Simply the best.

"What's been your favorite?"-- the question most frequently asked on my recent trip home, one that left me without an answer every time. 

"It's all my favorite," I'd respond without much more detail to offer, knowing I left it a bit anticlimactic as we move on to other topics. 

 After an impromptu trip this past holiday weekend, I think it's safe to say that Switzerland is my favorite. Maybe not for the exorbitant prices or food, or even the random mishmash of cultures (what are you really? German? French? Italian? What language is coming out of your mouth?) 

Everything that is right with the world, everything that the Lord created and said, "This is so GOOD" must have started with the Alps. 

Switzerland is unreal. I can't even find the words to describe its infinite beauty. Much of the weekend was spent lying in grass and just staring off into our surroundings. Doesn't this picture look like Mike was photoshopped into a painting? 

Anyways, we left on Friday from Frankfurt on the train to Zürich, which took about 4 hours. The summers provide lengthy days of sunlight, so we had sufficient time to explore the town well into the night. We found it to be very pretty, and better than the reputation it's received as a banking city. 

Didn't do much, just walked around the lake as the rest of the city was out on its banks enjoying picnic dinners and street music. Summer has officially made its arrival known with extreme temperatures (95 degrees!) and there's nothing to do other than park yourself outside in the shade, hopefully close to a body of water. 

Silly us, thinking we needed our puffy coats because surely Switzerland is a cold place to be.

Saturday we leisurely started our day, walked around the city a bit more and then hopped on a train 45 minutes to Lucerne. We'd heard great things about the city, which is a bit more south and closer to the mountains. It surely did not disappoint!

The focal point is a wooden bridge that, while not the original structure, has been used as a pathway and fortification for the city since the medieval age. Oh, and the swans- they're everywhere looking for handouts from tourists dining on the edge of the lake. Silly things, those swans!

(I forget to take pictures of the two of us. So here's one.)

There's really nothing to do in Lucerne that doesn't take a mere half day to see; we had a very relaxing picnic dinner down at the lake and people watched for hours with fabulous cheese and Italian wine. It was nice to get out of the town itself and walk a bit to where the locals were spending their Saturday night, as the town was packed to the brim with Asian tourists streaming off buses and heading directly to the fancy watch shops. It was outrageous. But I digress. 

Pacific Northwest?

Sunday we made the 'trek' up to the top of Mt. Pitalus via the "steepest cog rail in the world!" In the late 1800s someone said, hey, let's build this thing and plop a hotel on the top for tourists. I'm just glad we didn't have to hike it, because those whom were hiking looked miserable. 

As soon as we got off there were these guys playing their alpine horns (don't know what they're called?) They'd pay a bit of the song, then the others on the opposite side of the hill would answer back. I was hyperventilating and holding back tears I was so excited, but sadly we came too late as the were finishing their performance.

 This view, though!

 I was a bit sad knowing we've closed the door on Switzerland and probably won't be returning for a good, long while. Until we meet in another lifetime, so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen for now!

Adventures with Annie... in Switzerland!

"Have you ever heard of a 'via ferata? It's like, a really sketchy hike but you're harnessed and clipped in the whole time, so that makes it less sketchy. Find one." The extensive researching brought us to Switzerland where Rick Steves made famous and touristy the little towns up the mountains from Interlaken.

After Annie & I  hiked in southern Germany, we spent the night in Innsbruck, Austria then took the train over to Bern. Michael was able to meet up with us there for more adventures.

View from our hostel window 

Bern is quaint, and SERIOUSLY expensive. I had to pay $2 to use the bathroom in the train station once I got there. That was an ominous sign of the expenses to come... ($6 for a cup of Starbucks regular coffee!! Bahhhh Switzerland...)

Our favorite part of Bern was joining the locals for a swim in the river that borders the town. The current lazily brings you downstream where you get out and start over. Or jump off bridges, if you're Annie and Mike (not the bridge pictured. That would be dangerous.) 

We bought tubes because I wasn't about to get in that alpine water. 

After a night in Bern we took the train down to Interlaken. The views of the lakes along the way were stunning (use your imagination-- no pictures) but Interlaken itself was slightly anticlimactic. It was basically a lot of shopping. With a expansive, looming mountain in the background.

A couple hours of meandering and it was time to head up to our weekend's destination-- Mürren! We took a train to Lauterbrunen, then a cable car up the mountain, then another tiny train (just one car) to get there. It's a small alpine town with ridiculous views and a serene feel to it. You go there to unwind, to savor where you are and to enjoy the beauty of God's creation!

We hiked, we ate lots of cheese. Because of the exorbitant costs, we hit up the grocery store for our meals of bread, cheese, and cold cuts. And chocolate.

