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Last day in Rouen…and a strike!

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(Rouen, Normandy, France)

There are more than 2,000 half-timbered houses here…and sometimes one wonders how they remain standing.  The one below is right in the middle of the old town but nobody seems to be worried about it.

Precariously leaning house in Rouen

After quick visits to the (free) ceramics and ironworks museums, it was time for a big event:  the World Cup quarter-final match between France and Uruguay.  We claimed a table in a bar and assumed it would be like a big game in Canada:  noisy, occasionally, but still restrained.  We were wrong!

At the Rouen Ceramics Museum

Although there were only about 20 people in the room (this was a multilevel bar), it seemed like many more were actually there.  The intensity of emotion was astonishing and the amount of noise when France scored was deafening.  We had never seen anything like it, except perhaps when we saw a Feyenoord game in Rotterdam in 2014.  It will only get crazier, as France won 2-0 and advanced to the semi-final against Belgium.  I’m sure we’ll be watching that game too…I can’t imagine what it will be like if France makes it to the final on July 15!

As much as we loved the galettes here, we agreed that we should have something different for dinner.  My research uncovered a Senegalese restaurant just a few blocks from our hotel, so we decided to give it a try.

Inside the Ironworks Museum in Rouen

I chose chicken yassa and my wife ordered a vegetarian “XL samossa”.  It certainly was extra-large for a samosa:  it was filled with cheese, mixed vegetables, and an egg.  I wasn’t entirely sure what I had ordered but it turned out to be grilled chicken in a relatively sweet sauce.  However, the most interesting components of dinner were the sauces.

The very large Senegalese samosa

We were given some miniature samosas as an appetizer, with a very rich and flavourful tomato-based sauce.  However, the friendly proprietor offered me a spicier sauce, along with a warning that it was “medium strong”.  I appreciated the warning: if this was only “medium strong”, the “strong” must be impossibly incendiary!  I was glad that I had ordered a ginger-scented pineapple juice to soothe the (still enjoyable) burn.

The Ryal Metisse restaurant in Rouen

It was also nice to have Senegalese music playing throughout dinner.  I had picked up an unusual Youssou N’Dour record the day before, so music from Senegal was kind of a secondary theme for our stay in Rouen.  Who knew that N’Dour had covered the 1970s soul classic “Rubberband Man”?  You just never know what you will find while on holiday.

Notice board at the train station…STRIKE!

We really enjoyed our stay in Rouen and look forward to returning some day.  After such a nice introduction to France, I suppose it was inevitable that we would run into a classic France problem upon trying to leave:  a train strike!  At the time of writing, it looks like it will only cause a three-hour delay for us.

Posts from the road

Digging deeper into Rouen

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(Rouen, Normandy, France)

We’re living the good life in Rouen.  As predicted, we returned for dinner to La Crêperie Rouennaise, the same crêperie that we enjoyed so much the day before.  It was just as good the second time.  But I’m getting a little bit ahead of myself…

Part of the Place du Vieux-Marché, in the centre of Rouen

We started the day with a little shopping.  Some necessities, of course, but also some things that are too expensive or impossible to find back home.  For lunch, we found another winner:  the Listo restaurant, featuring food from Ecuador.  In addition to the “usual” fillings for empanadas, they had one with goat cheese and honey.  It was sublime with some hot sauce.

My empanadas at Listo

Next was a visit to the Musée des Beaux-Arts.   We didn’t stay for too long, but we made a point of seeing the paintings by Claude Monet.  He painted the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Rouen at least 30 times, in addition to many other local sights.  Seeing vast amounts of art at once is not really my thing, but it’s different when the painting was made locally and is of something you’ve actually seen.  I took a picture but art photography rarely turns out well!

Unsettling plague victim at l’aître Saint-Maclou

We also visited l’aître Saint-Maclou, which didn’t really mean that much to us as a name.  But it turned out to be a cemetery from the plague that was being restored, along with the surrounding buildings. It was kind of creepy to see bones just lying there, including one skull with an opened mouth.  There are certainly some macabre sights in Rouen, as you can see from the following picture…

Also located in the Place du Vieux-Marché

We started the evening with a hike to the top of Mont  Ste.-Catherine, for a view of Rouen and the surrounding area.  This was more difficult than it ought to have been, which we blame on not waiting until at least an hour had passed after dinner.   It was only when we reached the top that I realized I would have to take pictures directly into the setting sun.

