At 7 a.m. we are off on our flight to Boston. We are glad that we planned the Boston overnight stay as our second leg of the flight was delayed and we would have missed our Swiss Air flight. The motel in Boston was good and about 15 minutes away from the airport in Revere.

Our flight left at 7 p.m. and we called it the “screaming baby flight” for Zurich as the baby in front of us screamed and cried most of the way.

Tuesday became –

We were met by the Idyll-Untour staff and they arranged for the validation of our rail passes (this was the new “companion” pass, cheaper but it means that one can not travel independently of one’s mate – which in our case made no difference – we always travel together!). Had plenty of time to talk with others in the group and exchange some dollars for Swiss Francs. The group boarded a special train car reserved for Idyll and we were off to Luzern and a change of trains for the trip to Meiringen.

We were met at the station by Lisi Anderegg – who spoke hardly a word of English (and our German was no better!) and our travel bag was put in her bicycle basket (they have no car) and we walked the short distance to our apartment. Her husband, Werner, was very friendly and spoke some English. He borrowed a relative’s car and brought us the rest of our luggage.

The Malchplatz (milking place) apartment was very roomy. It had a separate kitchen, master bedroom, living room, smaller bedroom, and bathroom. The view from the windows was magnificent in all directions.

We did some shopping for essentials and then Pete wanted to show Maggie how to use the cash machine as he had easily done at the airport. The card went in – the numbers were punched – but no money came out. After talking with a teller in the bank, the only conclusion was that it was the wrong system for our card. We decided to take no more chances and went back to the apartment and fell into a deep and much needed sleep.

Awoke to a cloudy and misty morning – but that’s OK since this is orientation day in Reuti at the Victoria Hotel ( it is either a chain of hotels or every city likes the name – there are many Victoria hotels in Switzerland).

After meeting with the Idyll staff and other UnTourists (one of the staff thought we were the only and first ones from Idaho), we then separated into Alumnae and new people. Agnes Falleger took the alum’s and she gave us a lot of good advice and important facts about Switzerland. For instance, the ceremonial dresses had many pleats in them because a person usually only had one dress in a lifetime and she just let out the pleats as she got bigger and older. Agnes will be leading a trip to Basel and we decide that we will be on that special trip.

We had a nice lunch of chicken with a sauce on rice and a green salad. We sat at a table with Ruth and Ed Malcolm. They were charter members of Idyll UnTours – making their first trip in 1976. Ruth is interested in genealogy and was very conversational – also took a lot of notes writing in a very small hand. They are in their 80’s and a very delightful couple from Maine.

The day had dawned cool and cloudy – but soon the sun broke through and we changed from long pants to shorts. But getting a full nights sleep was going to be difficult as we could not seem to overcome the jet lag – or whatever – even though we have very comfortable beds and the area is very quiet at night. One of the problems was that the covering quilt was too heavy and we needed something in-between to keep our bodies the right temperature.

Took the post bus to Aareschlucht – Meiringen’s “Grand Canyon” and then walked down into the canyon (it is not really that deep) and onto a walk-way that hugs the canyon walls over the Aare River – it really got your heart up to speed watching the white water rushing by and below you compressed into narrow passages.

We took a lot of pictures but they can hardly capture what your eyes and body are experiencing. The end of the canyon/river walk quickly led to a restaurant where we picked up a sandwich to eat outside in the shade of a tree. We then continued our walk back to Meiringen and stopped at the Co-op Grocery – a very good store – to really stock up on essentials. Back at the apartment we read the newspaper (we usually bought the Herald-Tribune or USA Today every day and saved it till the evening or for a train ride home).

Today is sunny and hot! We left on the train for Interlaken and changed to the train to Lauterbrunnen and then changed to a smaller train which took us up a mountain-side to the car-less village of Wengen. Wengen is charming and has spectacular mountain views. There are lots of hotels and it is probably a very popular place for skiing in the winter – well it is very popular in the summer too! We walked through the village and got on a gondola lift to Mannlichen – the upper part of the mountain at 7,440 feet. From this vantage point you can see the entire Jungfrau Region.

