The Matterhorn

On Monday morning Jacob and I woke up with a mission. We were going to see the Matterhorn, come hell or high water.

As it happens, the Matterhorn was about as far away as it could possibly be while still being in Switzerland. We started early and had taken 3 different trains before we got into the mountains.

My friends, if you have never been to the Alps before, I highly recommend you add it to your bucket list. It's impossible to describe the wonder of this landscape; it is sublime, fantastic, and endlessly nuanced.

Thankfully the good people of Switzerland realize this, so they build whole train cars with huge panoramic windows like this one:

Our train worked it's way up the mountains slowly, a fact for which we were very grateful. This is not the sort of journey you want to take quickly - you want to inch along with your nose pressed against the window glass, preferably while listening to some really grandiose music.

This is what you will see.

Around noon we arrived into Zermatt, the ski town that sits in a valley at the base of the Matterhorn. Seeing the Matterhorn is always a risk. The famous peak is so high that often the summit is covered in clouds for days on end. However we were incredibly blessed by warm, sunny weather and perfect visibility.

I bet you that Zermatt looks exactly how you imagine it. It is a perfect Alpine ski town, dotted with wooden A-frame chalets, snow-capped pine trees, and a mountain stream.

We wandered the streets of Zermatt watching as groups of skiers prepared to head up the slopes, or disappeared into restaurants for an Apres-Ski cheese fondue. We planned our dream Swiss ski holiday, all the while asking ourselves, "do these people realize how good they have it?". Then we stopped and asked ourselves, "do WE realize how good we have it?".

We couldn't believe we were actually there, in the midst of the mesmerizing beauty of the Alps. It's the sort of place where you can spend hours staring dumbfounded with your mouth hanging open. I don't know how the skiers manage to avoid running into each other when they are surrounded by such distracting scenery.

Jacob and I took a tram up to a ski lodge that provided glorious views of the Matterhorn. From there we were planning to take a "winter hiking" trail that would take us back down to Zermatt.

After spending a while with the view we started on our hike down the mountain. We had a problem though: we couldn't find the trail. There was a sign for the hike, but it pointed straight down a ski slope. Having no other place to go, we started tromping down the side of the slope, trying to stay out of the way of passing skiers. Thankfully the trail soon broke off from the ski slope, turning into a plowed trail that switch-backed down the mountain.

The trail took us past views so beautiful that we were almost giddy with laughter. At one point Jacob found a piece of wrapped Babybel cheese on the ground. He ate it.

We made it down the mountain after about 2 hours of hiking, just as the sun was setting behind the mountains and the clouds began to gather. We reluctantly boarded the return train home. But as it turns out, just two days later we would be going to see another famous Swiss Alpine peak - the Jungfrau.

More mountain posts to come!

Switzerland

Jacob and I had been waiting a long time to go to Switzerland. It is the final stop of our 6 month European tour and one of the countries we have anticipated the most. Just over a week ago Jacob and I took the train from Germany to Switzerland where we were met by Jacob's relative Daniela.

Daniela, her husband Marcel, and seven year old son live out in the countryside close to the Swiss-German border with their fish, three cats, two dogs, two horses, and one mini-horse. We were royally welcomed as guests into their home, and are greatly enjoying our stay.

We have managed to pack in a lot of adventures into the short time we have been here. We've spent a day in Zurich, gone on a hike with a view of the Alps, seen the Rhine Falls, swam in thermal baths, gone horseback riding (twice), seen 8 castles, and toured the beautiful city of Lucerne. We've also eaten some fantastic food, most of which Daniela made herself.

Needless to say, we are excited to see what next week will bring.

On our first day in Switzerland, Jacob and I took the train into Zurich to spend the day exploring the city. We enjoyed our time, but mostly found ourselves in "sticker shock" over the prices of... everything. People in Switzerland have famously high salaries, but it is matched by high living costs. In the end, it all evens out for the residents of Switzerland. For those of us with an American bank account however, the prices can be a little appalling. Lunch at an averagely nice restaurant can easily be $40 per person. It has become our game to see how much money we can save while spending a day out on our own. (Hint: The prepared food section of grocery stores).

On our second day, I lived out a long deferred childhood dream and went horseback riding. Daniela keeps two horses in a stable close by and goes riding whenever time permits. I might have known a lot about horses back when I was 8, but that was a while ago. It gives me a little thrill to be able to say, with sophisticated nonchalance, "Oh yes, I rode frequently during my time in Switzerland". Truth be told, I don't make horseback riding look remotely glamorous, but I love it nonetheless. (Jacob was a good sport and came along one morning, even though he refuses to ride a horse.)