View of Rouen from the Côte Sainte-Catherine, with the Seine River at the left

But the day still wasn’t over.  At nightfall, the Cathédrale de lumière sound and light show is projected onto the facade of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame.  The simulated burning of the cathedral was very impressive.  Once again, photos don’t do it justice….so here’s another quaint streetscape from earlier in the day…

Streets like this are everywhere in Rouen

We have one more day in Rouen before moving on to Bayeux.  As we will likely not have wi-fi access in Bayeux, there may be a bit of a break before the next post.

Posts from the road

We’re back in France!

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(Rouen, France)

A series of random events (primarily a seat sale to Paris) have led us to Rouen, formerly the second biggest city in France but now a mere “regional centre”. Luckily for us, there is history everywhere and we are already enjoying Rouen despite just arriving from Canada today.

Rouen’s famous Gros-Horloge, dating back to 1389

Our hotel is, er, rustic. The breakfast room looks vaguely like a darkened hunting club. We found a boulangerie (bakery) nearby, so it was an easy decision to opt out of breakfast.  The dim rooms don’t really matter either: we won’t be spending much time here anyway!

Rouen’s Notre-Dame Cathedral

Rouen is probably best known for being the site of the execution of Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc). But the medieval feel of the city is probably the best reason to visit. If you have a liking for half-timbered houses, this is definitely the place to be!

Even the tobacco shops are historic in Rouen

We’ll be here for a few nights, so we will dig a little deeper in the days to come.  The main events on our first day were orienting ourselves, superficially exploring the medieval streets, and having an excellent al fresco dinner at La Crêperie Rouennaise.   Not only was it reasonably priced, the food was excellent and we are already talking about going back for another meal!

This is where we had dinner tonight

Like many restaurants in Normandy, they specialize in galettes (buckwheat “crêpes” with savoury toppings/fillings) and proper  crêpes themselves (with sweet toppings/fillings).  I chose a Galette Parisienne, filled with emmental, ham, fresh mushrooms, and cream, and then topped with a egg.  For dessert, I had a simple crêpe with freshly squeezed lemon and icing sugar.  The  dessert crêpe was probably unnecessary, but I felt I had a duty to try one!  The locally produced cider was an added bonus.

Alas, northern Europe is having a heat wave that is almost as bad as what we were experiencing in Canada.  Our hotel also doesn’t have air conditioning, so we will have to pace ourselves during the long, hot days.  It is still light until well after 10:00 p.m.  Luckily, there seems to be plenty of ice cream available!

Another quaint business in Rouen

This extended trip to northern France is off to a good start.  Stay tuned for more on Normandy and Brittany, as well as a Bastille Day celebration in yet another historic small city, before our finale in Paris!

Posts from the road

Last Meal in Zürich

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(Zürich, Switzerland)

For our last meal in Switzerland, the posse agreed to meet at Zürich Hauptbahnhof (Zürich’s main train station) and set out in search of mutually agreeable food.  Our plan was to head to “Tibits”, a vegetarian restaurant in the Bellevue neighbourhood that I had enjoyed on some previous visits, unless something else really caught our eye along the way.

Some Dutch food would have been nice…

However, when we arrived at the station, we were quite surprised to see that there was a street food market!  And it was only there for this particular weekend, so it was a pretty big deal.  The street food market concept really took off in Copenhagen, where a temporary set-up in a vacant industrial space became the “go to” place for affordable food in that expensive city.

My Indonesian dinner from the Zürich street food market

As Zürich is even more expensive than Copenhagen, the street food market suddenly seemed like a great idea.  With about 80 different vendors offering food from around the world, we would each be able to find something we liked.  And so, after some crafty manoeuvres to nab some seating, we each faced one of the biggest dining decisions of our lives!

Wait, is that a Kaiserschmarrn vendor?

As we had eaten (more or less) Swiss food for the previous 12 days, I was less inclined to eat something local for my main course.  However, it also didn’t seem right to have something I could easily have at home or in another European country that I frequently visit…this eliminated the Dutch food and several others from contention.  I was quite tempted to try one of my favourite dishes from Chile (pastel de choclo), but this is readily available in Toronto.   I eventually decided to grab some Indonesian food, which is very scarce in Ontario.  The peanut sauce was amazing!

