Yes, it's the Most Beautiful Place on Earth

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To start our Swiss adventure, we paid a visit to my brother's, wife's, sister and her Swiss husband and two Finish children.  I don't know, you figure it out.  Anyway, this was especially interesting to me, as Dino, the Swiss husband, is a professional photographer.  More importantly, part of his work is nude portraits.  Very entertaining indeed.  Had we more time, I'm certain I could have leant my body for a photo shoot, again, if only we had more time.

Next, it was off to the Swiss Alps where the immediate scenery had us scurrying to postpone our train reservations to Rome so we could stay longer in the alpine playground.  The stunning scenery was first rate.  Cliff faces gleamed in the morning twilight, looking like an oversized piece of fool's gold that you would find in a high school science classroom.  Our balcony view was a mixture of Yosemite National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and a touch of the New Zealand's north island's rolling green hills--all rolled into one.  If was classic.  And speaking of accommodations, our hotel was as interesting as the topography that surrounded us.  The caretaker of the inn was a cranky old fart that rarely smiled, but mysteriously got away with his behavior.  It seemed that everyone, including myself, enjoyed his demeanor, almost as if it added to the whole experience of a small inn with creaky floorboards, with a failing fire safety code on many levels.  Moreover, the beds were made for dwarfs, forcing us into the fetal position for a good night's rest.  It was wonderful.

And now for the hikes:

Hike Number 1

During hike number one, we trekked up to a plateau with a 28 year young Texan, who claimed he was out of shape prior to the hike.  His sprint up the mountain left us wondering what his "in shape" performance might have been.  Regardless, the views were astonishing.  It was a complete 360 degree panorama that floors any other mountain chain that we had ever seen, leaving Anne running and singing the chorus, "The hills are alive with the sound of music".  During the hike up, and then down, we were comforted with the sounds of Swiss cowbells, a definite bonus for this location.  I also got to feed the token jackass, as  if it was prompted to greet the visiting hikers during their ascent.

Hike Number 2

Taking three separate trams will finally place you on top of the Schilthorn, nearly 10,000 feet above sea level.  Made famous by the James Bond movie, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and less famous with George Lazenby's only appearance as Bond, we would be hiking from the summit to our small town of Gimmelwald (150 people) over 5000 feet below.  We would not be alone either.  Accompanied by ink blue skies, and snow-capped mountain peaks that were adorned with wispy clouds that looked like jellyfish attacking their helpless prey, we set foot on our three hour hike, stopping countless times to keep up with my trigger-happy finger that was set on our overused camera picture taking button.  Near the beginning of our descent, maybe 200 yards from the summit, a solo (and opinionated) German hiker soon approached us.  

Solo German Hiker:  "I zink you not very experienced hikerz"

Me:  "Oh yeah, why is that?"

Solo German Hiker:  "You don't even have hand sox.  You shud go back to the summit and ride the tram down!"

What the hell are hand sox?

Looking at his apparel, which incidentally was more suited for a summit assault on Mt Everest than descending a summer summit in the Alps, I thanked him for his advice.  Listening to his advice for exactly two seconds, we continued downwards, towards our sleepy little town Gimmelwald.  After hiking for a half hour-of less demanding terrain I might add-we soon caught up with our new German advisor, as he stopped to shed some of his alpine gear.  While passing him, I couldn't help but say to him, "had our forefathers listened to Hitler, we would all be goosesteping Nazi's trying to eliminate groups of people based on their religious beliefs."  No, I didn't say that.  But I wanted to.

And that leaves me with this--yes, the Swiss Alps are the most beautiful place on earth.  It's kind of sad in a way, as I don't know if I will ever be this happy again.  Sky blue weather mixed with this mountain chain is a dangerous combination.  

bkh