Swiss Heartland Untour, Summer of 1994
by Peter and Margaret Haggart, Moscow ID
In 1994 and early Idyll trips were three weeks. We spent the first two weeks in Lungern and the third week in Locarno.
Day 1 - June 21 (Tuesday) Moscow to Boston to Zurich
We awoke early to catch the 6:00 a.m. flight to Spokane and then on to the Twin Cities and to Boston. Our big bags were checked in Moscow straight through to Lungern via the Swiss transportation system. We packed both for hot and cold weather - not knowing which we might encounter, especially in the Bernese Oberland.Day 2 - June 22 (Wednesday) Zurich to Lungern
Arrived on time in Zurich and swept by customs into waiting area to meet the UnTour representatives. We were tired but very excited. Met a couple (Bill and Vickie Fraser) from Bermuda who will also be staying in Lungern. We changed $300 into Swiss Francs and validated our rail passes. Then it was down a few flights and onto the train platform at the airport. Idyll had train cars reserved. The train made several stops letting off UnTour families and then we arrived at Lungern around 2:30.We were met at the station by Frau Gasser-Schopfer. Our baggage indeed was on the train and put into the trunk of her car and we were off to Grabliweg Street - straight up the hill about five blocks from the main highway and the large Catholic church which dominates the west end of town. We soon discovered that going a half block on a foot path further up the hill that we were actually only a short walk from the train station, but you just couldn’t get there by car that way.
Our apartment was the ground floor of the house. It was clean and of good size with a television set (German language only) and later we discovered a good library of English paperback books left by other visitors - we left one too. The view was to the north, east and west. Lungern is in a valley surrounded on three sides by mountains. The lake (Lungernsee) is below us and it is a beautiful shade of green. We found some basic food stocked for us, such as bread, butter, cheese, tea, coffee, milk, jam, oil & vinegar, and salt and pepper.
The church has a bell tower. The bells ring the hour, quarter-hour, and half-hour 24 hours a day. Then they ring five minutes of bells before every mass (6 a.m. and 6 p.m., six days and during the service on Sunday) and also twice before school begins and at noon. You get used to the bells after a few days!!
We showered and unpacked and then walked around the town for awhile. It seemed as if no grocery or bakery was open, but the gift stores and the local ruck-sack factory was open. We discovered a tourist information office and they directed us to another part of town which had a grocery and bakery. We bought some basic food stuff and returned to the apartment to cook a sausage which was eaten with a salad and bread and butter. Went to bed at 8:30 to get some much needed sleep.
Day 3 - June 23 (Thursday) Lungern and Kaiserstuhl
Awoke at 9:30 feeling refreshed and ready to explore the local area (our orientation session with Idyll on the use of transportation system was not until Friday). Had rich yogurt, good bread, butter and jam and wonderful coffee for breakfast. We walked around the lake to Kaiserstuhl. Stopped at the water falls at Lungern end of the lake and ate wild strawberries en route. [This turned into a serious mistake for Pete]. The view of the mountains changed as we moved around the lake and the view from the eastern end was truly spectacular - looking back to see Lungern and snow capped peaks beyond the mountains that surrounded the village.We ate lunch (which we had carried with us) in the shade by the train station and then caught the train back to Lungern and on over the Brunig Pass to Meiringen. It is as the train leaves Lungern that it engages its center cog wheel for the climb up to the pass and down the other side. We explored Meiringen, ate wonderful pastries and bought some more groceries.
We ate at the apartment and then went to find a concert that had been noted in our arrival materials. After some good up and down walking we found the groups at what appeared to be a retirement home. We sat and enjoyed the traditional music and watched para-gliders drifting down from the mountain top to the south of the village. Then it was back to our home and to bed.
Day 4 - June 24 - (Friday) Lungern and Reuti
Peter awoke with a sore throat (although he did not mention it, but ever observant Margaret knew that he was sick). We caught the 10:15 train to Brunig Pass and then a bus to Reuti. What a spectacular drive and view!! The mountains are truly spectacular to look at and the villages and houses are just like picture postcards or travel posters.We had our orientation meeting at a grand hotel at Reuti. We learned how to use the elaborate train, bus, boat, and lift schedules to plan your days activities on this great interconnecting transportation network. It really is a breeze once you get the basics down. Then we had lunch (curried chicken on rice) at the hotel. Later a guided walk around Reuti with Madeline learning about the chalets - no preservatives used - just natural aging of the wood. She pointed out how chalets built in the 1600’s had been partially rebuilt. We made plans to come back and hike in this area soon.
