Switzerland: Old Geneva and Carouge

 The next morning we went to work with Kim and got a personal tour of the W.H.O. It is a very interesting high modern building. Built in 1959, it includes a wonderful top floor garden and a assembly building surrounded by a reflecting pool. Thanks for the inside tour, Kim. 

Ann and I caught the bus out front on this gray rainy day and headed back to central station. From there we hiked back across the river in our raincoats and began a more extensive exploration of the old city. We stopped for tea in a cute little shop to warm up and dry off. We visited a bookstore. Ann bought fabric at a craft shop. We walked for hours in the rain, soaking up  the sites, past a university, fancy single homes, even making it to some fields before curving back to the waterfront. After this circumambulation of old town, we headed for Carouge, a once adjacent town built in the 1700's, not subsumed into Geneva. 

 Carouge had the feel of a well preserved colonial American town, with long streets of 3 story buildings tight to the street. It was nicely restored and held numerous small shops as well as apartments. Walking past one shop we were stopped in our tracks by the smell of exquisite chocolate.  We turned in and were enveloped in a warm blanket of chocolate and spices. There they made their own chocolate, and their own chocolates. Beautiful works of art, they were. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Ann decided to buy some for gifts while I waited outside to make room in the small space. I found the smell even more compelling at the doorway, where was not omnipresent, but contrasted its cloying charms with the crisp damp day's air.

I just stood there smelling and absorbing the street and its activity. Ann emerged sans chocolate. Oh no! Their debit card reader's magnetic strip reader wasn't working. We found throughout Sweden and Switzerland that first, most use debit cards, and second, most use smart cards. We had innumerable instances of having to educate vendors on how to use the strip reader on their machines when we couldn't insert a smart card. Had always been resolved before, but now, no luck. So we left with only this memory. And that's enough.

Instead we found a bakery and bought sweets and bread for dinner and Ann. There were some small language issues here, but everything worked out fine, though a staff member observing the process did make the one snide comment we encountered on our trip about foreigners and lack of local language. No harm done, and it was good bread. 

So we took our prizes as the day ended and made our way through rush hour back to Kim's for dinner. 

A Tram in Carouge

Chocolate!

The next day she saw us off at the Geneva airport, and we made our long flight home via Washington DC and Chicago. What a  great, great trip. It's hard to believe all that we saw and did in just two weeks in Europe. A lifetime of memories. Ann's already imagining the next trip to the southern Alps. Yay!

Switzerland: Old Geneva and St Pierre

Old Geneva

 We climbed the narrow cobble paved streets past signs indicating where Jean Calvin, George Elloit, and other famous types had lived, turned a corner and found St Pierre tight against its own square, classical front backed by an eclectic mix of styles and towers - a work long in progress.

The architecture of the church was fascinating and beautiful, and we walked round it pointing out the different styles, the odd gargoyles, and the historic surroundings. But the real find was the museum excavated into its foundations.

During a recent major restoration of the church, extensive archaeological evidence of its past was found under its floors. Its was excavated and the church floor rebuilt above it. Now a museum, it is beautifully interpreted, showing the progression through three stages as a church and monestary, each time expanded and revised to meet the needs of a changing community and church.

St. Pierre

Geneva was established as a Roman city in 58 AD when Julius Cesar set camp there and remained Roman until 443 AD. The first Christian church was built in the 4th century.

Most amazing to me was evidence of the earlier pre-Roman community and the skeleton of a pagan man buried long before the construction of the church, with the church built with its crossing directly over him. This is interpreted as evidence that there was a pre-Christian site of veneration co-opted by the church to enhance its relevance to the locals, then long forgotten. Christianity shows surprising flexibility sometimes.

We had a great time following the interpretive path below the church, tracing the history of the church and the old city, back and forth trying to integrate the various sites and get our heads around the expanse of time presented. It was utterly fascinating.

