Part 1

It appears that most message board contributors are families or men who were travelling alone. I hope my comments that pertain to individual women travelers might interest females reading the "travel boards," and especially any of "senior citizen" age - two of us on this trip were 75 years young.

My first two flights to Switzerland were in coach, which made sleeping difficult and the jet lag taking some recovery time upon arrival. On the third trip, I upgraded to business class using 40,000 Delta sky miles, and this year surprisingly accumulated 80,000 miles for a free round-trip business class ticket. (Well, it wasn't totally free - my last 500 miles were earned by flying from Tampa to Orlando at a cost of about $100!) Nevertheless, the rest I felt on this last trip (both going over and coming back) resulted in no jet lag. I am semi-retired and work at a health food store, so perhaps the many supplements I take combined with a homeopathic remedy during the flight made a difference.

On previous trips, I'd gone once with three friends and twice with family. Each time we stayed in Swiss apartments which Idyll, Ltd. arranged for us in the Hasliberg area. This fall, two other women friends and I spent two weeks making our home base in Meiringen after researching housing and activities without Idyll's assistance. This change enabled us to have a more flexible schedule, along with choosing the needed apartment arrangement. I highly recommend Idyll's service.

Using the Alpen Region website, we learned of available apartments and soon received a listing of many places in Meiringen, Brienz, and Hasliberg. We chose Meiringen because of the train access and the small but convenient community. Our spacious apartment also would serve large families well because it had three bedrooms (which we wanted); one of which had two sets of bunk beds, which would be ideal for children. It also had two bathrooms, a washer and dryer, TV (better if you understood German), an elevator, and a telephone. In addition, a balcony offered a view of the mountains and waterfalls across the valley.

Sunday, September 1: We woke to a drizzly morning, which caused us to hesitate about our day's activities, but we decided to take a four-pass tour from the local bus station. (For those persons staying in the Lauterbrunnen/Grindlewald area, an escorted tour is fairly expensive, whereas you can go to Meiringen on the rail pass and for CHF 9 take the unescorted bus tour from there.) Publicity we had read suggested not taking this tour unless the weather was clear; however, we thought it might clear enough to make it worthwhile. The passes cover the Grimsel, Nafenen, Gotthard, and Susten. A bit of excitement occurred when our driver couldn't get the windshield to clear when leaving the first pass - not something to experience when the fog is heavy and the roads are so narrow. After a short delay, the windshield wipers began to work again, and we proceeded to the next village where we would change to another bus. This delay, however, threw the bus schedule off so we were not going to link up with the next connection. Fortunately for cell phones, the drivers communicated and we were able to continue on our way. Watching cyclists going up the steep passes was interesting when their bicycles were loaded with so much gear on the front and back. At our next rest stop a group of six young men from a bike club in England, whom we had passed, arrived and enjoyed carbohydrate loading with huge plates of French fries before starting back on the road. At the Gotthard pass is a carriage museum, and a Swiss resident bus passenger suggested that instead of going inside, we go to the back of the building where there happened to be a carriage with six horses and a groomsman waiting to take persons on the Gotthard Andermatt-Airolo trip. The cost is CHF 597 per person! We were thrilled to have the rare opportunity to see this and get photos. In spite of the fog, we enjoyed meeting many interesting people and seeing the valleys, homes, and animals along the way.

Monday, September 2: While my friends spent a memorable day in Ballenberg (which I had seen before), I had quite a shopping list for family and friends so enjoyed some leisure time in familiar Meiringen shops. On an earlier trip, a frequent Idyll traveler told us about a small, serrated Victorinox knife, one which is great for slicing any food and never needs sharpening. I always visit one of the hardware stores to purchase several for gifts (of course placing them in the checked luggage).

Tuesday, September 3: This was a rainy day, which saw one friend off to visit a monastery east of Luzern where she would see the Black Madonna statue. My other friend and I chose to test our rain suits and waterproof shoes by walking around Interlaken and Brienz; I found myself purposely stepping into every water puddle to test the shoes. (On my last trip I caught a very bad cold from walking in tennis shoes in a downpour.) (A nice linen shop in Interlaken is Frutinger Heimtextil located a few blocks from Interlaken Ost.) When we returned to Meiringen the weather had improved, and during a walk we discovered an abandoned castle a few blocks from our apartment. In Meiringen also is a most interesting Michael's Church with excavations, which one can explore beneath the upstairs church. Nearby also is a new museum that is worth seeing. Oh yes, Greg (OrangeSun2002) called to make meeting arrangements for Friday to hike the Grandmother's Walk.