We ate our picnic lunch (prepared at our apartment) in a wildflower covered meadow, then slapped on the sun screen and started a 90 minute hike to Kleine Scheidegg with many stops to inspect the wildflowers and listen to the sound of cow bells rising from the valley, as well as that of mountain streams. The views were simply breath-taking. The Eiger looming closer and closer and the village of Grindelwald far far below. In fact, the longest cable ski lift in Europe runs from Grindelwald over 4 miles to the top at Mannlichen. Our hike ended at the hotel made famous by the movie “The Eiger Sanction.” The route of the hike is also along the ski run that Picabo Street crashed on this year. The Eiger’s North Face was in full view and in the late afternoon began generating its own clouds.

After some refreshments we took the cog train (had to pay extra for the ride – but a three hour hike seemed like too much) down to Grindelwald – a slow steep decline – and then caught a series of trains that got us home by 5:30. After a shower and a glass of wine we had supper at the Adler Hotel. It was highly recommended but we found it only so so – perhaps the weather being very hot and the flies landing on everything suppressed our enthusiasm.

This morning we went to the top of the mountain directly behind Meiringen – Planplattan at 8,550 ft – which offered another spectacular post-card view. It took three different kinds of lifts to get to the top and we could see that they were building a new lift to serve the skiers this winter, an enclosed gondola rather than the open chair lift we took to the top. We were greeted by our favorite Swiss sound – the cow bells – coming from three different meadows.

Coming back down, we stopped for lunch at Magisalp. They were having the annual Nidlete (cream) Festival and there was lots of singing and dancing and native costumes. We could hear the music coming up at us as we came down the mountain (it is about half-way to the top). We bought German sausages served with bread and mustard and ate lunch in yet another wildflower covered meadow.

Back in town we took the post bus to Zwirig, which would then allow us to walk down to Reichenbach Falls – the falls made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a story in which Sherlock Holmes is thrown off the falls to his death by his arch-enemy Moriarity.

The post bus ride was a real adventure The bus turned off the main route (which is not all that wide to begin with) onto a narrow one lane road. In advance of each blind curve in the road the driver would sound the very loud post bus horn – DFB(flat) – to warn cars on the other side of the curve that the bus was coming – and it was not stopping. The cars (and this being Sunday afternoon – we met many) were forced to stop and back up to turn-outs in the road. The bus driver seemed to enjoy the power he had – but then the road drops off thousands of feet on our shoulder – so we were glad that he was not giving an inch. It was a grand show!

Leaving the bus we walked down from the top of the falls – stopping off at a number of spectacular viewing points until the whole waterfall came into view. All of this downward walking was certainly much better than Pete’s original idea – which was to walk to the falls from our apartment (you can see and hear the falls from our bedroom window) – not only would it have been a difficult uphill climb, but it would have been a long walk back to town. We took a funicular down the rest of the way and then had a 20 minute walk to town – window shopping on the way – places that we would visit next week to check out the local crafts. Wine and salad and left-overs from last night – plus some wonderful cheese.

Sunny and hot. Took the mid-morning train to Interlaken, then caught the train to Lauterbrunnen. A post bus took us to Trummelbach Falls. The three major glaciers and other sources send water through the mountain and at Trummelbach you can go into the mountain and see the water rush and ROAR through the rocks and channels it has cut for eons. There are nine viewing stations and in a few we needed to get out our rain gear as the cold glacier water sprayed over us – the whole mountain seemed to tremble under the force of the water. It was really impressive.

We came out after an hour and just in time to catch the post bus to Stechelberg and then catch two gondola lifts up to Murren (5,300 ft.). This was a return to a place that we really enjoyed in 1994. We had lunch and then went to a shop that we had liked to buy more wine stoppers and other gifts. It was very hot and so we took the trolley and funicular back to Lauterbrunnen – but on the trolley ride the view of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau remained as wonderful as we had seen them four years earlier.

We trained home via Interlaken and stopped at the Co-op grocery for provisions and then home for a cooling shower, wine and cheese. We ate at a place by the train station while thunder, lightning and a brief shower cooled things off. Had some ice cream and planned for the next day – and oh yes, our nightly wash in the bathroom sink (Maggie) and rinse in the kitchen sink (Pete) of clothes. Switzerland remains a place of natural wonder that is such a treat for all of one’s senses.

