the right choice when I saw the evening menu—which included a terrific ginger-lime risotto.

It was already 6 pm when we arrived, but we took time for a walk around town before dinner. I wanted to see the Bellevue, which was another place I contacted for rooms. It looks very nice too. There appear to be lots of good choices in Wengen. We also investigated the tennis courts, since DH and daughter brought racquets and wanted to play on the clay courts. It was very easy to reserve a court for the following day at the TI.

The dinner menu announced the opportunity for a “Blinde Kuh” (blind cow) dinner in a screened off area of the dining room. This is an idea which I believe originated in Z&uuml;rich—there is a whole restaurant by that name, devoted to the concept of eating in total darkness. The idea is that you appreciate the taste and texture of the food more. But we like to see what we eat, so we chose to sit in the open part of the dining room, which has windows all around and is very bright and modern. Owner Frau Brunner, a delightful young woman, comes around and greets everyone at their table. Herr Brunner is in the kitchen–we never actually saw him, but he does a great job. We took half-pension here and were very happy with it.

At breakfast the next morning, the buffet included croissants and some great multi-grain breads, two kinds of fresh locally-made butter, the usual cheeses, cereals, and 2 do-it-yourself egg cookers. I put an egg in the one shaped like a little chick. When finished, the chick chirps “F&uuml;r Elise”. Nice touch.

That breakfast was a great start to our first hike of the R&ouml;sti tour. We are uphill hikers, preferring a hike of 6 to 8 miles and 3,000 feet or so uphill, with a cablecar or other ride back down. Wengen offers one perfect hike for us: up along a sloping path to Wengernalp, then around to Kleine Scheidegg. The weather was perfect and we had views of the Jungfrau in our face the whole way. At Kleine Scheidegg we met the Eiger as well, and tons of people. We stopped just long enough to photograph Daughter next to the signpost, with signs pointing to Mannlichen, Eigergletscher, Grindelwald, Lauberhorn. . . and the Grand Canyon. Swiss humor. Since we had hiked with Daughter to the bottom of the Grand Canyon a few months ago, we had to get the photo. Then off on the quest for R&ouml;sti.

We headed far enough along the path toward Mannlichen to escape the crowds, and liked the look of the Lauberhorn restaurant terrace, overlooking the Grindelwald valley. Good choice. Ordered R&ouml;sti all around, except for moi—I prefer Gemischte Salat (mixed salad) . But my fork always tends to wander toward DH’s R&ouml;sti, and his fork toward my salad, so everyone is happy. Everyone pronounced this the second-best R&ouml;sti of the whole trip—very nice and buttery, crispy, etc. You’ll have to wait til the last day of the trip to find out who won “Best in Show”.

Then we headed off along the ridge toward Mannlichen and the lift down, and halfway there, just below the trail, I found it—my first Enzian. Only one plant, but the color is so stunning you can’t miss it. We all got busy with the cameras–I photographing the flower, everyone else photographing me photographing the flower. They think I’m nuts! But this little flower has a special place in my heart, whether in the Alps, the Sierras (a different one) or the North Cascades (still a different one). This was the first time I had visited Switzerland during wildflower time—usually we go much later, in August, and the flowers are gone. But in late June, the meadows are carpets of flowers (at least where the cows haven’t eaten them all), and it was a real treat to see them. We saw only that one Enzian along this path, but found many more in the days to come.

After all the Enzian excitement, we continued on, past the lift station, to hike up the little Gipfel (peak) that marks the highest point and the end of the ridge. It is a great viewpoint. It was from here, Bob_Brown, that I saluted the Finsteraarhorn for you, since we wouldn’t be making it to the Faulhorn on this trip. Then we wandered back down toward the lift station, and had time to look over the edge that drops straight down to Wengen. We had ascended 3100 feet to this point, so it is an impressive drop. There is actually a trail down form there, the Gemseweg (Chamoix path), but it looks pretty intimidating. The cablecar down was bad enough!

We made it back to the hotel around 3:30, plenty of time for DH and Daughter to make their 5:00 tennis court reservation. Then another lovely dinner at the B&auml;ren (Eglifilet and Schneekartoffeln, lake perch with “snow potatoes”, lightly riced very fresh new potatoes.

