We took a train car ferry through the Lotschbergtunnel, which cut through the Alps. Amazing. Just drive our car onto a flatbed train car and get whizzed through the tunnel while we stayed in the car.The capitol city of Bern was lovely!A pleasant day for strolling.This is the Archeology Museum which has an entire floor dedicated to a famous patent official’s life story……Einstein! We saw many of his original documents and learned more about his theory’s in the Museum.We also visited the Paul Klee Center to learn more about his Bauhaus years and art influence. We also appreciated the interesting architecture by Italian Renzo Piano.Oh, and there was some Swiss Chocolate!Another day trip was to Luzern with its historic old bridges.Beautifully maintained for over 1,000 years.The Town Hall Hotel des Balances on the main square was beautifully painted as were many other buildings.On the other side of the bay is the Swiss National Transport Museum. There were 5 buildings: Trains, Cars, Ships, Air, Space as well as a large exhibit on energy.This is similar to the Smithsonian Air and Space – we learned the history and how everything operated. It is a very hands on museum with many activities to keep children of all ages busy for hours.A Moon Rock and the flag that was taken to the moon on Apollo XVII in 1972. Very cool that this “was given as a symbol of unity of the human endeavor and carries with it the hope of the American people for a world at peace.”Special felt slippers were needed to walk on this “Livemap of Switzerland”. Pointing to where we are staying in Meiringen, near Interlaken (town between those two big lakes).
We took the Kreuzboden gondola from our town to enjoy the views….hopefully.We spent several hours watching the clouds play on the mountains, while we played on the lake.A fun little waterfall on the Yoga/Wellness weg/trail.Enjoying the gorgeous peaks!Is this the Weissmies behind me? I am swinging on a fun suspension bridge across a ravine.Loved the colorful lichen covered rocks. A bright lime green in the sunshine. The sun shines – yeah!Our penthouse apartment in the center of town is a relaxing retreat!
Our neighboring car free village of Saas-Fee was worth exploring. These are some original homes still preserved. They are made out of larch wood which is very dense and long lasting. Notice also the stone mushrooms the houses are set on their foundations which kept them dry and rodent free.From the bus stop, we took the Hannig gondola lift to this gorgeous patio. We enjoyed cappuccinos with a home made plum cake. What a way to spend your day surrounded by beauty.The new Hannig Playground felt like an infinity pool. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a kid to play here? Well maybe we try out the swing…Enjoying some of the 13 peaks over 4,000 meters from the Glacier Swing. The Dom peak (to the right, not in photo) at 4,545 m (14,911′) is the highest Alp all in Switzerland, 3rd highest in all the Alps – right after Monte Rosa which we saw yesterday.The Saas Fee Trail: We are going to “let the high- altitude air, nature and the sheer peacefulness make their effect on us”. A beautiful south facing slope to traverse on the start of our hike back to town, the longer route.We are about half way down – maybe? …sign is in minutes but we linger more… You can see Saas Fee in the valley below. In the end, we hiked 6 miles and longer than the 2 hours indicated on the sign.The stones glistened even when dry (mica? silver?) and the sound of water falling was nice to appreciate. We had our picnic lunch near here to enjoy all of the variety around us.We are “consciously enjoying the impressions of these surroundings”. Every corner seems to have a different view. Loving the fall colors!Our newest family member is a week old. We made a good lifetime wish for her by adding stones to this tower. The Fee (Fairy) glacier will melt, and the Fee Vispe river will wash this ephemeral pile of rocks to the Saastal Valley and beyond… Who knows where our journeys are going to take us?The Fee river carrying away the ice melt from the Fee glacier as it heads into the Saas Fee village.An old water mill on the Saas-Fee Trail was very picturesque.Larch Tree forest in all it’s beautiful fall color. We saw some golden aspens mixed in as well.It has been a beautiful journey in the swiss glaciers!
The Swiss Alps! The Pennine Alps on the border with Italy.Our first view of the Matterhorn from Zermatt around 8:30 am. Beautiful early morning light made our getting up early worth the effort.We have taken the underground funicular Sunnegga to enjoy the Matterhorn today. Zermatt is car free so you park out of town and take a train in. From our apartment it took us about 2 hours to get to this starting point of our hike.We start on the marmot trail which follows the next lift up about 1,000′ – morning stairmaster with a view!The Stellisee is the first lake on the 5-Lake-Trail. Such a gorgeous and clear day – how fortunate we are today. We are wishing the breeze on the lake to subside…We lingered here for almost an hour and we got the best possible view ever! We are very happy and this was definitely worth getting up early to be one of the first here this morning.Stellisee reflecting the Matterhorn. Can you believe this is real? It felt a bit surreal to have this experience.We walked above Stellisee to enjoy views of the valley, fall colors, and the excellent panorama. And behind us …Monte Rosa is a massif comprised of several peaks, including Dufourspitze- 15,203 ‘ (4,634 meters) -claiming the title of Switzerland’s highest peak. There are several large glaciers here too, including the Gorner but this is probably a photo of Findel glacier.We could not resist zooming in on the peak of the snaggletooth Matterhorn peak. Because really, how many times could you get this photo?!?! The height is 14,685 ‘ , the 6th tallest Alp!The next lake we stopped at was Grindjisee with some pretty reflections. We enjoyed the larch trees as they are changing color and ready to drop their needles.The water of Moosjisee was very glacial – teal sky color!Our parting view of the Matterhorn. We had a great day enjoying this iconic slice of Switzerland.
