Mike & Kris - Enjoying The Ride

Switzerland is the place where Mike’s and my relatives all originate from. All four of our grandparents came from this same area of Switzerland and this week we finally made it here to see and explore for ourselves. Everyone who visits says that it is so beautiful and special and we agree. We also know that it is hard to capture the scenery in pictures but we have tried. This is our first week of two and we already made it up two mountains, visited many of Mike’s relatives and one of mine, found my Grandfather’s house, and shared a meal or two with good friends.

On our first day we drove to Lucerne, caught a boat, rode on a mountain train to the top of The Rigi mountain, and then hiked a bit to the top for some amazing views. The first picture is the famous covered bridge in Lucerne. The second picture is from the boat and it is Mt. Pilatus and the next is looking down from the top to the town we are staying in. We hiked partially down the mountain to a village where they were having a festival called Rigi Chilbi (an annual fair, usually in the fall). There was music, food, cheli (coffee with a little sugar and schnapps), and people enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

We spent Monday in Schwyz watching a huge cow show. Another annual event that attracks a lot of people and cows! There is a competition and the event ends in a parade through town. At first we wondered why there were so many school-aged children out with their parents but we later learned that primary grade students got the day off for the show!

The next two days were filled with visits with Mike’s relatives and seeing his family’s homes. The first house is Bramis. It belongs to Kilian (the cheesemaker). He is a second cousin to Mike’s mom. He makes the cheese up in the Alps during the spring and summer and then sells most of it from his house to others in the community. The third and fourth pictures show the two houses that are actually up in the Alps – one is part way up (named Grindsblacken) and the last is all the way at the top named Rotenbalm). We went to them both because now there is a road that goes all the way up, which was a trip in itself, but better than walking! The valley picture was taken while driving to the top and it shows the town where all Mike’s relatives are from and it is called Moutathal. Mike’s dad’s family is also from the same town and the second house picture is the house that Mike’s grandfather grew up in. What an amazing time we are having and learning so much too.

On Thursday Mike’s relatives Franz and Berta took us to the town of Einsiedeln and its famous church. It was beautiful on the inside and out. Then they went with us as we went on a search for my Grandfather’s house. I had a picture of the outside, a picture of a door, and a picture of the name of the town and street. Franz wasn’t afraid to stop people on the street and knock on doors and he found it! It is no longer in our family but the owner was very friendly and let us look inside. A very small farmhouse where the goats lived in the bottom floor, the family in the middle, and the hay storage on top. We were thrilled! We finished the day having a fondue dinner at our friend Theresa’s house. I forgot to get a picture. Theresa has lived in Switzerland since the 1980’s and she is a wealth of information. We loved driving around with her and she even joined us for our next day activity: a hike in the Alps!!

We started the next day by riding a funicular up the mountain, the steepest train in Switzerland with a 110 degree incline. At the top we caught a chairlift to the very top. The hike goes along a ridge for 5 miles and has beautiful views from every side. They said it was a little up and down but that is a lie!! It is always up and down and is was very steep. It was quite the workout for us non-swiss residents. Let’s just say we were proud of ourselves to complete this trek. There was a restaurant at the other end and then down the mountain on a different chairlift. We finished by riding the funicular back down. The weather was perfect as it’s been all week.

Today we went to Kerns for their annual Alpfahrt (festival to welcome home the cows from the Alps). The town was bursting with people, food, goats, music, and cows! The cows were decorated with flowers, bells, and other decorations. Each group of cows was led by the family that owns them with everyone involved even the children. We couldn’t believe how many people came out for the festivities. We included a couple of cool videos from today. One video is the alphorns and the second is the bells.

That was a lot of pictures and words! We have a week to go so more coming when this amazing adventure continues next week.