My Kaiserschmarrn – didn’t go for the plums, but it would have added some real colour

For dessert, I decided to go for Kaiserschmarrn, a favourite of one of our other posse members.  As he had already moved on to Basel, I figured he would appreciate it if I ate it on his behalf.  Kaiserschmarrn is an Austrian specialty named after Emperor Franz Josef and consists of shredded pancake, apple sauce, rum-soaked-raisins, icing sugar, and various other toppings:  mine featured almonds but plums (“Zwetschgen“) are quite popular in Switzerland.

“Cholera”?!

And who would have thought that a dish called “cholera” would last into the 21st century?  As you can see from the photo above and this explanatory article, people really do want to eat cholera! I didn’t have any, but in retrospect it would have been interesting to try.

Last photo of the trip: the Brasserie Federal at the Zürich train station

It was a lot of fun to eat street food in Zürich.  The only real negative was that smoking is still permitted in that part of the train station.  For a post-dinner coffee free of second-hand smoke, we adjourned to the Brasserie Federal in the station.   This is a very old-fashioned railway restaurant with furnishings that probably date back a century!  It was a nice way to relax after the hustle and bustle of the street food market.

Und jetzt bin ich bereit nach Hause gehen!

Posts from the road

Mixed Emotions in Switzerland’s Largest City

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(Zürich, Switzerland)

I definitely had mixed emotions upon arriving in Zürich.  On the one hand, I am quite familiar with it, as it has been the “endpoint” of many Swiss holidays.  It’s always nice to return to a city where you know your way around, and I have had some memorable stays here.  On the other hand, it was rainy, cool, and relatively crowded.  Most importantly, we were no longer in the mountains.  We could still see them across the lake, but they were at quite a distance.

Zürich’s Niederdorf neighbourhood

No matter how appealing a city may be, it can be a bit of a letdown to return to a drizzly urban area after spending nearly two weeks on the (mostly) sunny slopes.  The day before flying home also brings with it a sense that you are on “borrowed time”:  the vacation is just about over and nothing can turn back the clock.

A food truck in Zürich…foreshadowing?

I suppose the high costs here also were a factor, after a relatively expensive holiday in the Alps.  Walking along the famous Bahnhofstrasse reinforced just how much money is lurking in this very prosperous city.  While the rest of Zürich has plenty of banks and jewellery shops, they are different on the Bahnhofstrasse.

Augustinergasse, in medieval Zürich

We saw “private banks” where there was essentially no signage and you had to enter a security code just to get in the door.   As for the jewellery shops, many of them were open…but locked.   There were also generally two very large staff members poised just inside the door.  It was reminiscent of seeing bouncers at the front of an exclusive club.  It sent a very strong message.

Pfalzgasse, in downtown Zürich.

While I don’t remember this happening on my prior visits to the city, I also felt extremely underdressed. I had no idea people wore so much silk in the winter:  the scarves alone probably cost more than all of my clothes put together!  I have friends in the Zürich area and I know this is not how everybody lives, but this was the first time that I felt so conspicuous in my luridly-coloured ski jacket.  Traveling light meant that I had to wear it here too!

View of the Fraumünster from the Grossmünster

After doing a little bit of last-minute shopping (at a grocery store!), I returned to the hotel and prepared to meet the remainder of our posse for dinner.  It would be a challenge to eat economically and still have a memorable final meal.  Stay tuned for the unexpected solution to the challenge!

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Skiing by the Numbers

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

As we prepared to leave Lenk for the bright lights of Zürich, I decided to take a look at something not typically associated with a skiing vacation:  statistics.

Catching some air at Luegli (above Adelboden)

A website called skiline.cc lets you connect your digital lift passes to an on-line account.  By entering the unique code on your ski pass, all of your skiing data can be collected in one place.   Each of the resorts I visited this year participated in this program.   The result:  I now know exactly how many lifts I took each day, how many kilometres I skied, and how many vertical metres I skied!

Typical chalet above Geils

I’m glad that I didn’t fully explore this website while I was still skiing.  I think I might have felt some subtle pressure, especially on the last day, to “set records” before it was time to return to Canada.  As it turns out, the data pretty much supports my guesses about the relative intensity of each day.