Hazy and warm. Off at our usual mid-morning time for a lake trip. We went by train to Spiez and then walked down from the train station to the harbor and caught a steamboat for a cruise on the Thunsersee to Thun. It was a heavenly 40 minutes once we moved away from the big German with the cigar hanging out of his mouth. Large luxurious homes lined the shore of the three or four villages we stopped at on the way to Thun. Several castles were also visible from the lake. In Thun we had tomato and mozzarella sandwiches and then boarded a train for Bern where we hoped to find a train to Fraubrunnen in search of Pete’s ancestors.

Fortunately Pete noticed that the village train stop just before Fraubrunnen was Grafenried and this was the name on the postcard showing the church where the Oechsli’s had worshipped since the 12th Century. Pete’s paternal grandmother was an Oechsli. Upon arriving at Grafenried Pete showed the photocopy of the postcard of the kirche (church) to the postman at the train station and he took a couple of steps and pointed out the church steeple, an easy walk from the station.

The church had changed from the 1930 postcard and photographs, but the steeple and basic structure and other buildings could be clearly identified and told us we were in the right place. It appears to be an evangelical Dutch reform church. The stained glass windows were modern looking and the balcony contained a magnificent organ. The bells in the steeple rang the quarter hours. Next door appeared to be the church offices and classrooms but no one was there. We also rang the bell of what we thought must be the pharrhaus – parson’s home – but no one was home. We then searched the grounds and nearby cemetery for an Oechsli, but to no avail. After a lot of picture taking we boarded the train to return – satisfied with finding the church.

Bought barbecued chicken, salad makings, and potatoes at the market and then went home to relax – another busy day!

We had a good night’s sleep! Finally! It was warm and sunny and we were off on the train this morning to Luzern. We visited with some fellow UnTourists from Dallas part of the way. We noted that there was a lot of debris in the streets that looked like tree leaves and plants. Later we learned that Luzern had experienced a terrific hail storm the previous night that tore the plants right out of the planters on buildings and shredded the leaves off some of the trees. Shopped until we dropped buying linens for Jane/Steve and us, and of course some chocolates with Swiss bells. Had lunch at an outdoor café (Pete thinks that the beef in his burger was really horse meat) and then went to the Picasso Museum. It was housed in a 16th century home. They had the dining room on display. The exhibit had several hundred photographs of Picasso and his companion/wife Jacqueline and some of his paintings, ceramics and lithographs. Most interesting!

We made hotel reservations next to station for an overnight stay on our train trip to Vienna – to break up the long trip. Back at the station we paid the 1 and one-half franc price to go to the bathroom at the newest train concession in Europe – McClean Restrooms – they are clean but the price is highway robbery! We got off the train in Lungern – the place we stayed for two weeks in 1994. Our favorite restaurant is at the train station and Pete had a steak with an herb and butter sauce and Maggie had white fish and pea soup. The plates were lovely with a green herb decoration and Maggie’s fish had a carrot fish cutout on top. We asked how the cutouts were made and in the end got the name of a store in Luzern that carried the cutout forms. Our favorite restaurant did not fail us. Another great day!

Sunny and hot. Up very early for us – 6:15 – to get ready for the alumni trip to Basel. About 18 of us joined Agnes Falleger for a most interesting, informative, and educational trip to the very international Swiss city of Basel.

Agnes began her history lesson at the Luzern rail station – telling us of a city that was quite literally built on a marsh – the train depot being supported by thousands of tree logs standing on end and driven into the marsh. Many buildings have to have their doors and windows adjusted each year as the buildings continue to settle.

In Basel we took a tram to “greater” Basel (those in greater Basel stick their tongues out at those in “lesser” Basel across the Rhine river and those in “lesser” Basel show only their backsides to the people in “greater” Basel) and the central market. First we visited the city hall which occupies space in buildings that were built during three distinct time periods. The wall paintings, wood work (she took us into some city offices), iron work, and roof tiles were all spectacular – especially the gargoyles, which are happy faces – not the usual sad and ugly creatures.

