Heartland Untour, Summer of 2002
by Peter and Margaret Haggart, Moscow ID
Monday – June 17th Spokane to Seattle to London
Very early this morning Maggie sits up straight in bed (at our daughter’s house in Spokane) and starts making plans to go back home and get her walking shoes. She is looking for her purse and keys in the dark when she sees Pete sitting on the edge of the bed wondering what is going on. A search of the luggage reveals the errant shoes safely tucked away in a plastic bag – in Maggie’s big bag! In Seattle, at the British Airways ticket counter, a family of four is waiting ahead of us. The next thirty minutes is spent listening to the father give the agent a bad time about their seating arrangement. By the time he has finished with the BA agent she is in a state of total shock and frustration. Our check-in is a simple task compared to what she has just been through! Later we see the family sitting in the “bulk-head” row of seats – he got his way!Monday June 18th becomes Tuesday June 19th London to Zurich
Our flight to London is smooth and uneventful – except for the lady massaging Pete’s back now and then. The passenger behind Pete does not realize that when she sticks her hands in the seat pocket she is rubbing his back! London is a maze (as seen through a sleepy haze) of seemingly endless walking, busing, and check points – but we do have plenty of time to catch our flight to Zurich. Arrive in Zurich in the late afternoon and easily find the shuttle bus to the Allegra Hotel. The hotel is nice and thankfully air conditioned – it is 100 degrees in Zurich.Wednesday - June 19th – Sunny and HOT – Zurich to Lungern
And so we begin our third journey to Switzerland with Idyll. After a sumptuous breakfast at the Allegra Hotel we checked out and caught the shuttle bus back to the airport train station. We easily recognized other UnTourists waiting for the Idyll contact person. We were glad that we had spent the previous night in Zurich at the hotel – the looks on the faces of those that had just gotten off their flights from the USA told the whole story of lack of sleep! We felt rested and ready for the day. Of course we did look a little rumpled ourselves, and Maggie’s hair was a bit frizzy because the hotel hair dryer decided to quit. That was blamed on Pete because he had used it the night before!The train ride to Lungern was pleasant and Hans Zumstein-Ming was waiting for us at the station with a broad smile and a perfect English language greeting. A little about the Zumstein-Ming family. Hans was trained as an accountant and worked as the Treasurer of the village of Lungern for 25 years. Now he is the tax assessor for the Canton – what a job! His wife, Margrit, has total charge of the house and gardens. Her roses are spectacular, as well as the other flowering plants that surround the house. They have three children – Stephan, Esther, and Phillip – all in their 20s and all living at home. Esther commutes to Luzern for an office job, but will soon be living in the third floor apartment that we rented. The Idyll apartment is on the third floor and very large. The best thing about it is the balcony that overlooks the mountains and the Lungersee below us. It is a 2 minute flat walk from the rail station and we can see and hear the hourly trains – fortunately they don’t start until 6:30 in the morning and the last train comes by at 8:30 in the evening. To get to town you must go down a long and very steep hill, which means, of course that you will have a long walk back up that same hill. This was Wednesday afternoon and all the stores in Lungern are closed on that afternoon every week! However, USA business sense is coming to the village, as there was a Shell gas station that was open and it had a convenience store inside – just like you might find on any highway back home.