We venture higher in elevation on another blue sky day to enjoy this view of the Dolomites!We took a bus from Lajen to Ortisei, then we took a gondola and the Seceda cable car.Many people are enjoying this beautiful day. This is the Val Gardena valley, is part of the UNESCO world heritage site.The incredible view point at the summit shows all the alpine peaks we can see in the 360 degrees. It is a clear enough day that we could see Grossglockner in Austria as well as some of the tallest Swiss Alps.We shared photo taking before starting out on the Seceda Rim Hike.The rugged Seceda Geisler Gruppe – so picturesque with the snow.There was a bite to the wind but it made for some very photogenic opportunities.We drop into the valley from the top and there is less snow on the trail.Baita Troier Hütte: this Mountain hut is our lunch destination.It is situated in the National Park Puez Odles at an altitude of 2250 meters and it has a wonderful view to the surrounding Dolomites.A fabulous location to look over the valley and enjoy some Italian spirits.Lunch of fried potatoes, Tyrolean bacon, with fried eggs – very satisfying mountain hiking food!Well signed hiking routes to get us back to the cable car. Signs are labeled in minutes not distance. The next sign generally has the same time to the destination which we found very amusing.Maybe we should take another break at the Daniel Hütte?An incredible day visiting Seceda – a special place in the Alps!
We are on the aptly named Panorama Lift from Seiser Alm to explore the Alpe di Siusi. We have gotten up early to drive and park in Compatsch by 9am – we don’t want to miss much of this blue sky day!The clouds are still playing with the Santerspitz peaks as we start our hike in the dramatic dolomites. We are at around 6,500 foot elevation.The Navigator keeps us on the correct route. A little bit of mud but mostly clear trails!It feels more like spring than fall but still a beautiful day to be in the high meadows.A water supply pond reflects Croda del Zirmei and the blue blue sky.Isn’t this picturesque?Appreciating the Croda del Zirmei as it dominates our hike.This is for our new great niece who we are welcoming into the world from this gorgeous location in Italy. Wishing her a wonderful life, full of happiness!We toast to the good life with Italian cappuccinos, South Tyrolean apple strudel, and sunshine at the Mahlknecht hütte.We had a fabulous 6-mile hike on this gorgeous day. We hiked across the meadows, caught the Florian lift down to Saltria, and took the bus back to our car.
We have chosen another gorgeous balcony in Lajen, Italy to enjoy some of the local wines. Haus Aspenblick also came with a bus pass which cut down on our driving in the mountains!We enjoyed “Our Mountain” views from the apartment as they changed with the sunrise, sunset and passing clouds.Lajen, Italy was first written about in 993 but its history goes back to cave paintings and the Romans.Lajen’s Walther von der Vogelweide is a famous local minstrel from the Middle Ages (1200’s). There is a walking tour with his poetry displayed, like on this lovely sculpture. There is also a museum in town which we enjoyed learning more about this raconteur.Near by we went to Bolzano to visit Otzi-The-Iceman, a 5300-year-old mummy from the Bronze Age. This is a sculpture interpretation. We had visited Otzi here in 1998 before the museum was built.Another day trip to near by Passo Sella for a panoramic view of the Dolomites.The Dolomites were spectacularly beautiful with the fresh snowfall. We could enjoy the food at a hutte, even if it was not a conducive day for hiking.Back in Lajen, the cows have come home from the alpine pastures! There is a special fall festival to celebrate this annual event.A parade with a float reenacting the hay harvest. Also floats passing out new wine, schnapps, roasted chestnuts, and other local crops:Törggelen is the local food culture of this time of year.The bull whip performers (ala Indiana Jones) were amazing.The town square turned into a beer garden! A fun band, good food, and nice time to gather with friends and family. We are glad we stayed in the small village of Lajen.
We have driven the Grossglockner Alpine Road to the Edelweisspitz Overlook. Take My Breath Away! The view! But the road will make your heart beat also as you can see…The far barely visible peak is the highest Grossglockner – which we are seeing now from the east. What clear visibility!The Edelweisspitz Overlook has a 360 degree view. We could even see the Berchtesgaden peaks – we are only about 40 km from where we first stayed in Anger, Germany.This is a compiled panorama photo of Hohe Tauern NP Grossglockner Peak from the Alpine Road Edelweisspitz Overlook. What a VIEW!The Edelweiss Hütte had a very good apple strudel which we enjoyed with cappuccinos. Because who would not want to linger to enjoy this view? We feel like eagles, not marmots, but thought this carving was quite cute.Another stop along the Alpine Road is Kaiser Franz Josefs Visitor Center with this view of the Pasterze Glacier, the largest glacier in the Eastern Alps, which has melted in the last 20 years to leave this lake.Grossglockner peak is reflected in the lake, before the clouds claim it again.Enjoying the view with Kaiser Franz Josef, who was here with his wife Elizabeth (Sisi) in 1856. He loved this area and as it is when you are emperor, it was preserved for all of us to enjoy. Thank – you, Austria!
