Grindelwald, Switzerland

Sunday & Monday, March 9-10, 2008 We had a wonderful stay in Grindelwald. It is perfect access to the train that leads higher up in the mountains for sledding and skiing. Our hotel had Scandinavian inspired architecture-beautiful natural woods and big windows to take in the mountain view. Our room had two twins beds down and a loft with four twins. The kids loved it. We even had our own shower and WC (toilet). Not always available in Europe as they are in the US. The restaurant in this very Swiss hotel is called the "American Bar," complete with Route 66 signs and burgers and fries. Funnily, on the menu under Steaks and Ribs, were pork steaks! Beef is a rarity here. The boys ordered bacon burgers. Their first burgers in two months! Olivia and I had the most delicious handmade pizza. The kids even played a game of pool.








Robert traveled to Grindelwald with us on Sunday. He and the kids sledded at Kleine Scheidegg before his return to Basel Sunday evening. So I was on my own with three sledding pros on Monday. This forced me to learn to sled. And I did. It was fun and FAST! We made three sled runs taking the train from Grindelwald up to Alpiglen and sledding an hour or so to the bottom. Then the process started over. At the end of the day four exhausted sledders headed back to Basel.



Breakfast on the train Sunday morning: Hard rolls with strawberry and Mediterranean flavored cream cheese. orange juice and coffee. We have started shopping more at the Markethaus just over the German border. This store carries many items that are familiar to Americans. We are still buying some mystery foods, but the frequency is decreasing.

The church in Grindelwald. I had hoped to have time to discover the history of the building, take more photos, and go inside. However, sledding ruled over all else. Maybe next trip. The side of the church faced the street and the front into a courtyard with several other buildings.

Look very closely at the above photo. Keaton is at the top of the path.

This snowman was waiting for us at Alpiglen, altitude 1616 m., when we arrived for our first sled run. Pig in German is schwein just in case you were laughing at the name...don't know what Alpiglen means in German. (It is not pronounced al-pig-len, but alpi-glen.) There were some folks from England on the train amused at the name. Hope the Germans on board weren't too offended with their comments!

I attempted to find the meaning of Alpiglen. Here is the best I could do. The German language combines words. For example, Marketplatz is Market Plaza and Pilgerstrasse is Pilger Street. So maybe, it means mountain glen(valley). A good research project for someone.

Purple signs and poles mark the route for sledding.

I found it is impossible to take photos while sledding without specialized equipment explaining why there are no sledding photos. And each time I would stop to get out my camera the kids became very impatient. I needed a camera attached to a helmet. That would be okay as long as there was no micrphone to record my screaming. Thankfully they were screams of fun and joy!

This photo(above) was taken in front of the restaurant in Alpiglen at the beginning of the run. It, a few barns, and a small depot are the entire village which is only accessible by train. We did make an attempt to sled down from Kleine Scheidegg into Alpiglen. Except for the blinding snow and howling wind that prevented anyone weighing under 200 ponds from standing upright it was perfect for sledding. We wisely decided not to sled in a white out and went down to Alpiglen to totally different weather. Shortly after that Kleine Scheidegg was closed.

Jansen arrived in Basel today. (Thursday, 3/13) My dad and Dayton will arrive on the 19th. We will get one more sledding trip in once they arrive and before warm spring weather melts the snow. Hopefully the weather at Kleine Scehidegg will be favorable so that we can sled the entire Eiger Run!