Thursday - June 20th – Very Hot – Storm in the Evening – Lungern to Meiringen
Arriving a day early has turned into a real plus for getting our feet on the ground. This is orientation day with Idyll and it was held in Meiringen, our home base in 1998, and so over the Brünig Pass we went on the train. There was one group at the orientation made up of 16 members of the same family. In celebration of his 80th birthday, the patriarch of the family brought them all to Switzerland. There were a lot of first time Idyll travelers in this group and of course many “alumni” like us. We had lunch with Harold and Miriam Fritts from Tucson. They are both approaching 80 years of age and she uses a walker or two canes to get around. Yet they both still hike the trails – he carries a digital camera and takes pictures of flowers and herbs. They come to Switzerland almost every year and stay a month. Back in Lungern Pete went looking for some wine but was side-tracked by the bank, which has free internet service, and several other stores. He came panting up the long hill, but an hour later we were enjoying wine and cheese. Just before supper a strong storm came in with thunder, lightning, hail, and wind. It certainly cooled things off.Friday – June 21st – Sunny and Warm Changes to Thunderstorms – Brünig to Reuti to Mägisalp to Planplatten to Käserstatt
Our first big alpine hiking day. Took the train to Brünig, then the bus to Reuti, then a lift to Mägisalp, and then another lift to the top – Planplatten at 7,000 ft. Pete had planned this trip for a clear day and although Maggie was concerned by the hazy clouds, Pete reassured her that all would be OK weather-wise. The views on the way up and at the top were spectacular. The Wetterhorn range in full view and the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau in the distance. At Planplatten we took a short walk up to the summit and sat to enjoy the view, but the dark clouds were gathering.We went back down to Mägisalp for lunch and to sit out a rain storm. We ordered hamburgers and got the best ground beef we had ever tasted – two large patties each – we put a couple of them away to use for supper the next day. The first dark cloud was learning that the water bottle in Pete’s pack had come open and had soaked his 35mm camera to the point that it would not operate. The next dark cloud was full of lightning, thunder, and rain. We had started a hike towards Käserstatt via the Marmot trail. We were confused at first because of the gates and fences used to keep the cows within their pastures, even going back to the first fork in the trail and starting over again. Back at the gate we pushed the cows (with bells ringing) aside and started up the trail. Up and up – the last time (eight years ago) we had taken the hike the opposite direction and remembered it as being relatively flat – not so! Then came the storm – and no place to take shelter! Pete was full of apologies and promises of future foot massages as we broke out the rain gear and trudged on up the trail with the rain, thunder and lightning! Later we both expressed our fear of the lightning – but not while on the trail! The walk took us about 50 minutes and we weren’t too wet from the experience. The last 5-10 minutes were downhill and without the rain. We gratefully took the lift down the mountain to Twing and within a few minutes caught the bus back to Brünig and the train home, with Maggie teasing Pete about his plans for this day all the way back to the apartment. The Swiss transportation system was working at its best this day. We never had to wait more than five minutes for any form of transportation. Pete tried to take credit for this good fortune, but it is just the Swiss and their orderliness! The mountains are truly spectacular and the wild flowers in full bloom and of every variety. Then add in the cows with their ringing bells in the meadows and you have a wonderful Swiss experience! It was good to be back in the apartment out of our wet socks and with our feet up sipping a glass of wine.
Saturday – June 22nd – Clear and Warm – Thun and Cruising on the Thunersee
Awoke to clear skies and cool temperatures, but the day soon heated up to the 90s again! We took the train to Thun via Interlaken. We would still be sitting in the empty train at the Interlaken Ost station if not for a kind English speaking lady who told us to take the train on the next track to the Interlaken West station, and then on to Thun. The rest of the trip was air conditioned on a fast and smooth train. The trains in our Heartland area are a smaller gauge and tend to be a bit noisy and bumpy. Only an open train window provides fresh air.It was market day in the “old city” part of Thun and we wandered about the food, trinkets, clothes, and other goods on display. We bought some sandwiches and looked for a shady spot to eat. Spotting one near the river we made our way over. There were several families and young couples eating and it looked OK at first. Very soon we discovered that this spot was the hang out for junkies and folks were selling dope right there in broad daylight! We ate quickly and then moved on to tour some more of Thun. We headed in the general direction of the old castle, but Pete was the only one hardy enough to make the climb up to actually see the castle itself. There were flights and flights of stairs! Then we made our way back to the waterfront for some much needed ice cream, and waited for a ship to take us back to Interlaken. The ship turned out to be a good choice. The breeze from the water was cool and we had a shady spot on the forward deck and could enjoy the view as well as the breeze! Pete was “chatted up” by a pleasant English lady on the trip. The lake steamer passes many lovely lake-side villages on the trip. All have lovely displays of flowers, giving us new ideas for our planter boxes at home.
Sunday, June 23rd – Sunny and Very Warm – Schönbüel Above Lungern
Slept late today – Hooray! Finally pulled ourselves together and left the house after 11 am. Took the two lifts up to Schönbüel, Maggie’s favorite lift ride over what she has dubbed cow town. The first lift is a closed “box car.” At the midway point you get into an open two-person ski lift that is a little bit of heaven as it soars over the melodious bells of the cows with spectacular mountains in the background. It was very pleasant atop Schönbüel which made us happy since the temps were soaring again!We took the trail around Schönbüel – but going only part way (30 to 40 minutes out). It is very narrow in parts, with a steep drop-off and we were thankful for the walking sticks that our son and his family provided for Pete’s birthday. The Swiss had even placed a rope along part of the trail, so we knew to be very careful in this area. We met some humorous English ladies along the trail – one who had “fallen on her bum” in the snow. Also, shades of the 1960s, there were hippies dancing with their long skirts, beads, and interesting hair. There were tents set up in a little valley, but it looked as though the “festival” had broken up that morning and it was completely gone by the time we left the mountain. There were also Para gliders and radio controlled model airplanes. The mountain views are spectacular – we could clearly see from Meiringen to Brienz and from the Brienzersee to Interlaken. On the way back to town the “box car” would not go! No matter how many buttons the operator pushed and dials he examined! We were all shoulder to shoulder with some 20+ German tourists – loud and talkative (we were jealous because we didn’t know what they were saying!) Finally the lift started moving, but that only led to a very HOT walk back to our apartment!