Next: on the path of DH’s ancestors in the Emmental, a ten-train day, and a hummingbird-hawkmoth to delight us at the R&ouml;sti stop.

enzian

Our “10 train day”: today we transferred from Wengen to M&uuml;rren, exploring on the way a bit of DH’s Swiss heritage. Well, not exactly on the way. We dropped down to Lauterbrunnen, where we stashed some of our luggage in the lockers. But there was only one vacant one, so 2 bags went with us as far as Interlaken, where we found more lockers (and hoped we remembered to pick things up on the way back). Thus lightened, we headed off for Langnau, in the Emmental, in search of this place: http://www.baeren-langnau.ch/geschichte.html, which in the late 1700's belonged to the “Wunderarzt” (“wonder doctor”) Michaeli Sch&uuml;pbach, a very distant relative of DH. Herr Doktor Sch&uuml;pbach was visited here by Goethe in October, 1779. The building is now a restaurant, and we thought it would be a fun place to have our R&ouml;sti for the day.

The Emmental region is lovely—lush green rolling hills dotted with farmhouses, with the distinctive Emmental architecture—huge roofs with large eaves, reaching almost to the ground, with the roof peak sloping down, like a hat pulled down over the eyes.

After train changes in Thun, and Konolfingen, we finally reached Langnau, where we walked to the B&auml;ren restaurant. We sat on the porch and ordered our R&ouml;sti and salad, and were hugely entertained by a little hummingbird-hawkmoth that was very busy in the flowers right next to my shoulder. We first discovered these little creatures at an outdoor caf&eacute; above Chamonix—I had never heard of them before (we have hawkmoths in North American, but not hummingbird hawkmoths; that ecological niche is filled by actual hummingbirds, which in turn do not exist naturally in Europe). It was nice to see one of these little guys (or girls?) again. Daughter captured it on her digital camera, all but the blur of the wings. They behave just like hummingbirds—hovering, darting from flower to flower, but are much smaller.

We gave the R&ouml;sti a 4.3 (out of 6.0) and agreed that this dish tastes better in the mountains. And then it was back to the trains (all five of them), remembering to stop along the way to retrieve the luggage we had stashed in the lockers.

Our home in M&uuml;rren was the apartment at Chalet Fontana. We have stayed here before, and really like the location, the price, and the charming woman who runs it in the summertime. We chose the apartment as we planned to cook at least one dinner “in” instead of dining at restaurants. But it was Saturday around 6 pm when we arrived, so we weren’t able to buy any groceries until Monday. We did manage to score a bottle of chilled wine at the little Chinese restaurant/deli/minimart just up the street (we never could figure out if this place has a name) so we could have an aperitif before going in search of dinner.

Which brings me to the wine. DH pronounced Swiss wine not only very good, but the best bargain in Switzerland (along with phone calls to the US, which are dirt cheap in the SwissCom phone boxes). We consistently found very nice white wine (Swiss wine such as Fendant, or sometimes Pinot Gris or Chardonnay) for 10 SFr. in the grocery stores. Reds, particularly the very nice Pinot Noirs, were a little more (14 Sfr), but were also very good.

For dinner (it was just the 3 of us tonight) we went back to the Chinese restaurant, which I had heard was pretty good. It is run by a young couple from Singapore. She preferred to speak English with us; it was easier for all of us than trying to communicate in German. The food was very nice—we ordered kung pao chicken and some vegetables, and although the chicken dish was not the least bit spicy, the quality and freshness of the ingredients made for a pleasant dinner. Daughter announced that she would forego R&ouml;sti for lunch the next day in favor of returning here! We sat outside–they have a few tables right along the street, unfortunately with no view of the mountains. By the time we finished, it was 9:00 and time to head back and get ready for the arrival of the rest of the family the following day.

Next: We get caught in a thunderstorm

yk

REading your lovely TR on this scenic part of Switzerland is like a breath of fresh air among the rest of the TRs here on Paris, London, Rome etc. So refreshing!

enzian

Thanks, yk. It's fun to re-live the trip by writing about it.

Grassshopper

Really enjoying this. Thank you for posting the links! Happy Birthday.