Skiing down from Lavey to Hahnenmoos

In total, my 9 on-slope days in Switzerland had me taking 201 lifts, skiing 455 kilometres, and accumulating 72,481 vertical metres (237,798 vertical feet).   No wonder I was always so hungry:  I was averaging more than 50 km per day!  Some statistics were useless:  I was the only Canadian registered on skiline.cc at Lenk this year.  I apparently also won the “gold medals” for most vertical metres in one day by a Canadian at both Wengen and Gstaad.   But my overall totals for those resorts were not best-in-class for Canadian skiers.

Unusual climbing apparatus at Sillerenbühl

It was interesting to see that I skied a formidable 71 km on our deep powder day at Betelberg.  We arrived early, caught the very last lift up, and didn’t have a particularly long lunch.  However, despite this being the “farthest” I skied in any one day, it was not the biggest vertical day.  I only accumulated 8,088 vertical metres that day, which I can attribute primarily to the relatively easy slopes at Betelberg.

Strange to see the Japanese flag on the slopes above Adelboden…

In terms of vertical, our biggest day was at Kleine-Scheidegg/Männlichen/Wengen, when I managed to accumulate a healthy vertical drop of 10,240 metres (almost 34,000 feet) over the day, despite only skiing a distance of 54 km.  This also makes sense:  we spent a lot of time on steeper slopes such as the legendary “Oh God!” and “Black Rock”.

The Chüebodmi restaurant, specializing in Ramen!

One nice surprise on our last day at Lenk-Adelboden, as you can see from the photos, was discovering the Chüebodmi restaurant on a little-travelled piste near Sillerenbühl.  We wondered why there was a Japanese flag flying above it, but upon investigating we realized that they specialized in ramen!  It was *very* rustic (no WC, just an outhouse!), but ramen turned out to be the perfect lunch for an active day on the slopes.

Speaking of surprises, we also had a couple of them in Zürich…stay tuned for the details!

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Skiing in Gstaad…almost!

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

After 5 days of skiing in Lenk, it was time for a change of scenery.  Fortunately, the village of St. Stephan was only a few kilometers down the road…and gave us access to the Gstaad ski region.  Gstaad is a well-known high-end resort, although we didn’t actually make it to Gstaad itself.  Our day was limited to the easternmost areas of St. Stephan, Zweisimmen, and Saanenmöser.

Buying our lift tickets after hiking up from the Stöckli train station

Even though it is quite close to Lenk, it was a bit of an adventure to ski in the Gstaad region.  We first took a train from Lenk to Stöckli, a tiny hamlet on the outskirts of St. Stephan (which itself has barely 1,000 people).  The  Stöckli station is a Halt auf Verlangen: the train won’t stop there unless a specific request is made.  From the Stöckli station, we had to hike over a bridge and down a riverside country lane to reach the base of the chairlift.   This was not particularly easy in ski boots!

On our new “secret” piste at Parwengesattel

Even the chairlift was somewhat surreal, as there was essentially no snow (the base elevation here is only 1000m above sea level) and we ascended on an ancient lift over grassy meadows…while still strapped firmly into our skis.  Fortunately, the endpoint of that first lift at Lengebrand was at 1383m elevation and we could ski to the next lift over actual snow.

We had lunch at this restaurant (Hornberg)

The skiing around Parwengesattel was outstanding that morning.  We discovered a newly created piste around the back side of the mountain (see photo at the very top of this post) that eventually brought us back to Lengebrand.  The scenery was beautiful, the snow was great, and we once again made first tracks in a few places.

The snow gradually disappeared as we skied toward Zweisimmen!

After many runs here we decided to move towards Zweisimmen and Saanenmöser, in hopes of finding a quaint spot for lunch.  Alas, our progress was significantly slowed:  the temperatures were warming quickly and the snow was getting sticky.  So sticky, in fact, that we suddenly felt like beginners!  After a week of confidently schussing through whatever came our way, we would now frequently hit sticky spots and pitch violently forward as our skis suddenly stopped.

Believe it or not, we could ski to this apres-ski location in the village of Zweisimmen

This continued for most of the afternoon, even after an extended lunch at Hornberg (I recalled eating here about 10 years ago with my uncle).  We needed speed to get anywhere on the sticky snow, but increased speed also increased the risk of a violent face-plant.  Finally, at the very end of the day, the snow became slushy:  while not ideal for skiing, at least it was somewhat predictable.