We went on to other government buildings which used to house the very rich and important people in earlier days – such homes! Next, on to the Munster or former Roman Catholic Church. The windows and general architecture reflected both the Romanesque and Gothic styles in the same building in interesting combinations. Agnes gave us a most graphic history of the church, which is now Protestant. The sandstone construction gives the outside many different shades of red.

We then strolled to a place to overlook the Rhine river and watched a small ferry that brought people across using only the river current as the source of power for the boat. Then down the street past the Basel University buildings – the oldest and finest educational facility in Switzerland. The medical school is especially noted and attracts students from around the world. We could also view the small chapel on the bridge (which is wider on the greater Basel side than the lesser side) where husbands could dunk their wives in the river – sometimes drowning them in the process.

Agnes then took some of the more hardy of us up and down some of the very oldest streets in Basel. We observed that the buildings were actually bowing in and out and this was quite evident when looking down the narrow streets. The oldest house we saw was built in 1291. We then finished our formal tour back at the market.

We bought some very salty black olives at the market to add to our picnic lunch and searched for something cold to drink. Ice tea was the answer and a convenient window sill provided a place to sit in the shade – eat our lunch – and be entertained by a quartet of bass players – what a treat.

We then walked several blocks to the Kunstmuseum and viewed the masters – Rembrandt, Rubens, Cezanne, Degas, Gaugin, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Rodin, et. al. inside a wonderfully cool marble building. Then down the street a few blocks to a fabulous Tinguely water fountain – all moving and spraying water only using the power of the water.

Caught the tram back to the train station and via Maggies careful planning returned home via Bern and Interlaken by 7 p.m. Finished off the left-over chicken, baked potatoes, and salad – and oh yes – some Walker’s shortbread cookies to top it off! What a day!

Sunny and warm. Today was planned to be a lazy day around our home town. But we were aroused by a phone call – thought for sure it was some sort of emergency back in the USA – but it was Ed and Ruth Malcom calling. They wanted to come to Meiringen and have lunch with us.

So we hustled around the apartment washing and ironing and picking up and then went downtown to the woodcrafters shop and bought many small gifts. Went window shopping at an antique flea market, bought our groceries and then back to the apartment. We met Ed and Ruth at the station at noon and had a leisurely 2 hour lunch at the Kristall Restaurant. They were wonderful conversationalists so it was great fun. Ruth enjoys genealogy so she liked Pete’s story about searching for his ancestors in Grafenreid. Ed was a clinical psychologist, both practicing and teaching at a university in Maine.

We put them on the 3 p.m. train and then went to the Migros Market for the chocolate sale, buying too much! Yum! Yum! We were lazy the rest of the afternoon, reading, sleeping, working the crossword puzzle. That evening we went looking for the Restaurant Brauerei. We took a wrong turn (Pete was not a great map reader this time!) and were on our way to Reichenbach Falls when we finally asked someone. They directed us back to town and it was very easy to find if you knew the correct name of the river you crossed to get to it! The food was excellent and very inexpensive. We walked the main street then which was having a “tourist” night (an experiment allowing stores to stay open later) and got stopped for some wine tasting which Maggie liked but Pete did not. Then on home for some much needed chocolate!

Cloudy and warm. Took our usual 10:05 a.m. train to Brienz. Walked first along the lake shore and looked at all of the sculptures that were the result of the annual wood carving contest – dozens and dozens lining the entire walk along the shoreline. Then we turned back on the main street and window shopped our way back through town. The wood carvings are so beautiful – but so very very expensive. Pete bought a couple of angel models for Christmas cards he will make this year. After a lot of searching we found the violin making school – but it was closed and also the wood carving school – which was also closed but had a lot of work on display in front of the building.

We ate lunch by the shore at the Hotel Waltz overlooking the lake. Then we boarded the boat for Giessbach and decided to take the 4 mile trail through the woods and along the shore to Iseltwald. It is a beautiful walk – but very rocky underfoot, which was hard on our feet. But we were pleased that we did the walk with such ease. The walk started in cloudy weather but the sun popped out now and then and soon we were very warm again – which meant that we had to stop for a Magnum ice cream bar when we got to Iseltwald! The town was charming and had a very interesting hotel overlooking the lake.