Took the bus and train back to Lungern and sat at the restaurant across from the train station where Peter had tea and Margaret had coffee - the cream is served in a real chocolate cup. Back at the apartment Peter crashed. There was a wonderful display of lightning and thunder that night - the thunder seemed to roll forever across the valley.
Day 5 - June 25 - (Saturday) Lungern
Marcus and Lydia called and we made plans for their coming in a week - but not sure what we will do. Margaret went for a long walk down by the lake (Peter was in need of some more sleep). She sat in the shade and watched the tennis players, para-gliders, sail boards and swimmers. Then she picked up some groceries and our first Swiss chocolate! Margaret got Peter out of the apartment and down the hill to look at the beautiful old church that was providing our bell concerts. All the graves around the church were from the 1970s but the church itself is over 100 years old. Peter is feeling worse in the afternoon with a pain across stomach. We discuss calling an English speaking doctor - but this is clean and safe Switzerland - people don’t get sick here!!Day 6 - June 26 - (Sunday) Lungern and Giesbach Falls
Peter woke up feeling weak but suggested that we take a boat trip so that he could sit a lot and not have to hike. We chose the Brienzsee to see the falls at Giesbach and then to take the boat on to Interlaken. We left at 11:15 and took the train to Brienz and then walked just a hundred yards to the boat dock and then sailed to Giesbach. There we took Switzerland’s oldest funicular up the mountain to the very “Victorian” hotel at Giesbach and then walked on up to the falls.Peter was starting to feel bad again and so he sat while Margaret took the trail up to and behind the main falls (there are 14 waterfalls that come down at different levels eventually to the lake). Peter said that he just had to get back to the apartment so we had a quick lunch (Peter could only manage part of a banana and some tea) and then headed back to Brienz by boat and train to Meiringen where Margaret got off and Peter continued back to Lungern. Margaret found most of the stores closed but bakeries open, so bought some bread. She followed Peter home by one hour and found him sound asleep. When he awoke he was feeling worse than the day before with considerable pain. Got to get this fellow well so that we can enjoy Switzerland!!!!
Day 7 - June 27 - (Monday) Lungern
Peter is still sick, now running a fever. Our landlady called the Doctor but he is not there in the morning so we made an appointment for 2:45 and Mrs. G.S. called to have a taxi take us to the doctor’s office, since she would be gone and could not take us.Margaret tried to take the train to Meiringen, but lo and behold the Swiss train system had broken down - they were working on the electric line that runs the trains and none were running. So instead she did some grocery shopping in Lungern - including some wine and an English newspaper and packed her heavy load back up the long hill to the apartment.
Peter feels like he is ruining the vacation with his illness, but if you are going to be sick this is the place to do it - the view is spectacular and the weather perfect. One could just sit and gaze at the lake and mountains all day from our patio chairs. The taxi forgot us but the landlady came to the rescue (leaving a party) and drove us to the doctor’s office. Both the nurse and the doctor spoke English. He poked and prodded Peter and the nurse did blood and urine tests. Blood showed white cells at the high end of the scale but everything else seemed normal. We will skip the rest of the sickness details, but warn people to watch out eating wild strawberries - remember that raw cow manure is sprayed on fields. Let’s just say that it took several more days and a treatment of antibiotics to get Pete back on his feet.
