Day 7: On the Road to Engelberg

The beautiful view from Brienz

This morning was another early-morning wake to catch a train (4:45). This was the smoothest ride on the TGV I have ever had. Thomas was able to secure a luggage compartment at the end of our coach to store our luggage. Without this compartment we would have to fight for space in the small racks at each end. Three hours after leaving Paris we were in Geneva. From Geneva, it was another six hours by bus, with a stop in Brienz, to our home in Engelberg.

She's just so... wooden!

The highlight of our short stop in Brienz was a trip to watch a Swiss master woodcarver. It was absolutely amazing to watch him fashion a figure of a man playing the alpenhorn from a simple block of wood. It would have been fantastic to take one of these little wooden figures home, but even the smallest costs 150 CHF (about $160).

Beautiful Engelberg

Arriving at the Edelweiss Hotel in Engelberg is like coming home again. I have stayed at this hotel four times now, and each time the experience is more amazing than the last. Suzanne and Peter, the hotel's owners, are the most gracious hosts. This trip was a very special treat. Peter drove all of us up to an alpenhut above Engelberg for a traditional Swiss dinner and an alpenhorn playing contest. The contest was over who could play and hold the longest note on the alpenhorn. After a furious contest, it come down to the top two finalists, Eddie and Matthew. At the end of it all, Matthew stood alone as the alpenhorn champion, with a time of 29 seconds. His trophy was an alpenhorn playing figurine. After this intense competition, we settled down for a dinner of rösti (potato pancakes with ham and cheese) with meringue and ice cream for desert (very Swiss).

Go Eddie, go!

Our Swiss champion

After dinner Suzanne took us on a 40 minute hike down the mountain and back into Engelberg. Our journey down the mountain took us through some of the most beautiful, green pastures and deep dark forests I have ever seen. We could hear the cowbells somewhere off in the distance, and met up with a couple of Swiss goats (wearing goat bells). This evening was a truly Swiss experience. Tomorrow we have a more civilized wake-up call (7:30) for our trip up (10,000 feet up) to Mount Titlis.

The view from the top ain't bad.

The road home

 

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