A characteristic note today: a gentleman arrived at the lift station on his huge motorcycle (hog) playing very loudly on the radio Swiss accordion music – not cool. Despite the condition of the mountain trails the Swiss women wear skirts and dresses accompanied by “sensible” shoes. Sometimes they also sport ankle length hose.
Monday - June 24th – Cool and Rainy – Luzern
A restless night for both, added to by the banging of windows and shutters as a brisk wind, clouds, and rain moved into our Swiss alpine valley during the night. By morning the clouds were low and it was raining hard – with thunder in the background. This was supposed to be our long awaited (8 years) Idyll Swiss cheese making tour in the mountains near Stockalp – but we missed it again – just didn’t seem worth the effort to stand in the cold rain. We heard later that some people did go! We took the mid-morning train to Luzern.Maggie always marvels at Pete’s recall of places and directions. First he led her to the famous covered bridge over the river – stopping along the way to buy an umbrella. Secondly, he managed to find the shop near the castle where we had almost bought a duvet cover 4 years earlier. However, Pete did force Maggie to walk up a very steep hill and around the castle and through a residential area, and back down a steeply sloping street to complete a circle around the old castle! Finally he said, “You stay here and I will look up this street.” And sure enough, he found the store! But lo – we did not find a duvet cover we really liked this time. Time for lunch and so thirdly, Pete took Maggie to the Stadtkeller Restaurant where they had eaten 10 years earlier when on their bus tour of Europe! It is a crazy restaurant with entertainment and filled with people just off the tour buses. Lots of singing, dancing, and playing of various musical instruments – plus audience participation. The lady running the show was a whiz at languages – even speaking Japanese to the delight of those visitors – and this is a must in language knowledge now, as a majority of tourists seem to be from Japan (and India). We enjoyed a Brot and Rosti lunch at a very reasonable price – but then they added in 20SF for the “entertainment” – but it was worth it!
We did some more window shopping – stopping at the Globus Store to look at more duvet covers. We were shocked at the rudeness of the clerk and one customer. We were looking through samples of duvets in a rack and the clerk and her customer came over and just butted in and started looking through the same rack of samples – even ones that we had our hands on! Just shoved right in with not so much as an “excuse me” in any language! So we each gave them dirty looks and left the store – never to return again!
Maggie bought some sweet goodies at a bakery and Pete returned his brand new umbrella which broke the third time he opened it. He was pleased when the sales lady had to open half a dozen more umbrellas to find one that was not broken! We caught an early “local” train to Sarnen and did some grocery shopping and then caught the next train home to Lungern. Entertainment at the Sarnen train station was provided by a crazy couple who yelled and screamed at each train that left the station without them. Soon we were back in our very cool apartment – what a relief to drop 20 degrees in temperature – this is much easier on our bodies than the previous days of hot weather – perhaps the heat wave has broken!