Ann Views the Mosaic

From St. Pierre's we walked around the corner to the Reformation Museum. It was interesting to see artifacts and read some of the history of the Reformation, but though nicely displayed, I thought this museum lacked the continuity of narrative that we found under St. Pierre.

On our exit we scoured the gift shop for oddities, ending with a hilariously conceived box of chocolates called of all things, "Petite Calvins". How odd for the great churchman and reformer to have his visage stamped on a silly truffle. Just as much fun was the Calvin cutout out front where tourists can insert their face onto Calvin's body, like the bodybuilder cutouts at the fair. Commercialism is universal, I guess, even at religious sites.

We had one more day in Geneva before we had to end our trip to Europe, this time alone as Kim had to return to work tomorrow.

Outside the Reformation Museum

Pagen Chief Buried Under the Crossing

St Pierre's Towers

Inside St Pierre

Switzerland: Geneva City Center

Downtown Geneva

Breakfast at Kim's, the back on the bus for Geneva station. But this time, no connecting to trains to other cities or buses to the airport. This time Geneva is our destination.

The weather had changed intense blue and sun in the Alps to clouds and gray this morning. Tones were muted, and the sky flat.

Geneva is the center of French speaking Switzerland, and is in fact on the French border. The city proper is home to 200,000 souls, but anchors a region of nearly 1,000,000 in Switzerland and France. It certainly feels bigger than 200,000. The city proper has a huge international community comprising 44% of its population, largely due to the presence of many United Nations offices (including the World Health Organization where Kim works), and many international business headquarters.

At the River

Another surprise for us in Geneva was the reduced level of order and cleanliness compared to German Switzerland or Sweden. It felt more like the nicer cities we have experienced in the US. More grit, more graffiti, more diversity. We walked the main business district from the busy station looking at all the watch shops and curios as we made our way to the Rhone River.

The Flower Clock

The Rhone exits Lake Geneva between the new and old city, where it is crossed by many bridges. We saw the famous fountain in the lake, the many water taxis ferrying tourists about. We crossed the bridge to the park with the famous flower clock where Ann got to try the most amazing automated pay toilet. It seemed more like a Swiss bank vault, with its massive automatic door. Yikes. Good thing they had an emergency phone inside in case it failed and you got stuck there.

Here on this side of the river was the waterfront of the original Geneva, long ago a village, then a far Roman outpost in northern Europe.

Patek Philippe Watches

Then across the busy road we spied a building signed "Patek Philippe". Well we had to go look closer, as Ann's uncle is collector of these handmade watches. They had very creative window displays, but we couldn't bring ourselves to go in to a store selling 15,000 USD watches.

The old city is on the low hill above the waterfront where we stood. We were on our way to St. Pierre cathedral and the Reformation Museum. Geneva was a center for the Protestant Reformation, home to Calvin for time, and a refuge for the French Protestant Huguenots. Time for some history and architecture.

We climbed the base of the hill and stepped into another, older world.

Switzerland: Trummelbach to Lauterbrunnen

Three Happy Travelers

We emerged from Trummelbach Falls to daylight as the sun rose over the valley walls, and we continued our stroll, bags in tow, down the path. Now it was wider and paved and the valley had widened some. We stopped for a rest and snack at one of the many benches along the route, and chanced upon a solo tourist trying to take her own picture against the cliffs with the help of a fence post. We quickly traded photographer duties and obesiences, had our chocolates and cheese, and were on our way.

On the Path to Lauterbrunnen

As we came into Lauterbrunnen, we began passing more houses on the hills at the base of the cliff, an occasional city park, and the ever-present waterfalls brightening the cliffs above. Even later as we waited for our train, we could stand on the platform and watch a beautiful falls high above town.

Our train arrived and swept us away from the Alps, back to Interlachen, then to Bern for a train change, then on to Geneva on the main line, then the bus from Geneva station to our home-away-from-home at Kim's condo in time for dinner. Tomorrow, the city....

