Flashback from a Friend

Our friend Will came to visit back in May. We met him in the mountains for some cloudy hiking, and spent four fun-filled days together. Now that he is settled back in Chicago, he had a chance to send us his thoughts and memories…

I finally made it to Switzerland to visit the Schwabs this May.  When I first heard they were going to spend a year there, I knew I wanted to visit and fortunately was able to make it out there and everyone went way out of their way to make sure I had a good time seeing the country.

After a day or so on my own near Lake Geneva, I arrived to meet the Schwabs in Zermatt – the home of the Matterhorn.  Joe met me at the train station – beer in hand – and helped guide me back to our hotel.  Which was good because our original hotel had apparently closed for renovation and re-booked us elsewhere.   After getting situated, I got to meet the adorable Schwab children (some of whom called me “Will” and some of whom called me “Uncle Will”), and we toured the very touristy (by Swiss standards – still very quaint) town and had dinner and made our plans to summit the mighty Matterhorn the next day.

However, it was quite foggy the next morning.  Despite this we boarded the train to the Gornergrat and went up almost 10,000 feet.  We couldn’t quite make out the famous Matterhorn peak, but saw many gorgeous sites along the trip (lots of waterfalls!) and the train ride itself was very cool.  Then we hopped on the train to Grindelwald, which despite 3 train changes was an extremely scenic and beautiful ride past Lake Thun and various other scenic Swiss regions.   

Joe and I went to the “Top of Europe” station the next day on the Jungfrauoch.  It was also a bit cloudy but a very cool experience.  I especially enjoyed the exhibit at the top where we were able to walk inside an actual glacier.  And, at 11,000+ feet I definitely felt the altitude.  We met Sarah and the kids a bit lower in the mountains at Kleine Scheidegg and hiked down a bit to the Wengeralp station.  The weather alternated wildly between snow, rain, sun … and we had a very pleasant 30-minute hike while examining the terrain (frog eggs!) and hearing what we thought were avalanches. 

Then we took the train back to Munsingen, and immediately headed out to the nearby farm to get some groceries, but there was a lot of commotion.  Apparently, a cow was giving birth in the field but there was a small breach, so there was some additional attention needed.  Naturally, we biked immediately to the cow-birthing field and watched a baby calf being born!*   It was quite the experience, if a little bloody.  And we had a nice Swiss Raclette dinner at home – melted cheese and potatoes.

The following day, we relaxed in Munsingen a bit and then I got the tour of Bern from Joe and had dinner with the Schwabs at the Rose Garden – a huge park that overlooks the city from the top of a hill.  It was a beautiful view and the kids had fun with the nearby playground as well. 

Sarah and Henry showed me around Bern a bit the next day and after a quick lunch with Joe, it was time to say farewell. 

All in all – it was great to see my friends and the Swiss countryside.  Everything in Switzerland seemed super-efficient – even riding the trains was fun (I recommend the Swiss Pass to help reduce the travel hassle). 

Thanks again to Joe, Sarah, Emily, James and Henry for making this a great trip out to beautiful Switzerland!

Check out more pictures from our weekend with Will.

* The baby calf was a boy, and after we told the farmer that our friend from America had arrived just in time for the birth, it was decided that the cow would be named “Willi.” How many people get a cow in Switzerland named after them?! Probably not too many. We had a great time with you, Will, and we think about you every time we go to the farm and see little Willi.