Europe Installment 4: Bergun wrap-up

Here are a few more of my favorites from Bergun...

There were a few of these little huts where you could buy fresh Alpine cheese, milk, yogurt, meats, etc. but there wasn't anyone there to take your money. Swiss honor system. 

Ben teaching our niece how to use the Elmo app on his iPad. She was a very fast learner.

The moment where you realize you are in the Swiss Alps with your best friend

Ice bars

Ice chair

Even Lucie got to sled

He takes after me

Delicious

Mickey Time!

Double Binkies!!

Playing dress-up with some of Aunt Kristin's accessories

Reading books with Grammy

Beef Bourguignon! Fun to make, delicious to eat. Will definitely try again. Thanks, Julia.

Berry trees covered in snow

I love this one of them. 

After lots of practicing in Botswana, Lucie was an expert angel maker.

I just love our niece

Unforgettable week, now ready for some Kandern time!

Thanks Art and Beckie for such a treat!

Next Installment: Christmas Markets

Europe Installment 3: Latsch, aka Heidi's village....literally

Two words: barley soup. When I think of the stories Ben told me about Latsch, the tiny village up the mountain from Bergun, barley soup comes to mind. According to Ben and his family, there is a little, old lady with a tiny cafe in the back of her house who serves the best barley soup in the world. You wouldn't even know it was a cafe unless you had been there before. The other unique detail about Latsch is that the original Heidi was filmed there. The closing scene with the grandfather in the church takes place in Latsch's little chapel. I was very excited to experience these two things.

We set out for Latsch on one of the days it was too snowy to sled. Ben was not kidding when he described the hike up to Latsch as basically straight up. It felt great to breath in the fresh Alpine air while making our way to Heidiland.

This wooden post just shows how much snow piled up in the few days since we had arrived!

The creek almost completely covered in a fresh blanket of snow

The path on the right is our trail, here we go!

Made it!

Relative to the rest of the town, this was a brand new fountain (c. 1991)

We loved how there were barns built on to the back of all the houses

Ben's sister, Bethany, and our brother-in-law, Jason, in front of one of the unique doors in Latsch

Weary hikers ready for some hot, delicious soup

Success. Thanks, Art!

The precious church

This one's for you, Mom

After exploring for a while, Ben and I decided to continue on to a place called God. 

Since there wasn't much to do in God, we had a contest

Ben clearly won (although one could argue who took the picture at the right moment...)

So thankful to have laid my eyes on this

Next Installment: Bergun wrap-up

Europe Installment 2: The Darlux

When Ben told me we'd be sledding in Bergun, I pictured the kind of sledding I've experienced before...dragging a saucer up to the top of a hill, turning around and plopping down on the sled, still able to see the bottom of the hill I had just climbed. I'm sure he mentioned how long the sled run was that we would be using. He might have even told me that we'd be taking a chair lift or a train to the top of the mountain that we'd be sledding down, but again, for some reason I just pictured the kind of sledding I knew. Boy was I in for a treat. 

The Darlux is a sled run in Bergun. Ben said that on an average day, he remembered going down this run 3 times...that's how long it takes to get up the mountain and down (not to mention how tiring it can be). We did it 6 times on the first day! Our poor knees paid for it the next day but it was so worth it. Here is a panoramic view of the top of the Darlux:

http://www.360cities.net/image/panorama-in-darlux-bergn-switzerland#153.75,12.44,70.0

I have to admit, I was pretty nervous going down the first time. The sleds seem so old and incapable of safely delivering us to the bottom of the mountain. And how many times have I ever taken a chair lift to the top of a sled run? Never. The whole way up Ben was pointing out the run below us. I kept thinking, "gosh, that looks narrow" or "isn't that turn sort of sharp?" But after I got the hang of it, I could not believe that America has not picked up on this kind of sledding (or maybe it does exist, just not where I have been). The Swiss are so serious about sledding, they wear cow bells to let you know they are coming so you can get the heck out of the way. They lean back on their sleds as if they are louge racing. Hilarious. Here are some shots from our day on the Darlux:

Hiking out to the chair lift

The little building in the bottom of the photo is the base of the chair lift

We sled beneath bridges like this (but closer to the ground) a few times on the way down.

Couldn't have asked for better weather!

Still a little apprehensive at this point

Good thing my German tour guide was there

Here he comes!

So fast

One-handed!

Swiss cow

Our faithful steeds 

Darlux = SO MUCH FUN. The next day it started to dump snow in Bergun. We still thought we'd try to sled the Preda, the run where you take a train to the top of the mountain and sled down. Unfortunately (or fantastically, depending on how you look at it) there was SO much snow that the Preda turned into more of a hike than a sled run, but it was still beautiful and I could get a good picture of what it was like for them in the past.

Next installment: Latsch aka Heidi's village....literally