We boarded another lake ship for the trip back to Brienz and then the train home. We rested up a bit and then went to the Hotel Banhoff Restaurant to have some pizza and listen to the Swiss music – it was festival night in Meiringen! First there were two accordions and a strange looking bass instrument (1 wire tied to a box and a bar that changed the tension – it was played with a bow). Next 2 Alpenhorn players, who did only one tune, but it was a beautiful sound. Third, a men’s choir with fine harmony and yodeling (the men sang with their hands firmly planted in their pants pockets!) and last but not least the Meiringen town band. Needless to say this was folklore night in our home town.

Things that we find strange or dislike? Dislike the ugly shade of red that so many women dye their hair and so many people who smoke – it is like the USA 20 years ago. But, of course, there is so much to like about Switzerland.

Sunny/Clouds in and out/Mild. Off on the train to Hergiswil (talked and rode with the couple from San Antonio) and then changed to the train to Engelberg – back in 1992 on our bus tour of Europe, this was the very first Swiss train that we ever rode and we had stayed two nights in Engelberg.

The weather was perfect and we took a ski lift from Engelberg to Trubsee Lake, a 20 minute ride with wonderful views. We walked part way around the lake (on a paved path no less!) and found a bench amongst the cows and wildflowers and had our lunch – tuna and the rest of those olives from Basel!

We continued our walk around the lake and then caught an open chair lift (jackets on – it’s cool up here) to the Jochpass at about 7,200 ft. The clouds obscured the higher peaks but this was like being on top of the world. We walked to a good viewpoint and sat and enjoyed it for awhile. Taking life a bit easier and avoiding a difficult/rocky descent, we took the open chair lift down the other side of the Jochpass to Engstlensee – another beautiful Swiss lake. On the way down we were again entertained by dozens of cow bells.

Next came a one mile walk – mostly downhill and with frequent stops to admire the vast variety of colorful wildflowers– to Engstlenalp where we arrived just in time to catch the post bus for our return to Meiringen. We got some of the last seats and could not sit together and yet the bus driver kept picking up more people along the way, including a young couple and their dog – the dog leaned against Maggie for a good part of the trip home. The bus was on a very twisting road and it was very hot and of course we were once again entertained by the post bus horn! However, it could not spoil what had been a wonderful day in the mountains.

Our hard work during the day was rewarded with a Magnum ice cream bar and then we read the paper and had bacon and eggs at the apartment for supper.

Misty and cool turning to rain. We slept in this morning. Went shopping in town and picked up a gift for our hosts and an umbrella and had lunch at the Mirgros Cafeteria. The rains came and the clouds lowered so we stayed in and read and watched the Tour de France on television.

Late in the afternoon we took the train to Brunig and then the post bus to a hotel for the Idyll Swiss Dinner Party – ham, potatoes, green beans, salad (the same curry dressing everyone seemed to be using in the area). The evening included music, yodeling, alp horns, dancing and singing. Pete even got to play the alp horn! Because of the lateness of our stay at the dinner we took buses all the way back to Meiringen. We agreed that this has been a wonderful Swiss stay and that Meiringen is an ideal place to stay because it is so easy to get to other places.

Rainy and cool. We put everything together much quicker than we thought so we had Mr. Anderegg take our bags to the station early. He put them in a cart that was pulled by a motorcycle – he was quite a sight as he headed off to the station with his bright orange helmet. Because of the language problems he did not understand that we were going to carry our bags on the train and he took them inside to the check-room and left them. We spent a good ten minutes with him and the station master trying to get our bags out of the baggage room and to understand that in fact we really did want to carry our bags. We got off to Luzern at 11:18.

Checked into our hotel room – which was small but very clean and comfortable. We walked to the edge of the old city then back to the hotel after a stop at the waterfront for some people watching. We had a nice supper at the hotel and then took a long walk along the waterfront ending up at a band concert being given by a group of young people from England – they were really very good! Leaving for Vienna in the morning.