It’s not just an aversion to people that compels me to travel in the off-season. There are advantages, lower prices and fewer crowds among them. I live smack in the middle of a vacation paradise, but I forget how spectacular Switzerland, and the “Berner Oberland” region is. Needing some pictures for the re-launch of my web site, I grabbed my camera and a day pass, and headed to Grindelwald.
The Grindelwald rail service is disrupted because of the recent flooding. The bus took side roads and I saw washed out roads, rail and bridges, not to mention “my” bike path. It’s been two weeks, and already some of the bridges have been replaced.
Although a beautiful day, the town was empty, in part due to the perception that Grindelwald is cut off. I had the cable cars going up to First pretty much to myself. On whim, I got out at the first sub-station, Bort, thinking to grab a quick snack. The red and white umbrellas glowed in sun; otherwise the restaurant terrace was empty. I thought how in the main season, especially the ski season, this would look like a colony of pastel penguins on the cliff, and an image of what it must have looked like in the eighties, when neon ski outfits were the rage, flashed in my mind.
According to the chalkboard, the special was Hirshpfeffer (venison), and any thoughts of eating light vanished. I ordered the special with a small bottle of wine and sat in the sun adjusting my plans for the afternoon. It was a very respectable Hirshpfeffer, and I lingered over my wine, enjoying the sun and the view. Feeling mellow, I even liked the laughing from the two elderly ladies, sipping Panache in the shade by the building.
One the way down I was snapping away at everything interesting or quaint, which of course included a fair number of cows. After a while I got bored with cows, and it occurred to me that cows in Switzerland are like zebra in Kenya; kind of cool the first couple times you see them, and then it wears thin.
The train announcements on the way to Kleine Scheidegg were multi-language. I was amused that the lady announcer’s voice seemed to go up in pitch and down in age, when announcing in French. I shouldn’t, but I keep being surprise at how slick everything is organized. Some people seem put off by that, saying, “Switzerland is too sterile and controlled”. But having lived in two dysfunctional countries preceding my move here, I find it a relief.
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