We did the scariest hike I've ever done, which deserves its own posting. Mountain bike was also planned, but there was a crazy race going on that packed the little town (no wonder our hotel was ridiculously priced!) and took over the trails.

So we hiked some more, taking obligatory jumping and "the-hills-are-alive" shots. In the middle of one of the trails, we stopped at a small farm that makes its own cheese. It was spectacular, in a I-can't-believe-we're-here kind of way.

My attempt at a Sound of Music picture

Need more cowbell! 

At the end of the day, at the "Mountain Backpacker's Hostel" in Gimmelwald.....where we should have stayed for half the cost! Oh well. Next time. 

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On our final day, as if the via ferrata hike wasn't terrifying enough, we decided to do a guided canyoning adventure where you wear a full-body wetsuit, helmet, and life vest and basically jump off high rocks into small bodies of freezing cold water as you make your way down the canyon. Also involved are natural rock slides, rappelling down waterfalls, and leaping into slides do you don't kill yourself on the rocks below. It. Was. Incredible. And scary. No pictures, though, because at that point I was too cheap to pay the $50 per person for documentation. But here's an idea of what it was like:

As I'm looking up pictures online of what we did I'm feeling sick to my stomach all over again...

Exhausted & out of money, we drug ourselves home on the train to rest up in Frankfurt.

An entire week of exploring Germany with Annie was still to be had!

Adventures with Annie Part 2-- Wanderweg-ing through the Partnachklamm Gorge & up to the Meilerhutte

The morning of our hike we awoke to cowbells and crappy weather, which ended up working in our favor -- less hikers and fog that, while unfortunately blanketing the beautiful panoramic views, lent a mystic quality to the hike. 

If you've stumbled across this post as your searching for hikes in the area, know that it's completely doable! Purchase a trail map of the area and then follow the signs to the hut. It's easier than you think.

We set off for the Schachenhaus alpine hut, a 4 hour hike uphill to one of King Ludwig's hunting lodges with a nearby bunkhouse:

(It looks like this. I couldn't get a good picture because of the thick fog. www.schachenhaus.de)

The hike begins at the Winter Olympics park, featuring an insane ski jump that made me nauseous just looking at it!

We made our way to the Parnachklamm gorge, following the signs and other hikers on roads bordering horse farms and barns. For a small fee, you can enter the gorge and walk through a trail cut into the side of the rock (or you can bypass the gorge and walk above it, which we did on the way back down. But go through-- it's incredible!)

Annie's not so good with the picture-taking...

I found this hike because I pinned it on Pinterest a year ago-- check this one off the traveling bucketlist1

Upon exiting the gorge, we followed the signs up to the "Schachenhaus." There are two ways to get there-- the longer, flatter way, or the shorter, completely uphill hiking route. We chose the latter, and while it was slow going and I wanted to chop off my legs at times, it was completely worth it. 

And if the fog had decided to let up, the views would have been unreal. 

Stopping to take pictures was really an excuse to stop walking to catch my breath. Annie, on the other hand, hiked like a champ and even carried our one pack the whole time. I referred to her as my sherpa. 

And like I mentioned in my previous post, I could not get over these stinkin' alpine cows! 

Because of the fog, you heard their bells way before actually seeing them. It was eery, in an enchanting sort of way. 30 or so cowbells gently rang as the cows grazed, some braving steep hillsides for better grass. You knew you were getting closer; all of the sudden the path would be blocked by the massive things. Do you walk by them? Push them out of the way? Will they kick me in the face? 

We couldn't stop giggling. 

What do you want me to do? You're blocking the road, you heifer!

We reached the hut, just missing the window for going into the king's hunting lodge. I read that it was beautiful on the inside, but the outside was anti-climatic and laced with scaffolding. 

Plus, the dang fog obliterated the supposed fantastic views. Lame. 

Over beef stew and apple strudel we had a decision to make. Do we stay here for the night (it was only 5 pm) or do we hike another hour and a half to a higher, more dramatic hut? 

My feet said, "Stay," our hearts said, "Go." So we left. 

 

(Yes, I'm wearing thick hiking socks and Chacos. It beat agitating the blisters on my heels from my not-yet-worn-in boots.) 

The sheep mafia came to greet us on our way up. It was creepy-- they appeared out of nowhere and gave us a stare down. Their bells even stopped ringing. 

The hike was slightly harrowing, with sheer cliff on either side at some point. A completely feasible hike if you are relatively healthy, even if it's slow-going. 