In the afternoon Daniela took us and her son Jannik to go see the Rhine Falls, the biggest waterfall in Europe. (I think it is the largest by liter of water per second, not by height.) It was breathtakingly beautiful. We spent several hours climbing up and around the falls.

After our visit to the Rhine Falls we stopped by a town that perfectly embodies "idyllic Swiss town on the Rhine River" as we have experienced it so far. The town of Schaffhausen has a medieval fortress with a tower that we could climb for a view of the surroundings. We got to the tower just as the clouds were parting and the sunset was beginning.

Picturesque, isn't it?

A day or two later Jacob and I were able to borrow a car for some exploring on our own. Our first stop was Baden, an innocuous town about 15 minutes away that just so happens (yet again - this seems typical of Switzerland) to be stunning.

Our climb to the top of the ruined castle over Baden whetted our taste for more castle hunting. We jumped in the car, took our roadmap, and started planning a route that included as many castles as possible. Fifteen minutes later we were in a town that had a massive castle looming over the city. We parked the car, ran around the castle like giddy children, and jumped back in the car to find another one. Thirty minutes later we were in another town with a castle that sat on the edge of a lake. And that castle had a moat. Castle heaven. Once again we ran around the castle, then took off for the next one. Another two castles later, we drove back home - we had a dinner reservation for Daniela's birthday.

Guess what? Our dinner was at a castle. Six castles in one day. We sat in a long diningroom decorated like it belonged in Versailles and ate fondue followed by a decadent dessert buffet.

It was here that I had one of the strangest and coolest desserts I've ever tried. It was called "Snowballs". We watched as the chef put a mixture of whipped cream and sweetened cream cheese into a ladle, placed a fresh berry sauce into the center, put more cream on top, then dunked the whole thing into a vat of liquid nitrogen. After about 30 seconds of "cooking", the chef pulled the now frozen ball out of the liquid nitrogen, and doused it in Grand Marnier. Delicious.

On Friday Jacob and I took a morning train to Lucern. Although it was sleeting and snowing on us for the majority of the day, and the clouds obscured any view of the mountains, it was easy to see that Lucern was a beautiful place. We cannot wait to come back one day in summer.

In the afternoon Daniela and Jannik met us in Lucern to go visit the Museum of Swiss Transportation. Under normal circumstances, this subject would not make for a terribly thrilling museum. But I suppose Switzerland does not operate under normal circumstances, because this museum was awesome. Four hours flew by, and we could have easily been there much longer. The museum was made up of a series of buildings each dedicated to a different form of transportation: trains, planes and space ships, cars, and boats. Every section was filled with interactive games and activities, like train-driving and helicopter-flying simulators, that taught you about the history and physics of each vehicle.

In the car building there was a gigantic wall of vehicles that ranged from old classics to motorcycles to Formula 1 race-cars. In a small arena you could vote game-show style on what car you wanted to see exhibited. The winning car would be brought down by a giant machine, and placed on a revolving plate in the arena while you learned facts about the car.

Even for someone who doesn't like cars all that much, that is super cool.

As we reluctantly left the museum, we saw that the sky over Lucerne had cleared, granting us a glimpse of the mountains.

The mountains were incredibly beautiful, even from so far away. Jacob and I have been dreaming of the day we would get to see the Alps up close. Tomorrow is the day - we are going to see the Matterhorn!

New Years in Belgium

This is our friend Chelsea, about to be attacked by a bird.

A month or two ago Chelsea contacted us with the news that she was coming to Europe over New Years. Jacob and I had planned a short trip to Belgium, and were thrilled that Chelsea would be joining us.

Our trip got off to to a rocky start. While Jacob and I arrived in Brussels with no trouble, Chelsea's easy direct flight turned into a 36 hour travel fiasco. Chelsea's first flight, from Las Vegas to Montreal was significantly delayed, causing her to miss her connecting flight to Brussels. From then on the difficulties only escalated - Chelsea was rerouted three times, and delayed on all 4 flights.

In the meantime Jacob and I waited. We explored Brussels, stopping to track down an internet signal every hour to check for word from Chelsea. While we enjoyed our time in the city, it was significantly dampened by Chelsea's absence.

Here is some to the stuff we saw: Brussel's main square.

Some really cool street art.

A beautiful park.

A little sculpture of a boy peeing, "Mannekin Pis," famous for some mysterious reason.

To our great joy Chelsea finally arrived in Brussels, albeit a day and a half late. We gave Chelsea a quick tour of the city, then jumped on the train to Antwerp where we would be staying the rest of our trip.