Day 8 - June 28 - (Tuesday) Lungern and Lucerne
Margaret took a mid-morning train (the trains ran 1 each hour each direction from about 6:30 am to about 9:30 p.m.) to Lucerne for some serious shopping. The kind of shopping that husbands usually hate to do. She shopped till she dropped (it was also very hot-especially in the crowded big city) and without telling ailing Peter enjoyed a hamburger and fries for lunch. She brought back lots of gifts for the whole family including a table cloth (that isn’t Swiss) and a wooden cut-out of the Holy Family that she hopes Peter can copy in his workshop at home, plus a knife for Jane, some T-shirts and toy climbers for Xmas gifts. She got back to Lungern at 5:15 - hot, tired - exhausted.Day 9 - June 29 (Wednesday) Lungern-Saren-Kagiswill-Saren-Lungern
Off in search of the Crystal factory at Sarnen. After consulting several people as to the general direction she took off walking (it was supposed to be just past the bridge going out of town) and walking and walking and walking without seeing any sight of crystal. She ended up in Kagiswill and found an implement dealer who spoke a little English and he drew her pictures, a map - the factory had changed its name. With her new instructions and sweat rolling off her, Margaret did find the Crystal factory just outside of town. The crystal was reasonably priced but they would or could not pack it for shipment or carrying on the plane - so none was purchased.Day 10 - June 30 (Thursday) Lungern
Margaret took the double lift up to the top of Schonbuel for a spectacular view. The first lift gives one a view of Lungern and the surrounding area and the second lift (which you can not see from Lungern) takes you on up to the top for a 360 degree view of the Bernese Oberland. She also found the cows that we had heard now and then (distant bells). The second lift comes over a hill and all of a sudden there are 500 cows below you in the meadow - all with bells on- what a sound!! There are barns and sheds, even a chapel in the meadow - but no sight of people - so she calls it “cow town” - the cows are on the streets, crossing a little bridge and on the steps of the chapel. On top of the mountain there are ski facilities and a restaurant and signs leading to various trails to other places. The view is wonderful and Margaret takes a short hike to look on the other side of the mountain. From there you can see another lake and other towns. She found a bench and enjoyed some bread and cheese along with the view. The wildflowers are also still in spectacular bloom. Back at the restaurant she ate a salad, took a lot of pictures. Then it was back down the mountain and some shopping for food, cards and a newspaper and then back to the apartment.Day 11 - July 1 - (Friday) Lungern and Schonbuel Mountain
Peter has slept the clock around - over 10 hours. And he is feeling good!!!! We decide to retrace Margaret’s steps up the mountain - this had been his first goal, thinking about what he would do when he got well. Peter loved the trip up the mountain. While spending a leisurely time at the top we watched two para-gliders get ready to take off and then fly away. We didn’t get back to the apartment until 4:15.We found that walking through the village you would be constantly amazed at the number a variety of flowers in the flower boxes - and the roses - lots and lots of roses, some were rose trees. Also, each home had a small garden plot carefully tended and probably a rain barrel where the homemaker dipped her watering can to water the flowers. There were fields of hay and wild stuff growing in lots all over the village (two behind us) and these would be cut and then the family would be out in the field with pitch forks and other special tools turning the hay over in the fields to help it dry - the “substantial” women always wearing a long dress while doing this very hard work in 80-90 degree temperatures. Then in a few days someone would come by with a special hay rig and pick up all the hay and take it to where the cows were.
We went up to the station at 6:15 to call Lydia and Marcus and then went to the restaurant beside the train station. Peter’s first real food and getting out in five days. Margaret had fish with a special kiwi-fruit sauce and Peter had beef stroganoff. We visited with other UnTourists and listened as a large group of singers came to entertain the Mayor of Lungern on his birthday (President he is called) a few houses below the restaurant. Got home about 8:30 after a rewarding, if very hot, day in Lungern.
Day 12 - July 2 - (Saturday) Lungern to Ementahl area of Switzerland
Marcus and Lydia arrived in their air-conditioned Mercedes at 8:00 am and we were soon off on a 9 hour extraordinary trip. We drove east to Giswill and then went north over the mountain on switch-back roads (encountering some cows on the road half-way up) via Biaubenbuelen Pass to Sorenberg and then on to the village of Fluhli where we stopped for pastries and coffee. Then on to Langnau where we shopped in what will be Martha Klontz’s favorite shop for crystal and Margaret bought a crystal ball. We saw a completely different type of architecture in this part of Switzerland and a lot of paintings on the roof and sides of the older structures in the towns. Also of note were the “birth trees” announcing the birth of a baby at a particular house. There were usually two trees - a small one by the door and a larger one (30 ft) in the yard. They were wood with sticks for limbs and baby and children’s toys tied to the limbs and of course the name of the child on a large name plate at the base of the “tree.” We saw cheese being made the “old” way at a cheese factory in Affoltern and the “new” way too. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant on a terrace. Then we looked at farms in the area and their unusual storage building built in front of the house that looked like another small house. We took a break in Spiez on the Thunersee and watched the boats and a dance contest on the waterfront - it was very very hot!! We returned via Interlaken and the north bank of the Brienzersee over the Brunig Pass (by car this time) and to the apartment for some iced tea and coffee. We ate at home that night and read and watched World Cup Games on TV.Day 13 - July 3 - (Sunday) Lungern to Lauterbranen to Grutschalp to Winteregg to Murren
Left on the 9:15 train for Interlaken. Then caught the train to Lauterbranen. Then the funicular up the mountain (60-70 degree angle very steep) to Grutschalp. The view at the top is of the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau - it just takes your breath away!! Looked like you could just reach out and touch them. We hiked to Winteregg (this is called the “grandfathers walk”) and had cokes on the terrace of the restaurant (its the only thing in town) and took more pictures. Because of the heat we decided to take the train the rest of the way to Murren. As the train started we looked over and there was a man with his camera surrounded by cows and one was licking the sweaty salt off his arm and he trying desperately to take a close-up picture of a cow. Murren has no cars and lots of places to shop, sleep, and eat.We found a grassy spot that overlooked the Eiger and ate our fruit, cheese, and bread along with some very friendly blackbirds (a la Hitchcock). We explored the town and found a few more Xmas gifts and cards. The elevation is only 5,000 feet, but it seems like you are on top of the world. We bought some rolls for the morning and a newspaper and took the train back to Interlaken where we took a brief break between trains to sit by the river that connects the Brienzersee and the Thunersee. On the trip back to Grutschalp from Murren the train suddenly slowed down and a man jumped off and ran forward. Everyone look out the windows to see a cow on the track and this man trying to get her to move away - very humorous sight to see. Those cows!!
