Last weekend in the Alps...
This past weekend we had a visitor from Minneapolis hanging out with us around Switzerland. Scott is a coworker of Matt's and on a temporary assignment in Amsterdam. He arrived for his long weekend on Friday and got a chance to explore the city a bit before we departed to the mountains.
By Saturday around lunchtime we were in the Bernese Oberland region, checking into a cosy little place on main street in Mürren called Chalet Fontana. We reached the peak of Schilthorn and spent a couple of hours above the clouds taking in the Alps and enjoying the rotating restaurant. There was a running event underway called the Inferno. The events included a marathon, triathlon, night run, and a team event. To give an idea of how crazy these Swiss people were; the triathlon started in Thun with a 3.1 km swim (1.92 miles), a 97 km bike ride with a 2145 m climb (60 miles/7,000 foot climb), then finished with a 25 km run with a 2175 m climb (15.5 miles/7,100 foot climb). And I even saw a man finishing the half marathon barefoot. Can you imagine?? (To get a slideshow from the event website, click here.)
We spent the remainder of the evening at the Mürren town celebration for the Inferno. The live music definitely added to the festive atmosphere. We even saw a couple of Matt's coworkers who were in the running events.
Sunday started with a hike down the mountain. While I took the regular path into the next town to catch a gondola, Matt and Scott followed a more difficult climb up into the woods before descending back down into Gimmelwald. We ate a quick picnic here from the bread, cheese, and salami purchased at the store the day before. Then off we went - down the mountain. We stopped for an hour at Trümmelbach Falls, an hour in Interlaken, and a couple hours in Luzern for dinner before returning back to Zürich.
Monday in the city was much more laid back. Matt was back at work but we joined him for lunch. Then Scott and I visited the Freitag store. This innovative Swiss company was started by 2 brothers who decided to make bike messenger bags out of truck tarps that would otherwise not be recycled. The idea exploded and they are now able to charge upwards of $150 USD for a book bag. The store in Zürich is made out of old shipping crates with a platform roof in which you can get a view of the train yard district. Interesting...and worth the stop even without buying a bag.
The weekend was great fun, we all got a lot of laughs. We also got sunshine when we needed it, so what else could you ask for?
All the pictures are Scott's since I forgot my camera at home...
A view from the Grossmünster Church onto the Hotel Zum Storchen and Weinplatz
The French artist Marc Chagall's stained glass windows in the Fraumünster Church
The town of Mürren
The peaks at Schilthorn
Scott at the revolving panorama restaurant at Schilthorn
The Chapel Bridge in Luzern
The Freitag store in Zürich. The first 3 floors are the store, then the rest is just a staircase through the crates to get to the rooftop view. If you look closely above the top white crate with "Freitag" written on it, you can see the permanent viewing binoculars.
By Saturday around lunchtime we were in the Bernese Oberland region, checking into a cosy little place on main street in Mürren called Chalet Fontana. We reached the peak of Schilthorn and spent a couple of hours above the clouds taking in the Alps and enjoying the rotating restaurant. There was a running event underway called the Inferno. The events included a marathon, triathlon, night run, and a team event. To give an idea of how crazy these Swiss people were; the triathlon started in Thun with a 3.1 km swim (1.92 miles), a 97 km bike ride with a 2145 m climb (60 miles/7,000 foot climb), then finished with a 25 km run with a 2175 m climb (15.5 miles/7,100 foot climb). And I even saw a man finishing the half marathon barefoot. Can you imagine?? (To get a slideshow from the event website, click here.)
We spent the remainder of the evening at the Mürren town celebration for the Inferno. The live music definitely added to the festive atmosphere. We even saw a couple of Matt's coworkers who were in the running events.
Sunday started with a hike down the mountain. While I took the regular path into the next town to catch a gondola, Matt and Scott followed a more difficult climb up into the woods before descending back down into Gimmelwald. We ate a quick picnic here from the bread, cheese, and salami purchased at the store the day before. Then off we went - down the mountain. We stopped for an hour at Trümmelbach Falls, an hour in Interlaken, and a couple hours in Luzern for dinner before returning back to Zürich.
Monday in the city was much more laid back. Matt was back at work but we joined him for lunch. Then Scott and I visited the Freitag store. This innovative Swiss company was started by 2 brothers who decided to make bike messenger bags out of truck tarps that would otherwise not be recycled. The idea exploded and they are now able to charge upwards of $150 USD for a book bag. The store in Zürich is made out of old shipping crates with a platform roof in which you can get a view of the train yard district. Interesting...and worth the stop even without buying a bag.
The weekend was great fun, we all got a lot of laughs. We also got sunshine when we needed it, so what else could you ask for?
All the pictures are Scott's since I forgot my camera at home...
A view from the Grossmünster Church onto the Hotel Zum Storchen and Weinplatz
The French artist Marc Chagall's stained glass windows in the Fraumünster Church
The town of Mürren
The peaks at Schilthorn
Scott at the revolving panorama restaurant at Schilthorn
The Chapel Bridge in Luzern
The Freitag store in Zürich. The first 3 floors are the store, then the rest is just a staircase through the crates to get to the rooftop view. If you look closely above the top white crate with "Freitag" written on it, you can see the permanent viewing binoculars.
posted by Jill Nachtman at 8:47 AM
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