This really happened. It seemed like a fairy tale. But it is a true story. It was during our Swiss Heartland Untour in 2004. We had decided to spend the day in Brienz. It was a beautiful sunny day. The lady in the Tourist Information Office suggested that we take a walk in the older section of town. The streets were empty. We had the scenery all to ourselves.
At the corner of Krummgasse and Oberdorfstrasse, the voices of a ladies choir were drifting out of a nearby open window. We sat down on a nearby bench and listened. Eleanor suggested that someone must be playing a recording. I was sure it was a live performance. When our private concert ended, I wanted to clap. But shyness overwhelmed me. I regretted not clapping. It turned out to be a choir rehearsal in a building labelled “Heilsarmee” (Salvation Army). It was a magical moment that turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip.
It felt like a fairy tale. But it really happened. This is one of the reasons we will always pick the UnTours way of traveling rather than a bus tour. UnTours put us there. We had our own private concert surrounded by ancient chalets, beautiful flowers, snowcapped mountains and a distant waterfall. This was what I call an “UnTours Moment.”