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Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback – Summer Trip to Switzerland (2006) – Part Three

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Today, I finally pulled the plug on my planned February 2022 ski trip to Zermatt, Switzerland. While I had been expecting this for some time, it was still kind of sad to cancel the Zermatt hotel room that would have formed the base for most of my trip. However, even with three COVID vaccinations so far, I couldn’t justify the costs and complications of international travel at this particular time. Perhaps to compensate, I’ve decided to finally write the final post from my summer 2006 trip to Switzerland. The first part is here, while the second part is here.

Italy! Domodossola’s old town (August 11, 2006)

As we had a Swisspass allowing unlimited travel on the Swiss transportation system, we were highly motivated to stay within Switzerland. However, certain cross-border trips were covered. One of them was to the northern Italian town of Domodossola. It was a nice change of pace, and we really enjoyed having a relaxed lunch on an outdoor patio.

Zermatt’s new town, with the Matterhorn struggling to emerge in the background (August 11, 2006)

While it would have been nice to stay longer, we had to return to Switzerland. In fact, our next stop was…Zermatt! A big part of Zermatt’s appeal is, of course, the Matterhorn. Alas, the grim weather that characterized much of this trip continued. We could barely see the Matterhorn from the village. And as you can see from the photo above, I had to put the jacket back on even though this was early August.

Zermatt’s old town (after many failed Matterhorn photos)…August 11, 2006

While we saw little of the Matterhorn, the trip to Zermatt was still memorable. I didn’t have a digital camera yet, but the views from the train were still stunning enough to attempt some pictures from the train window.

Crossing a bridge by train, and looking at other bridges (August 11, 2006) – near Stalden, Switzerland.

The next day, we explored the popular Swiss city of Luzern. It was much more crowded than our base in rural Hondrich. Once again, however, we used our SwissPass to see something totally unexpected: the Bourbaki Panorama. The Panorama is a very large round room, and it contains a very unusual thing: a circular painting! It is 377 feet long and 32 feet high, but each end is connected to the other. It depicts the French army retreating through Switzerland during the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War. It’s a very long story – you can read more about it here.

My ticket to the Bourbaki Panorama in Luzern, Switzerland (August 12, 2006)

We took a walk on top of Luzern’s old city walls (the photo at the top of this post was taken from the top of the walls), saw some other typical Luzern sights, such as the old Kapellbrücke (chapel bridge) and the “Lion of Lucerne”, and then returned to Hondrich for one final night at the farmhouse.

At one end of Luzern’s ancient Kapellbrücke – August 12, 2006.

Writing this post has been another reminder of how much we took for granted in the past. Imagine making spontaneous decisions to hop on a train to visit another country! I remain hopeful that international travel will become a part of my life again soon, even if won’t be this winter.

Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback – Summer Trip to Switzerland (2006) – Part Two

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

My last post focused on the first part of our summer 2006 trip to Switzerland. Now it’s time for the second part!

We stayed in this farmhouse in the tiny village of Hondrich, Switzerland.

After Fribourg, we tried something completely different: a farm stay near the town of Spiez in the Berner Oberland. I had never heard of the village of Hondrich, but it became our home base for several days. We started each day with a hearty farm breakfast, with many elements (including the mint tea!) sourced from the farm itself. Our host even shared some amusing ads from one of his farming magazines!

At Kleine Scheidegg, looking towards Grindelwald (the mighty Eiger on the right).

Our first day trip was to Wengen, which I consider to be my “home” ski area. We took the train from Lauterbrunnen up to Wengen, and then further up to Kleine Scheidegg. While we continued to be cursed by cloudy weather, we still saw enough of the legendary Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau mountains to make it a memorable day. At Kleine Scheidegg, we were greeted by a couple of goats who were employed to greet tourists outside the train station.

Hiking down to Wengen…they were selling Alpkäse here.

After the obligatory goat photos (sadly, they weren’t very photogenic), we hiked down to Wengen. We retraced the route I have taken on skis hundreds of times…except the steep slopes were replaced by gentle paths and contented farm animals. It was hard to believe that this same terrain hosts the fearsome Lauberhorn ski race (and its 40 metre Hundschopf jump) every year.

The town of Spiez, as seen from our boat on the Thunersee

The next day saw us explore the nearby towns of Spiez, Thun, and Frutigen. We cruised on the Thunersee (Lake Thun), bought some classic R&B music on the Atlantic label (as one does in Switzerland), and ensured hydration through ice cream. Just for fun, we decided to have dinner in the “Cafe Restaurant Bad” in Frutigen. Named for the thermal baths in the region, the food was naturally quite good.

Cafe Restaurant Bad, in Frutigen (Switzerland)

Our next day was spent on a whirlwind tour of my ancestral valley: the Simmental. We started in Weissenbach: we would stay here in my grandfather’s chalet during family vacations in the 1970s and 1980s. We then hiked to the nearby village of Boltigen (getting licked by a cow en route), where we caught a train to Zweisimmen and then another one to Lenk.

My grandfather’s chalet (straight ahead) in Weissenbach, Switzerland

Lenk, as you may know, is my Heimatort (place of origin) in Switzerland. We hiked partway up the massive Simmenfälle (see also the photo at the very top of this post), where my ancestors probably wandered hundreds of years ago. It felt great to go “goating” here, and I wish we had more time to explore the beautiful mountains. Alas, we had to make sure we got back to our farmhouse before it was too late.

The Swiss Alps are dangerous, and I barely survived this close call at the Simmenfälle above Lenk

Stay tuned for the conclusion of our summer trip!