We made it (!!) and were greeted by a kind older lady who lives at and runs the hut. She was in the middle of cooking dinner for the guests, so we changed and hunkered down for the night in the common room (where it was warm) sipping broth and beers (but not too much, because we were silly and didn't bring enough money, forcing us to ration what we had left!) The room was filled with other hikers (all German) and we expected everyone to come together in a friendly, let's-play-games-and-talk-about-life kind of way, but no one intermingled. It was strange. So we went to bed and woke up early to catch the non-existent sunrise. 

Just to give you an idea of how far we hiked-- impressive, right? I was proud of myself for making it without falling off a mountain, getting eaten by sheep or losing toes. 

On the way back down, the sheep mafia completely ignored Annie. But when they saw me, they all started running towards me! It was hilarious... and kind of scary. Can sheep be ferocious? 

We hiked back down to the first hut with the hopes of eating a cheap breakfast. We only had enough money for coffee and split a cliff bar. No big deal, right? Except we accidentally took the long, 6 hour hike home. Generally one needs fuel for that kind of physical activity. 

But we made it. 

 And had the best lunch ever, once we found a place that would take a debit card. 

Fried noodles smothered in cheese for me, please. Calories burned= canceled. 

Prost!

Adventures with Annie: The Munich & Garmisch-Partenkirchen Edition

Annie arrived on a Friday afternoon in a daze from traveling on a nonstop flight from Seattle. I allowed her to take a nap before setting out and exploring our city, starting off with the Apfelwein festival-- how perfect that she was here for that! (Apfelwein is Frankfurt's claim to fame-- kind of like cider but more sour and not that great, in my opinion.) The weather was perfect-- it had cooled off just for her, and the sunset over the river was the most brilliant that I'd seen thus far.

Blurry, but you get the idea. 

mmmmm... apfelwein is delicious... not 

Having one of your own visit your new space is surreal-- the places and people you've been talking about for months come to life and are no longer made-up, and you see your own city through new eyes.  I showed it off as best I could, this environment so completely different than home. We laughed at how she lives in a "German town" in Washington, plus one in Chile, and she was a server at a German hotel in Vail. Weird, huh? She kept saying, "This looks like Leavenworth." Well, duh. You're in the motherland.



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Our adventure of epic proportions  began in Munich-- I thought it appropriate to start there, since it's pretty much the epitome of stereotypical Germany.

Men truly strut around in their leiderhosen like it's no big deal, pounding liters of beer and robustly singing German drinking songs while violently clanging their glasses together. 

It's simple fantastic-- and while not like the rest of Germany (just like the south is different than the rest of the States) it's the Bavarian culture that lured Mike and I to this country in the first place. 

It's crude, I know. But hilarious. Just your typical bachelor party. 

 We ate pretzels every hour, we drank liters of beer. And took a bike tour, because bike tours are the best way to get an overview of a city. Sunday we spent the day in the Englischer Garten with the rest of Munich, watching the German oompah-band at the Chinese beirgarten, the 'surfers' on the river, an the naked people laying out in the park. Well, not watching them, per se, but they were there.

 Sometimes I need to rest my fat head on something, too. 

Annie and Mike were even adventurous enough to jump in this freezing cold, swiftly flowing river because everyone else was doing it.  Did I mention it was freezing cold? Good thing someone had to stay behind with the stuff (and take pictures...)

I've been dreaming of this pretzel with chive cream cheese since we last visited Munich 3 years ago. Not as delicious as I remembered, but still good enough to eat twice a day. 

Paddle boating-- Mike didn't have to do any work, just sat in the back like a creeper

Sadly, Mike had to leave us at the weekend's end (work is so borrrrrrring.) Have I mentioned how much I love my hubs for supporting us on our adventures?  He's the bomb diggity. Yep, I just said 'bomb diggity,' and it felt so right.  

Annie and I traveled 2 hours south of Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the Bavarian Apls separate Germany from Austria. The highest peak on the German side is here,  the Zugspitze (zoog-spitz-uh-- took me forever to get it right!) We used this town as a hub for hiking -- it was quaintly Bavarian, and I couldn't get over the awesomeness of the alpine cows!

I didn't even mind being woken up at 6am by clanging cowbells. They drank from this fountain, then continued on their rambling way up to greener pastures. Some of the cows are taken up to the top of the mountains for the summer (more pictures of them to come later!) and then brought back down in September, with lovely festivals to commemorate the events. The cows wear flowers on their heads.

 I'm dying to go to one.

Time to go home, boys and girls. 

That first day, we found a lovely trail. And a slackline.

And that's the end of part one. More to come later, detailing our uphill hike up to the top of the mountains, more cows, and being chased by the sheep mafia.