Part of my ski posse, relaxing after a day on the slopes

While there was no talk of a Traumpiste that afternoon, we still enjoyed exploring some new terrain…and some terrain that I remembered from past skiing experiences with my mother and uncle.  After skiing for 9 of the past 10 days, it was finally time to end the alpine part of my Swiss holiday.

Stay tuned for the ski wrap-up and our experiences in Switzerland’s largest city!

Posts from the road

The Dream Run!

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

Every time I go skiing, the ultimate goal is the Traumpiste, or “Dream Run”.  Simply put, this is the type of run that you remember for years afterward, long after hundreds of others have been forgotten.  The criteria are somewhat flexible, but generally include untracked powder, scenic beauty, and a piste that seems to go on forever.

My ski posse, about to make first tracks on the top of Piste #1, Leiterli, at the top of the Betelberg ski area

This year’s Traumpiste was unquestionably the Tschuggen piste, running almost the entire length of the Betelberg (Lenk) ski area.   On an ordinary day, it might not have warranted more than an acknowledgment of its decent length (roughly 900 vertical meters, or 3000 vertical feet) and its scenic path through the forest above Lenk.  But Wednesday, March 7 was not an ordinary day on the slopes.

The morning is well underway, but my posse’s tracks are still among the first on the pistes above Wallegg

The previous evening, the piste groomers on Betelberg must have gone to work early:  by the time we got to the top of the mountain on Wednesday, a luxurious dump of fresh, dry, powder had landed on the firm, groomed base.   And with overcast conditions to start the day, there was almost nobody on the mountain!  Things were looking good!

Late in the afternoon, the Tschuggen piste still has pockets of powder

We were actually the very first ones to ski down the short piste from the top of Leiterli.  There was snow everywhere!  We couldn’t really see our skis through the powder as we made our way down, but revelled in the feeling of snow billowing every which way.

We decided to try the timed slalom course at Mülkerblatten…with all the fresh snow, it wasn’t as icy as you might expect

Although it is usually best to stay at high elevations on days like this, we noticed that the Tschuggen piste down to the bottom of the Betelberg area was much longer than the rest and was unlikely to see much traffic so early in the morning.  Might we also make first tracks on that long piste?  We had to go for it!

Looking down on Lenk from the first segment of the Lenk-Stoss gondola

As it turned out, we weren’t quite the first ones to ski down Tschuggen.  But we were certainly among the first 10 people down…and we were not disappointed.  The piste was only rated intermediate but it was steep enough to pick up some speed:  there is nothing like the feeling of quick, short turns through deep snow to make you forget about everything else in the world.  The bullying Swiss Franc?  Completely irrelevant!

The ski posse is getting a little tired by this point…we ended up skiing a total of 71 km that day!

The terrain was not the dramatic exposed rock of the Dolomites, but rather a sinewy romp through the snow-laden pines, with impossibly quaint chalets peeking out here and there from under an almost unbearable amount of snow.  The overcast weather didn’t matter: there was enough visibility to make it feel like a winter wonderland rather than a dangerous whiteout.  And it didn’t seem to end!

A very quick break at the Wallegg-Mülkerblatten station

Of course, it had to end eventually.  But the weather cleared from time to time and we had the even rarer experience of deep powder, on-piste skiing under brilliant sunshine!   While we weren’t able to make any more “first tracks”, we still found stashes of untracked snow on all of the pistes for the rest of the day.   I was so caught up in the skiing that I didn’t really take very many pictures either.

Back at the hotel after a long day: view from my balcony

“Epic” is an overused word in the ski world.  But that really is the most concise way to describe March 7, 2018 at Betelberg.  Although generally considered more of a family-oriented ski area and less challenging than the pistes high above Adelboden, the unique circumstances of that day ensured that I will always look back fondly on it as an absolute skiing highlight.

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What Happens When You Forget Your Camera?

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

Monday, March 5 was a beautiful day on the Lenk-Adelboden slopes.  The sun was shining and the day should have been one long “Kodak Moment”.  Alas, since I inadvertently left my camera’s memory card in my laptop computer (which was back at the hotel), I was unable to capture any of it!

View of Regenboldshorn, from Metschstand

Still, this was another reminder that it is important to live in the moment.  I figured we would probably have other photo opportunities during our week in Lenk, so I just focused on enjoying the excellent ski conditions.  The photographs in today’s post are all from subsequent days.