Mischka

Enjoying your report and following you on Google maps. Thanks for taking the time to write and post.

sharon1306

Really enjoying reading the report. Looking forward to the rest.

enzian

We awoke to bright sunshine the next morning. However, at breakfast our hostess warned us there would be thundershowers late in the afternoon, so we should plan accordingly. Since we were expecting the kids to arrive from Z&uuml;rich (they went off for a few days to enjoy a concert and some nightlife there), we planned a half-day hike so we would be back when they arrived, DH made a tennis court reservation for 1:00 on “der sch&ouml;nste Tennisplatz der Welt” (the most beautiful tennis court in the world); the clay courts sit right on the edge of the 3,000 foot cliff down to Lauterbrunnen. (Check this out on Google Earth).

For our hike, we headed up from M&uuml;rren on a steep paved path, which stayed very steep when the pavement ended. The path was labeled “Children’s Adventure Trail” and I as thinking, “Man these Swiss kids are tough!” But then we realized that the path is usually hiked down from the top of the Allmendhubel funicular, not up as we were doing. Anyway, it is a nice walk into a little flower-filed bowl, and then up to the hill where the funicular deposits clumps of people. We tried to find the path less-traveled for our walk down, and ended up on a broad traverse out toward Grutschalp, then looping back in another traverse to end right in “downtown” M&uuml;rren. Daughter had been debating with herself all the way back on her lunch options—R&ouml;sti or Chinese?—but the Chinese restaurant was closed when we walked by, so that settled it. We headed for the St&auml;gerst&uuml;bli, where one can sit outside and watch the whole world (or at least that part of it living or visiting in M&uuml;rren) walk by. It was lots of fun to see, especially the parade of new arrivals with their luggage when the train arrived. The kids were not yet among them, so I sat outside our apartment on a bench to wait for them, while DH and Daughter went off to play tennis.

They arrived on the next train, hungry, so it was back to the St&auml;gerst&uuml;bli for another round of R&ouml;sti, which they gave a rating of 5.6—very good (this is the one place where they do not put much cheese on the “cheese and tomato” R&ouml;sti, which is good in our opinion).

Once fortified, we all changed into hiking clothes, some packed rain jackets, and we headed off. My goal for the afternoon was the Kilchbalm—a lovely glacial cirque at the end of the river valley below Gimmelwald. I’ve wanted to visit this place ever since reading bob_brown’s evocative description of it, here on Fodors’. It is rated as an easy hike from Gimmelwald, so seemed perfect for a hike starting mid-afternoon.

But clouds were rapidly gathering, and halfway down to Gimmelwald, the sky opened up. Rain, thunder, lightning, the works. But the lightning was not close, and we did not feel at all exposed or in danger here, low down on the mountainside amid homes and farm buildings. So we continued on, passing up a Dorffest tent in Gimmelwald, with strains of accordion music and aromas of grilled Wurst wafting up. The trail continued down along the side of the hill, dropping into the river valley. The rain continued too, and the clouds were dropping down into the valley, obscuring the views. When we came to a bridge across a lovely cascading torrent, with a very scenic narrow gorge above, we decided that was the turnaround point. I hated to admit defeat in my Kilchbalm quest, but 2 of the kids did not have adequate raingear, and DH had a sore back from the downhill trek. So it was time to head back up. One thing on the way that tickled my funnybone—a backyard next to the path with a little kid’s play construction set, complete with backhoe, dumptruck. . . and a helicopter. The Swiss essentials. We had watched a helicopter ferrying wet concrete up to Mannlichen on our hike there—the pilot seemed to be really enjoying it, swooping down in a broad arc after each bucketful of concrete was unloaded. Tough job.

Back at the apartment, it was time for showers and a game of Scrabble before dinner. Our dinner choice was easy—since it was still raining, we chose the closest option, which also happens to have the reputation as the best food in M&uuml;rren—Hotel Bellevue, which is directly above our chalet. They have a lovely terrace with great views over the town and out to the mountains, plus a large airy dining room with lots of windows, where we had dined on our last trip. This time the terrace was closed, and the only table large enough for all of us was in the cozy wood-paneled St&uuml;bli, next to the main dining room. It was a great setting for a rainy night dinner, except for the dead animals looking down on us from the wall (the Bellevue is known for game, and this wall apparently demonstrates the hunters’ prowess). This was my opportunity to try Zander, which translates as pike-perch; similar to walleye, I think. It was excellent.