Tuesday - June 25th – Cool and Light Rain Showers – Brienz
There were still low clouds – and it was cool with a light drizzle. In the afternoon we took the train to Brienz and shopped till we dropped! Mostly gifts and a metal cat for our patio. Pete did buy himself a knife and carving set. Back in Lungern we took our rolling carry-on bag and went down, down, down to town and bought food supplies. We then went to the campground restaurant down by the lake for a much more elegant evening meal than we had expected – fish and wiener schnitzel. Another note – the Swiss do not use screens and leave windows and doors open for ventilation, but this allows flies to enter and bother you while eating. So the only drawback to these lovely meals is getting used to the “fly in your soup.”Wednesday - June 26th – Clear and Warm – The “Grandmother’s Walk”
It dawned sunshine and not so hot so we headed to Interlaken. Changed trains to Lauterbrunnen and then changed trains again to go up the steep incline to reach the car-less town of Wengen (4180 ft). Mountain views and waterfalls are everywhere. The next part of the trip up is by gondola lift. The lift station is new and in the middle of town. The old one outside of town was wiped out by an avalanche a couple of years ago. The gondola takes us up to Männlichen at 7,300 ft and from here you can see a more complete panorama, including the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau – which today are in and out of the clouds. This is one of the best views in all of Switzerland – perhaps the second best being the view from the other side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley on the trail to Mürren. We had lunch near the lift station so we could keep on appreciating the view, then took a leisurely hike to Kleine Scheidegg (the place made more famous by the location filming of “The Eiger Sanction”) which took about 90 minutes. It is called the “Grandmother’s Walk,” which speaks perfectly to its difficulty! We sat on a lot of benches along the way to soak in the views and enjoy the people that came by – especially two young brothers and a sister who were verbally fighting up and down the trail! We then took a reverse series of trains to get us back to Meiringen. After two tries we found a bank with a cash machine that would accept our check card and give us some needed SF. Also, at the end of the main street we found an internet café that gave you a half hour of time for 6SF or an hour for 10SF – and we sent some email messages to family. Back in Lungern for wine and cheese and then to the Bahnhöfli Restaurant for a fine dinner. The chef came out and we gave him our thanks – it is a family affair – his father was head chef here before him! Note – Idyll is offering a special cooking class with this chef during the last two weeks of the fall season in October – wish we could go!Thursday - June 27th – Cool and Sunny – Turning to Some Showers – Brünig to Lungern Hike
A lazy day today. We both slept well and spent the morning washing, reading, and shopping at the bakery (yum yum) and grocery. We went to the bank and got on the free internet. You have to pound like hell on the metal keys (they prevent vandalism) so it really slows you down – plus the y and z are reversed from a USA keyboard! It is better to pay to use the computer at the café in Meiringen. Took a walk in the afternoon down from the Brünig Pass to Lungern and picked wildflowers enroute. They are beautiful, though Maggie felt guilty and Pete tried to get a picture of her surreptitiously sneaking examples of each specimen. It rained gently on us midway through the hike. Kids on the train waved to us and we waved back. One darling child gave us the “finger” and we smiled and waved back. He lost! Met several hardy souls coming up the path. The view of Lungern towards the end of the trail is really beautiful! Back in Lungern we stopped at the Bahnhöfli and Pete had an ice cream sundae and Maggie had coffee with cream served in a chocolate cup (their special treat for coffee drinkers) and of course a few tastes of Pete’s ice cream.Friday - June 28th – Cool and Rain Showers – Art in Luzern and Supper in Kaiserstuhl
The thunder and rain came again last night, right after the farmer did a wonderful job of spraying liquid manure on the freshly cut field up the hill behind our apartment. But it was cold last night so the windows stayed closed and we slept well. In the morning the clouds lay low to the mountain sides and the rain seemed like it was going to stay, so we decided to return to Luzern and look at art. This also marked our half-way point in our stay and the exchange of linens. Margrit supplied us with fresh sheets and towels. The sheets are thick cotton, sun-dried, rough to the touch, and ironed to smoothness.Took the 10:30 train and chatted with many other untourists going to a variety of places. Arrived at Luzern at 11:30 and went to the tourist office and got brochures for the art gallery, which turned out to be just a couple of blocks away. The gallery is the Sammlung Rosengart Luzern, and since there is a sculptured bust of Herr Rosengart by a famous artist on display, we must assume that he was a patron and these works (or part of them) were in his private collection. The art is on three floors – the basement devoted to dozens and dozens of work by Paul Klee – some examples showing his sketch work and then the finished canvas. Klee is not particularly to our liking, but the display gave one a true sense of the breadth of his work. The main two floors were devoted to the works of many other renowned artists, including several works by Bonnard, Braque, Cézanne, Chagall, Léger, Matisse, Miró, Seurat, Utrillo and Pablo Picasso (again a good cross-section of his life’s work). One can really get to know Picasso at the other Rosengart gallery across the river (Picasso Museum Luzeren). It also houses hundreds of photographs taken of Picasso and his family by his good friend David Douglas Duncan. All in all a very good selection of art and time well spent – be sure and ask for the “senior” entrance rate at this gallery and in all other galleries and museums!
