Sunday Morning Thoughts – July 21, 2024

Finally walking weather!

Another rainy day in Switzerland but earlier this week I was finally able to go for a long walk again. I should really call it a hike, but there you go.

I know I’m lucky to live where I do, and I have very few complaints about Switzerland in general. The IG algorithm has shown me a bunch of videos about having to pay for tap water at Swiss restaurants. Mainly by American tourists. This is true. No argument there. I would never order tap water at a restaurant if I have to pay for it. It’s always sparkling water or Apfelschorle or possibly iced tea for me. Not sure I’ve seen too many Swiss people order tap water, but not really paying attention to that.

You can drink the water from any fountain you see in Switzerland, not just in the countryside but also in towns like Zurich or Bern. Bring a bottle and refill it there. The water is usually nice and cold, and it tastes really good. No need to buy bottled water – ever. You can obviously also drink tap water. The rule is that if the water is not drinking water there has to be a sign.

Yes, having to pay for tap water might be a Swiss quirk but if that’s people’s only complaint, I’m cool with that. And yes, prices for drinks at restaurants can be excessive. I saw somebody buy a bottle of still water on a boat and it cost them $7. It was half a liter. Insane. Same bottle is like $1 at a supermarket. Or just find a tap.

Talking about boats. This is good to know. If you’re on a boat in Switzerland and the only covered indoor seating area is the restaurant, they can’t make you order something. There might be a sign that says “Kein Konsumzwang” or something like that. They will come up to you and ask you if you’d like to order something and you just decline. Of course, a lot of people feel like they have to order something to be polite. This is one of the situations where I’m delightedly impolite.

Also, on that some boat we passed the Bürgenstock. That’s where the Ukraine Peace Conference was held a little while back. Bit surreal to be passing just a few hundred meters from it on the lake.

And here’s one for the people who say “you are so lucky to live in Switzerland and have these things on your doorstep”. Yes, couldn’t agree more. I have a BUT though. A kind of big one. To get to Schwarzwaldalp where I started my hike on Friday I got up before 5 AM, took the 5.20 bus and got there at 9 AM. That’s three hours and 40 minutes away. I don’t live close to the mountains. I mean the closest and easiest one to get to is Mt. Rigi, where I was yesterday. That means the 6.35 bus and hope it’s on time because you only have two minutes to change onto the train in Aarau. And I get to the top of Mt. Rigi at 8.40. That’s a good two hours. Similar time for going to the Rhine Falls. And that’s one way.

So, I’m asking you, where could you go if you traveled for 2-4 hours one way. I could go to Paris 😉. These things might not be right on my doorstep, but they are so worth getting up early for. Here’s the video of Friday’s hike I posted on YT.

I took a very crowded bus from Meiringen up to Schwarzwaldalp and hiked back down. I also went to the Rosenlaui Gorge. I’m gonna let you look that one up. It’s this really amazing gorge and you climb up 115m walking through it. It’s one way. You walk back down through the forest after.

Rosenlaui Gorge - let me out of here! 😉

Top tip: Take the bus all the way up to Schwarzwaldalp and walk back to the Rosenlaui Gorge. A lot of people will get off the bus right at the gorge. And if you’re anything like me you don’t want to be in a narrow gorge with a large group of people.

Walking from Schwarzwaldalp takes about 35 minutes and will get you to the entrance of the gorge right in between two buses. I was in there all by myself for a bit and then I had four people pass me. It was perfect. That hike down is really easy and beautiful. There is also a little café at the gorge entrance, I can totally recommend that for after your hike. If you like cheese, there are several options to buy some real mountain cheese along the way.

I walked down the valley, but it felt like more people were walking up. I just prefer walking with the water and not against it, but that’s just me. A lot of female and male solo hikers. And no creeps. Just a quick “hello” or “nice day for a hike” and that was that. I was not expecting creeps. They tend not to hide out in the Swiss Alps and actually hike.

I was sitting at this beautiful spot having lunch when I realized that I could either rush for the bus or would then have to wait two hours for the next one. The other option was of course to hike down the mountain.

With this view, I decided to sit for a little while longer. And this is where I complain that English does not have a word that corresponds to German “Muskelkater”. Holy whatever, that got steep really fast. I usually take the bus down that last stretch where it gets steep. You might have heard of the Reichenbach Falls – Sherlock Holmes and such. It’s about as steep as that waterfall and I could really feel my legs starting to struggle about three quarters of the way down. I ended up taking a bus for the last mile or so. That was already down in the valley though. Next time I will plan things better and take the bus or the Reichenbach Falls funicular.

Either way, it was a great hike.

On the train ride from Lucerne to Meiringen in the morning I met two women from Canada. What a lovely encounter that was. I told them all about Swiss trains and hiking and a lot more. They mentioned going to Basel the next day and then on a river cruise. Now, what I did on Saturday was go up Mt. Rigi, back down the other side, on a boat to Lucerne, where I took an earlier train than I usually would to Olten. Due to construction work everybody had to change trains there. No points for guessing who I ran into at that station. Too bad we had no time to exchange contact info but that was beyond cool. I was like “NO WAY!”. I mean what are the odds.

Totally made up for the bakery at the station in Lucerne no longer selling my favorite sandwich. I found that incredibly annoying.

I can’t remember what else I wanted to share with you, but I need to vent about bots. Interesting person posting seemingly cool stuff and looking like a real human is posting it and then … you guessed it, they show up in my DMs and ask how I’m doing. Not that best opening line but whatever. Then they asked where I was from. I’m like “I’m sure you can figure that one out by looking at my bio and my profile”. I had literally just posted pictures from close to home with a precise location. I expect that level of effort from anybody in my DMs. They came back with “Europe?”. OMD, seriously? Goodbye bot. I hate when they try to trick you. I mean there’s the obvious orthopedic surgeon scammers and the love bombers who just LOVE your profile and just HAD TO message you. Ask them to be specific about what they like about your profile. I promise it’s fun.

I spent a lot of time on trains and worked on my book. I have four more days of work to get through, then full on getting that book finished and hopefully exploring new places. Interrail and such. But there is the Paris Olympics, so no taking the fastest route because you don’t want to try and get from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon with luggage in a crowded Paris. Of course, the Germans are also doing construction work on one of their main lines. So, also no direct trains to Cologne for instance. I might be spending quite a bit of time on regional trains, but hey, that’s when you get to chat to the locals and complain about the stupid trains – I hear the Dutch are great at this as are the Germans. Should be fun either way.

It's also very interesting to figure out international train connections. I’m a total pro in Switzerland, but I found out that just because there is a train line from Maastricht to Luxembourg City or Metz doesn’t mean it’s easy. Changing trains three times feels a bit excessive but could be fun. And the most direct route is not always the fastest. There’s also this town in the Netherlands and Belgium with too many country borders to count that I can’t wait to explore. It’s called Baarle-Nassau, I think. Not sure if I can make it there this time. It all very much depends on when I can get out of here. I also haven’t figured out which interrail ticket to get, but that should be the easiest part of planning.

It's pouring again outside, and I feel like having some hot tea. Have a lovely Sunday everyone.