Good times at Metschstand, high in the Berner Oberland

After a couple of days of skiing in Lenk-Adelboden, I have grown fond of the almost non-existent lift-lines, the long and wide pistes, and the quintessential Alpine scenery.   For sheer Alpine drama, nothing can compare to the mountains around Wengen.  However, the pistes themselves at Lenk are certainly comparable.  And the snow conditions have been great, considering that we are now well into March.

The restaurant at Aebi: we had a rustic lunch here

Alas, no discussion of Swiss skiing can ignore the high costs.  Even in Lenk, the prices are still much higher than those in Italy…although I think they are slightly lower than in Wengen.   So, in an attempt to control my food budget, I continue to eat lots of mostly meat-free dishes such as rösti and spätzle.  Any main course featuring meat is often in excess of 30 Swiss Francs…or more than $40.00 (Canadian).

View from my hotel room, first thing in the morning: looks like a great day for skiing!

Despite high food costs, our accommodation costs in Lenk are relatively reasonable.   Wages are very high here, so the lack of 24-hour staffing at our hotel helps keep the costs in line.  In addition, the (included) breakfasts are still plentiful, so we don’t need to eat quite as much for lunch in expensive mountain restaurants.

Riding the Luegli lift

It also costs a lot of money to get from the airport to the ski resort.  Overall, however, I think we’re close to achieving a nice balance of world-class skiing without world-class crowds.  The lift ticket prices are near Western Canada/U.S. levels but, with no lift-lines, we are getting far more skiing time than we would at similarly-priced resorts in North America.

View from the top of Luegli

My next post will be about an especially dreamy day at Betelberg, Lenk’s other ski area….where all of the high costs were quickly forgotten!

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Starting My Week in Lenk

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

It wasn’t easy to leave Wengen:  the jaw-dropping views exert a very strong pull.  However, it was time to meet up with the rest of my posse for a week of skiing in Lenk.

A final view of Hotel Bellevue, our base in Wengen

Lenk is a small town located in the upper Simmental and is probably best known as the smaller half of the Lenk-Adelboden ski area.  Adelboden is more famous, partly because it annually hosts a World Cup slalom event.  However, Lenk has special meaning for me:  it is my “Heimatort” (place of origin) and, as a result, is the community where I vote in Swiss elections and referenda.

Hotel Sternen: our base in Lenk

Determination of a Swiss person’s Heimatort can be complicated, but Lenk is my Heimatort essentially because my ancestors in the 19th century called it home.  As you can imagine, I am quite happy that my Heimatort is a ski town!  But I also still have relatives in the area and I was able to combine everything with a special day of skiing on Sunday, March 4.

My cousin and her family – at the summit of “Lavey” near Adelboden, Switzerland

My cousin (and her family) was visiting her parents in nearby Reidenbach for the weekend, so we all agreed to meet for a day of skiing on Sunday.  We had never gone skiing together before, but I figured that they would be able to give me a good introduction to the Lenk-Adelboden area.

A church in Lenk – I wonder what important family events took place here?

I was correct! They were all excellent skiers and, within a few hours, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect on the Lenk-Adelboden slopes over the next week.  It was also great to reconnect with my cousin, who I had not seen for many years.  I am sure we will be able to ski together again in the not-too-distant future.

Only in Switzerland: a vending machine for cheese!

I didn’t take a lot of pictures that day, as I was quite focused on the skiing…and on speaking German, since not everybody could communicate with me in English.  If you have no choice, it’s amazing how much you can recall from a single university course taken 30 years ago!

Berner Rösti at the Restaurant Zum Gade in Lenk

After a very enjoyable family day on the slopes, I began looking more carefully at things in Lenk.  I wondered if my ancestors had celebrated special events in the nearby church, had done business in the downtown buildings that surrounded my hotel, or escorted livestock up to the remote summer barns (now drowning in snow) on the mountains high above the town.  Echoes of the past were everywhere:  I recognized many local surnames from my Swiss family tree.

Lenk, as seen from the Betelberg Gondola

But I can’t forget the cheese.  Not only was there a vending machine with the top two rows devoted entirely to cheese, the local restaurants served up Rösti (essentially, shredded potato that has been fried and also slathered with other local ingredients) in a dazzling variety of ways.  I opted for Berner Rösti on my first night, but it was by no means my only encounter this week with either Rösti (or copious amounts of cheese).

Stay tuned for the ski reports on Lenk-Adelboden and neighbouring Gstaad!