We loved Antwerp even more than expected. It was a vibrant city, full of interesting shops, people, and beautiful old buildings. We spent hours meandering through the picturesque alleyways, walking along the waterfront, and popping into pubs to try Belgian beers.

Oddly enough, my favorite part of Antwerp was the train station. We had heard that the Antwerp Central train station was one of the most beautiful Europe - and I have to agree. I cannot imagine one more extraordinary.

After the glorious facade of the main lobby, the trains came and departed on four levels, all enclosed in a gigantic glass atrium-like roof. The beauty was even enough to make catching a 7 a.m. train enjoyable.

Our little group took two daytrips during our time in Belgium. The first day we went to Brugge, a little town famous with tourists for it's quaint buildings and myriads of canals. The majority of the town was shut down for the holidays, so we spent a few hours walking around, then hopped on a train back home.

The next day we went to Ghent - a gorgeous university town brimming with beautiful sights. We felt like we were stopping every two minutes to take yet another picture.

We celebrated New Years Eve in Antwerp. It occurred to us that this would be the first New Years any of us had experienced where we would actually be some place cool (ie: a city) in which to celebrate. Even though we were ready to fall asleep at 10 pm, we decided to pretend we still felt young and exciting and go out for the midnight fireworks.

Undeterred by the rain, we bundled up and walked to the riverbank where we could watch the fireworks. The river was lined with hundreds of people, many of whom had brought along their own bottles of champagne. Some of the locals were going so crazy that we were occasionally getting drenched in champagne (or beer) showers along with the rain.

All in all, teeth chattering and dripping wet by the time we got home, it was a good night, and definitely the most memorable New Years Eve any of us had experienced.

On January 3rd we said goodbye to Chelsea who was heading off to visit another friend in Berlin. Jacob and I took the train down to Switzerland, where we will be spending our last month before we head home to California.

Christmas in Germany

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family, loved ones near and far!

This holiday season was filled with firsts for Jacob and I - our first Christmas as a married couple, and our first Christmas celebrated apart from our immediate families. While we certainly missed our families and friends, we feel very blessed to have spent the holidays with Jacob's Oma in such a beautiful place.

Jacob and I had long looked forward to our holidays in Germany. This Christmas was going to be unlike any other we had ever experienced: set in the idyllic countryside, where Christmas Eve service would take place in the village church packed out by neighbors who all knew each other by name. We left the church at dusk, with the church bells ringing and the villagers pouring out into the cold, calling "Frohe Weihnachten!".

It was a picture-book kind of Christmas. That or a Rosamunde Pilcher novel.

One of Germany's greatest Christmas assets is the Weihnachtsmarkt - the Christmas Market. Every mid size town contains at least one market, with the larger cities generally having at least four or five.

Every market follows the same pattern - amassed in a town square, little wooden cabins shelter vendors who sell crafts, decorations, knick-knack type presents, and food. For those of us who love food, the Weihnachtsmarkt is the place to be.

Pastries, candies, local specialties, potato pancakes, fish and chips, cheese fondue, all imaginable variation of German wurst (sausage), beer, mulled wine, and on and on.  We have been to many Christmas Markets during our time here, and have been privileged to sample a lot of the various foods offered. While it has all been good, I think I still have a strong preference for anything covered in melted cheese.

The most wondrous of the Christmas markets were undoubtedly in Cologne, a large city about 80 kilometers from our little village. Jacob, Oma, and I made a day trip to Cologne specifically for the markets. The largest market was held in the shadow of the famous Cologne Cathedral, a truly awesome sight to see.

Our favorite market, just a few streets away from the Cathedral, was entirely "gnome" themed. The houses were not just stalls for vendors, they were works of art. Made of beautiful carved wood, some of the structures were two stories, complete with upper level balconies and windows - all gnome sized, of course. It was a Christmas fairytale land; a land of milk and honey (ie: mulled wine and melted cheese).

Without any further ado, I present to you a photo essay of our German Christmas.

Christmas Market next to the Cologne Cathedral.

A shop for decorations in Bamberg. 

Making a stop to thaw and drink mulled wine. 

A bakery that looks like a real life Gingerbread House. 

The entrance to the Gnome Land market in Cologne.

One of the Gnome market's wooden houses. 

Stained glass in a church in Hachenburg.

Our little Christmas Tree.

Cochem town square getting dressed for Christmas

Store for all things Christmas magic in Bamberg. 

Roasted Chestnuts, courtesy of the Bamberg Weihnachtsmarkt.

Limburg, all dressed for Christmas. 

Half a meter of Weihnachtsmarkt wurst.  

A dog that looks like a mop. 

Mulled wine stand at the Koblenz market. 

Frohe Weihnachten!