They're everywhere! - H
Switzerland is fifty times more beautiful than the most wonderful parts of the Californian great outdoors that I've seen. Emerald green hills roll along snow-capped mountain tops dotted with the happiest cows and goats that I've ever seen. California knows nothing about happy cows.
Muerren is a small town high up in the Swiss Alps, accessible only by funicular or cable car. There were probably about 4 automobiles in the town owned by locals. They probabaly brought it up via cable car. Muerren doesn't attract many tourists like some of the larger towns nearby, which was perfect for us. After all the busyness of Paris, we were ready for a quiet retreat. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Muerren. It's the first time we've ever done that, and I would highly recommend it!...although I hear that you need to be careful and find the good ones - or maybe that's for hostels. Anyway, staying at a bed and breakfast allowed us to meet other travelers because we all ate breakfast together each morning. Most of the travelers we met happened to be American, but we did meet this one Australian couple. I really enjoyed connecting with them, but it was a lot of fun talking with everyone, exchanging stories, learning about who they are and where they're from, and swapping tips on great hikes. It was a wonderful experience!
From Muerren, it's a short cable car ride up to the Shilthorn, one of the peaks from which you can get a really great view. We caught an eyeful of the heavy white fog that was shrouding the entire view. Bummer! There's a rotating Chinese restaurant up there and a video that you can watch at the "touristorama" that shows clips of 007 films that were filmed there shortly after this peak was made accessible by cable car.
Travel books and people who know will tell you that Europe is overrun by tourists in the summer. Believe it! We couldn't get away from them, particularly the ones from Korea. On our ride up to the Shiltorn, there were two British men, the Ahns, and at the last minute, twenty five super-excited Korean tourists come skittering onto the cable car. During the entire ride, they were ooh-ing and aah-ing in unison at every glimpse of moutain they saw through the thick clouds...but of course in Korean, "Wah! Yah! Aigooo!" all in that gutteral tone they use. We saw them everywhere, though, and not just in the mountains. Groups of Koreans walking through the streets of Paris, through the halls of Versailles, on the trains, in the restaurants, the Eiffel Tower, shopping in Luzerne...aaaaaaaahhhhh! Being in Europe, it would have been nice to have been surrounded by more Eurpoeans.
One thing I really enjoyed about Paris was using the French I'd learned in junior high and high school. It was surprising even to me that I could not only correctly form sentences, but I could understand what they were saying back to me. I could read enough to get by too, so I felt pretty comfortable in Paris. When we got to Luzerne, Switzerland, though, neither of us knew German, and fewer people spoke English, so we both felt a bit bewildered. Travelling made me want to take up French again and maybe learn some German too.
Muerren is a small town high up in the Swiss Alps, accessible only by funicular or cable car. There were probably about 4 automobiles in the town owned by locals. They probabaly brought it up via cable car. Muerren doesn't attract many tourists like some of the larger towns nearby, which was perfect for us. After all the busyness of Paris, we were ready for a quiet retreat. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Muerren. It's the first time we've ever done that, and I would highly recommend it!...although I hear that you need to be careful and find the good ones - or maybe that's for hostels. Anyway, staying at a bed and breakfast allowed us to meet other travelers because we all ate breakfast together each morning. Most of the travelers we met happened to be American, but we did meet this one Australian couple. I really enjoyed connecting with them, but it was a lot of fun talking with everyone, exchanging stories, learning about who they are and where they're from, and swapping tips on great hikes. It was a wonderful experience!
From Muerren, it's a short cable car ride up to the Shilthorn, one of the peaks from which you can get a really great view. We caught an eyeful of the heavy white fog that was shrouding the entire view. Bummer! There's a rotating Chinese restaurant up there and a video that you can watch at the "touristorama" that shows clips of 007 films that were filmed there shortly after this peak was made accessible by cable car.
Travel books and people who know will tell you that Europe is overrun by tourists in the summer. Believe it! We couldn't get away from them, particularly the ones from Korea. On our ride up to the Shiltorn, there were two British men, the Ahns, and at the last minute, twenty five super-excited Korean tourists come skittering onto the cable car. During the entire ride, they were ooh-ing and aah-ing in unison at every glimpse of moutain they saw through the thick clouds...but of course in Korean, "Wah! Yah! Aigooo!" all in that gutteral tone they use. We saw them everywhere, though, and not just in the mountains. Groups of Koreans walking through the streets of Paris, through the halls of Versailles, on the trains, in the restaurants, the Eiffel Tower, shopping in Luzerne...aaaaaaaahhhhh! Being in Europe, it would have been nice to have been surrounded by more Eurpoeans.
One thing I really enjoyed about Paris was using the French I'd learned in junior high and high school. It was surprising even to me that I could not only correctly form sentences, but I could understand what they were saying back to me. I could read enough to get by too, so I felt pretty comfortable in Paris. When we got to Luzerne, Switzerland, though, neither of us knew German, and fewer people spoke English, so we both felt a bit bewildered. Travelling made me want to take up French again and maybe learn some German too.
posted by haed at 6:30 AM
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