Wednesday, September 4: We had reservations on the Train du chcolat Schokoladezug Chocolate, which left from Montreux to Gruyeres and Broc at 09:34. This meant departing at 0550 from Meiringen, changing trains in Interlaken, Bern, and Lausanne in order to meet the Montreux train. (Reservations are needed for the Wednesday only tour, and there was a small cost.) The scenery from Bern to Lausanne was beautiful with the many vineyards, French-style architecture, and farms along the way. From Montreux we boarded the Chocolate train for Gruyere where we first toured the La Maison du Gruyere (cheese factory). I much prefer observing the personal involvement of Hasliberg farmers making cheese in comparison to witnessing the commercial production. We then were bussed to the Chateau de Gruyere. Returning to the train, we next went to Broc Fabrique to visit the Cailler-Nestle factory. The sweet smell of chocolate filled the air as we walked the short distance from the train to the factory! Sampling many chocolate bars was a real treat-and then entering the sales store we tried to recall which tasted the best. "A kid in a candy store" where prices were inexpensive made this a memorable visit. One "boarder" who had visited there recently wrote, "she wanted this to be her last wish." On the Chocolate train we had the good fortune to meet a couple from Ohio, the man being the head of the Nestle Human Resources office who gave us many interesting bits of information about the world's largest food company. (No, Nestle didn't buy out Hershey after all.) Persons who wish to visit only the Cailler-Nestle chocolate factory may call 026/921 51 51; I believe individual access is available weekdays except for Monday mornings.

Thursday, September 5: we had planned to go to Kandersteg but the sunny day caused us to make a rapid change of plans for Zermatt instead. I know most "boarders" stay in that community for several days, but after having several cloudy days, we enjoyed the nice weather to visit there even for just a few hours. What a wonderful photo opportunity this was, from the Matterhorn, to the Ulrich Inderbiner statue honoring his climbing guide activity at the age of 90 (he is now 102).

Friday, September 6: After reading humorous trip reports written by OrangeSun2002 (Greg), I learned that he was going to be in the area during this same time period. What a nice gentleman, with such wit and kindness! He met us in Wengen where we took the gondola through the fog to Mannlichen. We then bundled up warmly to enjoy the Grandmother's Walk. Greg filed a report on this soon after his return.

Saturday, September 7: Greg joined a friend and me for a festival in nearby Magisalp which included lots of food, cheese booths, bell ringers, alpen horns, men's choral group, and costumed dancers. To climax the activities were the decorated cows coming down from the upper pastures. As we took pictures of them coming into the festival area, we realized their huge size, and concentrated more on staying out of their way than focusing our cameras. Greg and I walked down the "Dwarf Trail" to Bidmi then took the gondola to Reuti and on to Meiringen. He also wrote about this festival in his report.

The big event in Meiringen that particular weekend was the bell ringer's festival. There are 150 such clubs throughout Switzerland and every three years they meet in a different town. Between the bell ringing, the cracking whips, the parade, and the fun loving participants, the town was alive night and day! Many of the bells weighed over 25 pounds with some men carrying two bells hung from a yoke. We asked the cost of some bells at the vendor markets and they were CHF 600. Many participants were older men (a relative term) and women, with young children in several groups as well. On Saturday evening some groups carried candle-lit paper boxes on poles with figures on the four sides; these were to ward off the evil spirits. I learned that between Christmas and New Years the individual towns have bell-ringing parades to give thanks for a good year.

Part 6

Sunday, September 8: I first attended the Michael's church service, where I especially enjoyed the music because the acoustics made for a beautiful spiritual experience. There were about 40 men and women in the choir and the same number in the congregation. I was unfamiliar with the state-supported churches so was confused that the only collection process was with the box hung from the door at the back of the sanctuary. Refreshments were served outside following the service. I then proceeded to the center of town to watch the primary parade that lasted five hours. The groups walked from both directions on the main street, ending up in a field away from the spectators where many of them still continued their bell ringing. All of this made for great photographs showing not only the various bells, but many different costumes as well. Earplugs were a must for spectators and participants! (My other friends' activities included one who took a Luzern boat trip and boarded a train for Italy before returning back to Meiringen; the other lady spent the day visiting Luzern museums.)

Monday, September 9: This was a cloudy day, so we chose to visit the Glasi Hergiswil, located in a community near Luzern and a pleasant train ride from Meiringen.

In Munich we had reservations at the Hotel Alba that is just across from the bahnhof. Rooms are small but clean and the cost was $73 (that included breakfast). A restaurant where we had a light supper that evening was only about a block from our hotel; it was in the Eden-Hotel-Wolff. The service, food, low cost, and quiet atmosphere marked it as one of the highlights of our trip.

Friday, September 13: We had reserved seats for the Romantic Road bus trip from Munich to Frankfurt; cost for seniors - 33.50 Euro. The bus departs at 9AM from the bahnhof, and took us through Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg with about an hour in each of these villages. Seeing the Tilman Riemenschneider wood altar carvings in several of the churches was a priority given the short amount of time we had. We arrived in Frankfurt about 5:30PM. A friend picked me up to go to her home in Hofheim for a couple of days before returning to the U.S.

Part 8