Such Great Heights

Some time ago now (at the end of June), Adam and Julie returned to Geneva for take 2 of paragliding (an item on my "things to do before I die” list). As you might recall, they had come through towards the end of March and we made an unsuccessful attempt thwarted by wind and rain.

This time, however, was much more successful. In short, we had gorgeous weather and great flights. We again headed to Interlaken and it proved a wise choice as the beauty of our surroundings was unsurpassed.

I won’t do much in the way of descriptions because in this case, the pictures are worth much more than anything I could attempt to describe. I will, however, say this: somewhat counter-intuitively, paragliding was one of the least frightening and most fun things I’ve ever done. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I’d be jumping off a cliff, but the truth is you just need to run down a gentle slope and the parachute just lifts you off the ground in a way I can only describe as “magical.” I highly recommend it.


En route to our departure point


Preparing for flight


Julie lifts off


The rest of the group getting into the thermal lift area


My flight instructor Dominick and I over the city




I even got to take the reigns for a few minutes to steer; fun stuff


another aerial view of Interlaken


amazing

After touching down and having another great rösti, we headed back to Geneva to go to a friend’s going away party.
In addition, being back in Geneva allowed us the chance to do some other fun activities on Sunday. One thing that it took me that long to finally get around to was exploring the Salève, a mountain just across the border in France. We didn’t have time to both ascend and descend on foot, so we took the funicular up and hiked down. It was another breath-taking day with some spectacular vistas.


Le Salève from below


Geneva from atop the mountain

Finally, that evening before Adam and Julie returned to London, we had the chance to stop by a music festival sponsored by AMR, the school that puts on the Tuesday jazz jam sessions. It was a nice way to end the weekend, relaxing with beer and friends.


The Porrs


Me and Adam enjoying some tasty Calvinus

Return to Bernese Oberland, Part 2: Canyoning!

On Friday morning Andrew and I went canyoning, which involves traveling through a canyon by climbing, rappelling, jumping, swimming, etc. It just so happened that the day we went was the first time the outdoor adventure company was opening this particular passage of river for the season, so we lucked out. The weather was also much more cooperative than Adam, Julie and my failed attempt at paragliding.

It was quite a fun experience, though not nearly as physically demanding as I may have thought (or hoped). For example, the rappel was controlled entirely by the blayer and not myself. Even so, the various jumps and dives were a blast and we got our money’s worth. I bought the photos afterwards, so here are a few of those:




The crew: me at back left, Andrew front and center


The canyon




This is my "I've done actual rappelling before and this is nothing, so since you're making me take a picture I'm gonna be really enthused about it" face.




Psyching up for a jump


one of our instructors demonstrates the “Superman” dive

Return to Bernese Oberland, Part 1

Schrummy’s trip conveniently coincided with a Swiss holiday and I took an extra day off to join him on a little Swiss travel (Maggie had to head back to Paris midweek). We met up in Interlaken (where I’d recently gone with Adam and Julie) and fortunately had better luck with weather this time around.

We spent Thursday hiking around various alpine villages, starting in Lauterbrunnen and trekking straight up to a little mountain town called Gimmelwald (highly recommended by Rick Steves). The sign told us it would be almost a two-hour hike but we managed in half the time. I guess those signs are for a slightly different demographic of traveler.

From there, we wandered around the little town (which is about as traditionally/stereotypically Swiss as you can get) and over to a slightly bigger ski destination called Mürren where we had some great Rösti (the glorified hashbrown dish I’m sure I’ve mentioned at least once before. After making our way around there, we decided to try and get back down to Lauterbrunnen and found a snow-covered path that was still “closed for winter.” We figured it couldn’t be too bad and lucky for us, a prior visitor had left a pretty good boot path, so we only ended up knee-deep in snow a couple times.

We ultimately made it back to the city and finished our day with an outdoor drink at one of the hotels before returning to Interlaken and our hostel.

Misc:


Interlaken


Interlaken’s flower clock and my best tourist face


Valley between Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg


Gnomes were everywhere. My theory is that the big one here recently killed the two at bottom right. He appears to be quite excited about it, too.

The Hike Up:










Me, by Andrew

Gimmelwald:








the firehouse; everything in town is made of wood, so during the dry season there’s 24-hour fire watch


example of lots of wood storage







Mürren:




Alps near the Jüngfrau


Andrew makes the rösti look almost as good as in real-life

The Hike Down:


Andrew, by me


Me, by Andrew




Waterfalls a-go-go

More to come.

What Would Rick Steves Do?

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of hosting Adam and Julie who came through Switzerland over Julie’s teaching break on their way to Austria. I took a day off work and we spent the long weekend making our way to Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen, two place I’d heard a lot about over the past 20 months but had yet to visit. Interlaken is a destination for outdoor sports enthusiasts and Lauterbrunnen is known for its waterfalls and beautiful scenery.

Lauterbrunnen
We spent Sunday hiking around Lauterbrunnen (though it was more on walking trails than actual hill climbing) and had pretty much perfect weather. The only slight disappointment was that we were ahead of season for Trümmelbach Falls, a collection of ten waterfalls inside of a mountain.

Here are some photos from our journey:






Adam and I are surprised to find Christmas in April (photo by Julie)


Julie and I chill by a creek (photo by Adam)


Authentic glacial spring water. It was fantastic — and none of us got sick!











On our hike out we had passed several small farms including many which sell “Alpine Cheese.” Of course, it being a Sunday in Switzerland, nothing was open. However, on our way back we saw a farmer baling hay and wondered aloud about the possibility of obtaining some cheese. After a couple moments of deliberation, Adam decided to approach the barn and made an inquiry. The man told us to go back a bit and up a short path to a nearby house. This was apparently his parents’ place and they would be the ones to ask. Fortunately, a little old Swiss German man was already outside and Adam made fine use of his high school German. We were invited to sit down while he went and cut us a wedge and some samples.

I always joke that from what I’ve seen of Rick Steves’ travel videos, he would have everyone go to a remote village somewhere, knock on a random door and invite himself in for dinner to get the most ‘authentic’ experience possible. This was our definitive Rick Steves moment. While we certainly didn’t impose, we were able to enjoy a nice little taste of the Swiss Alps.


Adam, awaiting cheese amidst some amazing scenery


Julie, awaiting some cheese with the housecat


we think these bells were awards – our host rang them all for us (photo by Julie)


Adam, the cheese guy and one enormous bell (photo by Julie)


the cheese was pretty great too

Interlaken
We arrived in Interlaken Sunday evening and found a place to grab some good Swiss German food (mainly rösti, which I think I’ve described before as glorified hashbrowns - but in a good way) for dinner. The next morning we awoke to lots a rain and explored the city while hoping for the clouds to part in time for our 3:00 paragliding appointment. Alas, it was not to be. Our guides even took us up the mountain to check on the conditions but determined we couldn’t make the leap. A bit disheartened, we resolved to reschedule for the future (currently set for late June). And the rain may have been a letdown, but it didn’t dampen our spirits too much.


Sunset over Interlaken (the night before the rain began)


Enjoying some local beer







Geneva
The only good thing about paragliding being cancelled was the chance to make it back to Geneva in time for Monday night Pub Quiz at Mr. Pickwick. The next day I was back at work, but Adam and Julie made it around the town to see all the landmarks (and fortunately had great weather). We capped off their visit with Tuesday Night Jazz at local music school AMR. All in all, a great time!


This trombonist reminded us of Adam Norman


…and we figured we should probably get some sort of pic with all three of us