The next day it was expected to rain all day, so we opted for the standard rainy-day activity in this area: a walk through the Lauterbrunnen valley, with a stop at Trummelbach Falls. On our way down to the cablecar, we were treated to the sight of a fox, right there in the village. It was grey and very large—it looked more like a coyote than the foxes we have in North America. Two M&uuml;rren residents saw it too, and they didn’t like the idea of a fox right in town. My son tried to follow and photograph it, but you know foxes—it was too sly to be caught on film.

The cablecar ride down to Stechelberg is one of the most dramatic I know anywhere. Shortly after leaving Gimmelwald, it swings out into empty space—a couple thousand feet of air below you. It goes so close to the cliffs you can identify the plants growing in the crevices (if you area botanist). But today, we launched over the edge into a cloud, and couldn’t see anything until we broke out below, a few hundred feet from the landing at Stechelberg.

From there, a path takes you along the river to Lauterbrunnen. We stopped at Trummelbach Falls, where for 10 Sfr you can climb up (or ride an elevator, not for me!) and enter a world of tunnels and walkways above the twisting gorges and channels formed by the waterfall. An awesome display of the power of moving water—and of Swiss engineering.

Then we continued on to Lauterbrunnen, and. . lunch. The rain had stopped, temporarily. About halfway there, we were startled by a loud CRRRRACK!!!! right above our heads. It was a parachute opening, right there, a few hundred feet from the ground. The guy must have jumped from the cliff above, near Grutschalp, and free-fell most of the way down. He landed, packed up his chute, and disappeared before we could catch up to him. We had seen paragliders in the area before, soaring on the updrafts, but this was different. I’m just glad his chute opened.

The rain started again, and we ducked into Hotel Oberland for our R&ouml;sti. And for something completely different, I ordered Apfel Strudel. Everyone else also had asparagus soup. All the food here was very good, and the waitstaff was very friendly and welcoming. I’m never tempted to stay in Lauterbrunnen because we’d rather be up high. But I liked the feel of this place, and would probably recommend it if someone wished to stay in the valley.

We had originally planned to walk all the way back up from here to M&uuml;rren. But it was still raining, and it was getting on 3:00 or so. I wanted to be back in time to buy groceries so we could cook dinner instead of going out. So we decided instead to ride the cablecar up, and walk from Grutschalp back to M&uuml;rren. This was a great choice. It was starting to clear, and we enjoyed views across to Wengen and out to the mountains across the way, although the peaks were still obscured.

We came across a dairy farm just as the farmer was calling in his cows for milking. There were a lot of them—50 or so, in several varieties—the reddish-brown and white spotted Simmentals, the soft brown ones called Brown Swiss in the U.S. (I wonder what the Swiss call them?), one dark Valasian cow, and one solid red one with a white face, just like a Hereford (but probably not). They were scattered all over the hillside, and started to move very slowly at first. But a dog tried to hurry them, and a few got rambunctious, bucking and kicking. These headed to the barn at a gallop, udders swinging wildly. They are amazingly agile for such large animals, with such small spindly legs. The solid red one turned and ran right for us, stopping just inches from the electric fence. Then she stood there, posing. I hope the pictures came out.

Next up: we head for our favorite place, Oeschinensee (www.oeschinensee.ch for photos), and then on to Zermatt.. Looking for sunshine in all the wrong places. . .

LLindaC

Howdy Enzian! Man, I'm proud of y'all for knowing them cow names! Even a girl like me from Ky had a few funny cow moments over there! The 6 Valaisan horned cows on the trail I saw might just as well have been bears.
Your trip sounds great and I'm enjoying hearing all the details. Like you, I love the smaller villages and picturesque places enjoyed by foot. Give me mountains and villages any day over the big cities.

enzian

Hi LLindaC---one of the boys' girlfriends comes from a ranch family, (they raise a Simmental-Hereford cross) so we make a point of checking out the cows. The Valaisian cows are my favorite---with their near-black coats, they do look like bears with horns---dressed up as Vikings maybe? For those who wonder what they look like, here is one:

http://tinyurl.com/3xq7uo

The mature milk cows are actually pretty sedate and accustomed to people. We never had any trouble walkig among them while out hiking in the meadows. But the young heifers (yearlings or 2-year-olds) can be full of mischief.

kleeblatt

Keep up the good work! Your trip report really captures the Swiss spirit!

The farmers call the brown Swiss cows....brown Swiss!