Lauterbrunnen

Falls and Larch near Lauterbrunnen

Cemetery Outside Lauterbrunnen

Switzerland: Trummelbach Falls

 Trummelbach Falls has been cut into a crevice in the cliff over the millenia by a small glacial stream to the point where it appears more a cave than a falls. It has been developed extensively as a tourist attraction, with the addition of walkways, dramatic lighting (like many true caves we've visited), and even an incline elevator. Ah, again glad to be here early morning off season with only a few other visitors. It's quite a dramatic example of natural erosion and human engineering.

Switzerland: Murren to Trummelbach

Leaving Murren

 We left Murren early the next morning after a final breakfast in the guest house dining room, and walked to the cable car to Gimmelwald. We were sorry to leave. There were days more hiking and sight seeing to be had, but Geneva with its urban charms beckoned. And we were excited by the prospect of beautiful weather and a morning hike down the valley far below.

Going Down

We had originally thought to take the bus from the last cable car in the valley at Steckleberg on to Lauterbrunnen and the train, but decided instead to walk the length of the valley, stopping along the way to visit the famous Trummelbach falls. We caught excellent views of our sister car arriving at Gimmelwald station, transferred, and fell off the edge of the world. The shear cliff appeared almost close enough to touch as we dropped steeply to the flat green glacial valley below, our destination station tiny in the distance, passing waterfalls from above tumbling along the face beside us. What a way to start the morning.

The Cliff-side Approach to Stechelberg

Valley with Cable in the Distance

At Stechelberg we crossed the parking lot and easily found the foot path the paralleled the river the length of the valley. We were told this was where local cross country skiers go in the winter. I suppose with the extreme topography here, there is little other place that isn't so steep as to require downhill skis.

As we walked the broad path in morning shadow, we could look back up the valley across the fields and see the glint off the cable from Gimmelwald to Stechelberg. Amazing.

The path wound through fields and farms, crossed the river, then meandered through small Swiss valley towns as we neared Trummelbach. We arrived just in time for the morning opening of the falls, more like a cave, cut deep into the cliff.

Switzerland: Schilthorn

Murren Cable Station to Schilthorn

 At Murren, we caught the cable car to Birg with a transfer there to Schilthorn. Amazing, the prevalence of cable transportation here in the Alps. Just like any bus station, but your bus silently and instantly whisks you upward at insane angles, dangling above surreal terrain. We quickly lept above tree line into the realm of rock and snow.

Approaching Birg

Not only do the cables rise steeply, they increase their slope as you approach a higher station. Our final destination of Schilthorn was invisible to us as we swept towards the rocky redoubt of our transfer station, clinging to the  promontory Birg high above Murren.

These cable stations are massively built of concrete and heavy steel to withstand the winds and ice at the top of the Alps. Birg is mostly a way point to Schilthorn, though there are paths leading here, and we had toyed with hiking to Birg then riding the car down. We were accompanied my several workmen and their gear here, and Birg station was obviously undergoing an extensive remodel, but we instead quickly transferred and were whisked again ever higher with that omnipresent Swiss efficiency.

View from Schilthorn Across the Alps

The cable  from Birg to Schilthorn seemed less longer and less steep than the one to Birg from Murren, but as we approached the final peak, the Schilthorn was the more dramatic with its stainless steel revolving restaurant, Piz Gloria, and extensive observation platform. We made first for the observation deck and were treated to breathtaking views of the surrounding Bernese Alps in all directions. At 2,970 m (9,700 feet) we stood shoulder to shoulder with the Jungfrau, the Eiger, and the Monch. Kim told us the story of how the Monch's (monk) job was to keep separate the Eiger and the Jungfrau (young woman).

Schilthorn Observation Deck

 We were surprised to see a flock of black birds sweeping around the peak, landing on the rails, and generally hanging out in an inhospitable place. Ah, but then the children with food arrived, and understood why the birds had bothered to fly to 9,000 feet - free lunch.