We walked the streets of Luzern window shopping and then stopped at a cheese store and picked up some cheese for our own “wine time” and to take home. Took the train to Kaiserstuhl – one stop before Lungern – and had a fish dinner at the Hotel Kaiserstuhl. The fish was good and the Italian wine was outstanding – and Maggie says the decaf coffee was also very good – especially when she added pieces of chocolate provided to the hot brew! It was leisurely and relaxing in a good atmosphere. Caught the next train home to Lungern and now we are snug in our apartment curled up with our books.
Saturday - June 29th – Warm and Sunny – Rosenlaui Gorge to Schwarzwaldalp to Grindelwald
Late start to a rather ambitious day. We took the train to Meiringen and the bus to Rosenlaui Gorge Waterfall (Gletscherschlucht Rosenlaui). It was many many steps up – wet, chilly, and absolutely breathtaking. The power of the water pounding through that gorge and down the rocks was a little frightening – but very awe inspiring. We started our hike at 1370 meters and ended the gorge at 1485 meters. Water spray was in the air and it sounded like a freight train with the roar of the water almost deafening. The water comes from a melting glacier and this formed the gorge. After the walk through the gorge we ate our packed lunch in the sun – peanut butter sandwiches, chips, and a banana. Bought cheese of the area back at the start and a chocolate bar which we shared. Took the postal bus up to Schwarzwaldalp. The buses are a real experience – king of the road on these narrow one lane winding roads. With their 4 note musical tones played at each blind corner – many cars had to back up to a wider space in the road to allow the bus to pass. The cows were the only road hogs that could not always be hurried and the bus waited for them. Most cows stepped lively off the road, but a few defiant ones took their time.We had 20 minutes at Schwarzwaldalp and then took a local bus to Grindelwald. This was a marvelously scenic route with the mountains (especially the Eiger) and glaciers, meadows, water falls, and wildflowers in abundance. Grindelwald is a resort town – very busy, many shops. Caught the train to Interlaken Ost and then on to Meiringen. Arrived just in time to take the tour in the Tram Hall of the Arnold Brügger art works. This was led by Madeline (Idyll Rep) who knew Brügger since he was a close friend of her father-in-law. He did Paris scenes, portraits and mountain scenes – especially in the Hohfluh area. He was born in 1882 and died in 1975, living his last years in Meiringen. Personally, we liked very much his portraits and street scenes and were less enthralled with the mountain scenes, even though they were of the local area. He was modernistic in his final years. Many of his paintings have distinguishing bit of red in them – especially the early ones. Had dinner with Hal and Miriam Fritz at the Lungern Bahnhöfli Restaurant. Maggie had cheese fondue that was yummy and Pete had a spaghetti with bacon and mushrooms. Home again – exhausted after a long but eventful day!
Sunday - June 30th – Cloudy and Warm – Hergiswil to Engelberg to Sachseln to Sarnen
We keep changing plans – sometimes on the go! We started out to do a circle route via Engelberg and the Yochpass, but when we got to Engelberg the clouds were getting thick in the direction we wanted to go – so after a quick look around the village we caught the next train back to Hergiswil. This train is the first train that we ever rode on in Switzerland some 10 years ago – the last part of the trip up to Engelberg is very steep! From Hergiswil we traveled to Sachseln, after first chatting with a mother and her daughter about their three week European trip – they were on their way to Rome. We had lunch at the Idyll recommended restaurant, sitting outside. We noted with some amusement the cheering coming from the bar as soccer fans cheered Brazil’s goals in their World Cup finals match against the Germans (no love lost here for the German team in German speaking Switzerland) – the cheers echoed up the street erupting from apartment balconies.We then took a nice flat walk beside Lake Sarnen to the town of Sarnen – a little more than an hour. As we got closer to Sarnen there were lots of people in the parks, on the sports fields, or by and in the water. Before we got to the train station we spotted a bakery and bought some apple pastries for the morning. This time the “entertainment” at the Sarnen train station was provided by a woman in a see-through dress giving her man a passionate goodbye. She stood alone on the platform as the train left and then turned and walked the length of the station showing everyone her fashionable thong underwear.
Further “entertainment” was provided on our train by two college-aged young men – Americans – engaged in a heated conversation about one of them spoiling this special trip because of his interest in a young woman. They argued and then would calm down, but one of them just couldn’t let go of his feelings, and it would heat up again. As the train passed us after we got off in Lungern, one boy had left his seat and the other was holding his head in his hands – how sad – plus they had missed all of the wonderful scenery that was passing them by. Bacon and eggs at home and then more trip planning!