February 19, 2017
Cardiff to LAX to Zurich to Engelberg
The middle schooler had a long Presidents Day weekend break from classes so we thought we'd just take another week and weekend off and play hookie from school for sledding in Switzerland! So thankful for the supportive sponsorship of the husband that allows for this kind of silliness.
February 21, 2017
Skiing on Mt. Titlis, Engleberg, Switzerland
Got an early start this morning. Lesson for the day: a Southern California "intermediate" skier is = to a Swiss "beginner" skier. #chooseyourskiruncarefully
February 22, 2017
Engelberg via Luzern to Lauterbrunnen
Nächster halt, Lauterbrunnen! We checked in to our hotel in the valley and headed right away up the cable car to Mürren and to the Allmendhubelbahn funicular train to get to the business we came on this trip for...alpine sledding! It was a fun, beautiful day full of laughter and breathtaking views. We had been here before when Chum was only 3 so she didn't remember that trip. Sledding was a blast and much less hassle than the skiing had been.
February 23, 2017
Nächster halt, Bern.
Rainy/snowy weather kept us at lower elevation on Tuesday so we took the train to Bern for the day. Such a beautiful old town with a lot of history and a beautiful street market.
February 24, 2017
Lauterbrunnen to Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg
So, today was to be the big one...the day we were to "level up" our sledding skills up near the Jungfrau at Kleine Scheidegg. We were supposed to head to Lucerne today, but needed to take on the Eiger Run before heading out, though we thought we might only have time for one 1 hour downhill ride. After yesterday's snow and with today's bright sun it was stunning! There's nothing like it anywhere and I can't get enough of the scenery and vast, majesty. The guy at the sled rental gave us the mid-level sleds rather than the slower plastic ones I used last time I was here. We realized right away that they were fast, really fast! It was a bit icy too since is was still early in the morning. After surviving the ride down to the train lift, we decided that Lucerne would just have to wait and we'd go for a second run. Truthfully, I felt too old, feeble and gimpy to do it again, but we had to. The second ride down was hysterically fun, including multiple wipeouts. Where's the video? you ask. Well....it's in the camera which is somewhere along the Eiger Run between Kleine Scheidegg and Brandegg. It fell out of my pocket on one of the occasions when I was tumbling like a rag doll at high speed down the icy trail...use your imagination. We opted to make the run down one more time to look for it to no avail. I've limped, defeated, bruised and incredibly sad all the way to Lucerne...so sad to have lost the record of today's adventure.
February 25, 2017
Lauterbrunnen to Luzern
My past experiences with Luzern was to find it expensive and dignified. But apparently at this time every year the Swiss lose their collective mind, skip school and work, and party in the streets in lavish costumes and big paper mâché heads starting at 5:00am. We could hardly walk down the streets for the crowds of people of all ages. The quiet, lovely restaurant on the river by the Chapel bridge where I had lunch with the ladies last time we were here was transformed into the port-o-potty station for the hundreds of boozy Carnival celebrants and loud bands marching through the streets. Some wandering around took us to the Dying Lion monument where we sat in silence for a good while. After giving up on finding a lovely place to eat lunch, we instead found the self-serve Migros grocery / restaurant. For dinner we had our second only dinner out at a restaurant which sounds like I'm cheap, but it's really because we were so tired every night and Chum said she prefers market picnics in the room. I can't complain about the money saved that way!
February 26, 2017
Luzern to Zurich to LAX to Cardiff
Nächster halt Zurich flughafen. Auf wiedersehen Switzerland! Thanks for the memories.