Switzerland, oh yeah, London Too

We’re back! When I was thinking about this post and looking back at previous posts, it’s hard believe it’s been over two years since we posted. Alaska was our last big trip but we’ve been planning a return to Europe quite awhile and we finally got started on September 23rd.

Our first stop was London and we took our jet lagged bodies out after depositing our luggage at our hotel. We stayed right on the River Thames and spent our first afternoon walking along the river and remembering the sights from our last trip to London. The views are amazing and it was easy remembering how much we enjoyed this big city. Dinner on the first night was at the Anchor Bankside Pub and the crowds outside were huge.

The next day we walked to the other side of the river and did a walking audio tour called the Westminster Walk which told us about everything we were looking at as we walked. We especially enjoyed the oldness of it all and, of course, the horse guards. The tour ended at Trafalgar Square. We don’t have a picture but we had lunch in the crypt of a church in the square and it was amazing and creepy all at the same time.

Next we did our second audio walking tour called London City. It took us to parts of London we hadn’t seen before and was a great addition. We found a new church or too and walked by St. Paul’s Cathedral which is always a feast for the eyes. Later in the day, we had cocktails at the top of our hotel and followed up with another delicious dinner before moving on from London.

By the weekend, we were on our way to Switzerland! Our friend, Theresa, met us at our Airbnb location and we all went out to dinner. She always has the best recommendations! We agreed the next day to meet and visit with relatives. Our first stop was back to Franz and Berta’s house in Steinen. We were able to catch them up on all the family gossip and then they took us across their driveway to see their other house which was built in 1305! You can tell how old it was by how far down Mike had to duck once inside. The kitchen floor was dirt!! Probably won’t be converted to an Airbnb anytime soon.

Next we drove to Moutathal to see the Suter family. Another great visit including a walk to town for dessert. It was great to have our interpreter Theresa along to help keep the conversation flowing.

The next few days involved a lot of driving around central Switzerland and soaking up all the beautiful vistas. But it also included some new adventures for us. Our first stop was to Ott-Oergeli, a workshop/business where they build the small accordions called Schwyzer Oergeli. Edgar Ott gave us a tour and explained how they spent anywhere from 50 hours to hundreds of hours to build an expert level custom accordion. Mike took a few pictures and then he got to try out a few of them. The next thing you know, Mike became the owner of his own new Oergeli.

The following day we road the steepest cogwheel train in the world to the top of Mount Pilatus. It is an amazing attraction with a lot of places to get 360 degree views of the surroundings which included many of the Alp peaks. If you look in another direction you see down to the city of Lucerne as well as the famous Lake Lucerne. When we first got off of the train, we went right away to the top level and as we were walking up the stairs, we could hear Swiss music being played. Sure enough, there were a couple of guys playing music. Mike visited with them and ended up playing a couple pieces.

We then got to do a repeat of our last Switzerland trip and visit the Alpwirtschaft Gehren. It’s located up a mountain on a small one lane road. They only offer live music on Wednesday nights and the place was packed once again. They even had a table full of Juchzers (a type of Alpine vocal call/yodel). They were part of a local group and they performed right next to us. A fun evening all around.

Next, we left our lovely Airbnb farmhouse after devouring the homemade Linzertorte our host left for us, and traveled to Lucerne for a long lunch/visit with Lloyd and Sandra who were traveling at the same time as us. Our end stop for the next few days was the Lauterbrunnen Valley and it was a first for both of us. The next few days included visiting the top of the Schiltorn mountain with its amazing views and James Bond memorabilia, walking through the carless town of Murren (which included sampling some delicious apple strudel), walking down the mountain to the next village called Gimmelwald, and that was just the first full day.

The second day took us to the opposite side of the Alps as we travelled to Wengen, Mannlichen, and from there we walked down to Kleine Scheidegg. There were so many beautiful views which included many of the famous peak call Jungfrau. Mike took amazing pictures and it is still hard to capture the beauty of it all! You should all come and see it for yourself.