Kim Enjoying Her Treat at 2,970 m

The Schilthorn station is famous for being the site of much filming in the James Bond film "In Her Majesty's Secret Service".  Apparently the producers paid to have the restaurant construction completed in exchange for rights to film their movie. The restaurant became the villain's lair. We went upstairs past the gift shop to see the restaurant and take in some tea and ice cream.

 Although the outer floor revolves completely only once every hour, I soon had to move to the non-rotating center and walk slowly along with Ann and Kim as their table rotated by. It was very odd for me. I could not directly sense motion, but had a distinct sense of unease or imbalance when I sat with them. And thought not motion sick, I lost what little appetite I had had before. But it was a fun space, with good company, incredible views and sunny, warm seating. Hard to believe this was once a dastardly villain's pad.

The Descent to Murren

Suitably fortified, we headed back to the cable cars and began our descent to Murren as the shadows began sweeping down the mountain face below us. Coming in to Murren from above, it looked tiny perched at the edge of its cliff above the gorge below. We felt almost like the parasailers we had seen that morning, running off the edge of the cliff, climbing on the winds rising from the valley below, twisting into dropping spirals and falling from view below the cliff's edge. Frightening and inspiring at once. What an amazing place of diverse and exceptional scenery.

Switzerland: Hiking at Murren and Gimmelwald

Swiss Milk Houses above Murren

 Kim the inveterate hiker  had planned a super loop for us. We headed first down the narrow paved path from Murren to nearby Gimmelwald, passing quaint Swiss houses, breathtaking views of the gorge below and the snow dusted mountains above. We had taken the cable car from Gimmelwald to Murren the night before, today we saw all that we'd missed.

At Gimmelwald we headed back uphill, winding our way up first pavement, then gravel, till we came to a crossing footpath. Up yet again on the footpath we climbed through farm fields yellow with the fall. We passed numerous small barns called milk houses. I guess it's so arduous to move the cows up and down the mountain they use a system of small distributed barns for milking. Then we crossed into forest.

The close forest set the stage for our spectacular first destination. As we exited the woods the trail quickly turned around a rocky point, protected with a simple rail, and revealed a high overhanging waterfall with the path itself winding down the cliff face to pass behind it. Once under the falls, you could look downstream and see the distant peaks revealed through the shower of water and the narrow crevice sliced through the rock by the fast-tumbling stream. What a treat. The waterfall must be incredible with snow melt in the spring.


On the far side of the waterfall, the trail resumed its climb through the woods for some time till it opened out into a series of meadows forming the headwaters of the stream feeding the waterfall. Amazingly, here was a small restaurant that catered to hikers (of course closed in November). Seems if winter is the ski season, summer is definitely the hiking season, with the infrastructure to prove it. The trails look rustic and private this time of year, but are universally marked with professional signs at every intersection giving destination, direction, and walking time. Hard to get lost, even  if we didn't "sprechen sie Deutsch".

Across the valley on the ridge in the distance, we could see the cable care from Murren to Schilthorn. We were tempted to hike up to the intermediary station at Birg, but decided given the distance and elevation, we hadn't the time. A wise choice, since when we later took that cable car, we could see that our route was still partly covered in snow. It would have been quite a slog.

Instead, we crossed the stream at a washed out bridge and traversed the hillside on another narrow country road through alpine farms. Here we finally saw Kim's favorite cow, a Swiss Brown. To this point it had been the red and white, coarse haired dairy cows. The satiny gray of the Swiss Brown is quite beautiful, if not exactly brown.

We then began our descent into Murren. The road turned back to pavement, and we began to see the ubiquitous fountains common to the Swiss countryside. We had seen similar, though simpler ones in the hills above Gruyere. Here again at regular intervals were spring fed troughs and fountains, some as simple as a pipe out of the hillside. Others like that above nearer town were quite decorative. As we descended we stopped near one of these fountains for lunch procured from Kim's magical pack, more cheese, bread, nuts and chocolate to refuel before we hit Murren and jumped the cable car to the Schilthorn.