We enjoyed a lovely dinner at our favorite restaurant by the train station in Lungern and Peter had his long awaited steak and fries. Margaret had schwien-spetzle with noodles, a salad and mushroom (champigons) soup - plus some wine - it was lovely. Back home again to cool off, read, write and watch some more World Cup.
Day 14 - July 4 - (Monday) Lungern to Brunig to Twing to Kaserstatt to Magisalp to Reuti to Meiringen to Brienz to Giesbach Falls to Meiringen to Lungern!!!
Happy Fourth of July!! What a day!! We left at 10:15 (very lazy-sleeping too well) taking the train to the Brunig Pass and then caught bus to Twing. Then a cable car up the mountain to Kaserstatt. It was a beautiful day but hotter than Hades inside that cable car for 20 minutes. Then we walked about three miles across the mountain to Magisalp collecting wild flower samples enroute and enjoying a fantastic view. Looking to the north we could see the mountain (Schoenbuhl) above Lungern and looking west more snow capped peaks punctuated by the Eiger in the background. We found a shady spot for lunch just before we got to Magisalp and within hearing distance of a herd of cows. After lunch we walked (watch your step!!) through herds of cows with bells ringing - such a wonderful sound! At Magisalp we had cokes on the restaurant terrace, but we wer really drinking in the view. Then another ski lift down to Reuti and quickly changed (impatient operator) to the gondola lift down the mountain (past some beautiful water falls) to Meiringen. We wandered slowly through Meiringen, stopping for some more provisions and then caught the train to Brienz to see the wood workers.In Brienz they were having a contest for all of the wood carvers in the region. They each got a large block of wood and were to carve something appropriate to a theme (I don’t remember the theme). This was only the second day (they had a week to work) and you could walk along the waterfront and observe the wood carving in progress, but it was too early to see much form. So we went to the main street for some more shopping and encountered a horde (or herd) of Japanese tourists just off the bus. Bought some cookie press-wooden blocks and Peter a smaller Swiss knife.
We then took a paddle-wheel steamer to Giesbach Falls for the second time - but this time Peter could enjoy the trip and the hotel and the falls. As we left the clouds were rolling in and the storm warning lights were flashing along the shore line (the faster they flash the stronger the storm) so we decided to forego a planned hike up the lake shore to the next town and head to Meiringen and some dinner. Then home to start packing our big bags to take to the train station the next day to be sent ahead to Locarno. It is raining as we settle in for the night.
Day 15 - July 5 - (Tuesday) Lungern to Bern to Lungern
It is raining this morning - first real rain of the trip and the mountains look very cloudy. We walked to the doctor’s office to pay our last bill and get results from the test (all is OK) - the total bill was 350.95 francs or about 263 dollars. We did some window shopping in Lungern, buying some baked goodies, a newspaper and then some lovely bells for our front door to remind us of Lungern and those “harmonious” cows.Frau Gasser took us to the train station with our bags which we checked south Locarno and then we took a train west to Bern (2 hours). This is our biggest city visited and we walked through the old city then across the river to what they call the “bear pit.” Looked like Grizzly bears - all of them used to performing for carrots thrown down from above - they would lay on their backs and do funny things waiting for the food to drop. Then we walked back through another part of the old city, stopping at the famous clock tower to watch the animated characters perform. They are not nearly as elaborate or colorful as the ones we saw in Cologne, Germany two years ago. Peter stopped at a post office and bought a couple of first day cover stamps - one for World Cup Soccer and another celebrating the wood carvers. We wandered through the street market, Margaret buying some things for her doll house. We then caught the 5:30 train back to Lungern. We wandered downtown from the station (our favorite eating place being closed on Monday and Tuesday) and ate at a restaurant in the center of town at the Rossli Hotel - very good food.