CHILLON, MONTREUX, Sunday, June 19

 
We settled in a lovely hotel right on the lakefront and then walked along the lake, past the palm trees and colorful gardens, viewing the green mountains and the snowy peaks across the lake. No wonder this is called Montreux Riviera!

In 45 minutes we reached the Chateau du Chillon. What a site! I remember visiting this spot 50 years ago, but, even though the castle is more than 800 years old, a lot has changed in 50 years! Now there are six excellent videos about the history, architecture and prison stories, as well as self-guided tours with an iPod and a great book store.

The building was during many times a hone for the counts of Savoy. We spent most of the time focusing on the periods during which the castle was used as a prison and particularly the story of Bonnivard's imprisonment in 1530 made famous by Lord Byron's sonnet written after visiting Chillon in 1816. As a champion of trampled freedom, he composed "The Prisoner of Chillon."

Since Byron is one of the poets featured in the poetry sessions Johm leads at the Vi Retirement Community, he drank in the history and context of the poem. I also found the history of the building fascinating, learning more about the many uses of the castle over the centuries.

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Location:Chateau du Chillon, Montreux

GOLDEN PASS TRAIN THROUGH SWITZERLAND TO MONTREUX, Sun., June 19

The Goldenpass train has the name for a good reason. The scenes we passed are works of art - beautiful green hills with snowy mountains peeking through, typical wooden chalets with flowering window boxes, making for enchanting views for miles and miles. John's comment: "in spite of the pictures, I think I underestimated the grandeur."

As we moved from Interlaken to Montreux through the gorgeous mountain passes, some general impressions of our brief time in Switzerland are surfacing:
**Everything is on time.
**We've seen marvelous engineering projects, not least of these are the wonderful trains and cable cars that go to all kinds of places in the mountains.
**Public areas are in great shape - clean, modern, in repair. This goes for train stations, curbs and sidewalks, roads, toilets, walls. Probably because they pay higher taxes!
**The yodel festival was very much geared to the Germanic Swiss audience. Little was in French and nothing in English. They were happy to have yodeling groups from Japan, S.Korea, Alberta Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Wisconsin. And there were a few groups from the French speaking part of Switzerland (all singing in SwitzerDeutch). Out of 10,000 participants, however, the vast majority were Germanic Swiss.
(The only ad in the program book in English was to invite guests to "play poker and black jack" in the Interlaken casino!
***The greeting custom is for three cheek kisses (left, right, left) - especially initiated by the women.

As the train neared Montreux we could see hillsides with grade vine and the architecture changing to a French style, as the signs changed to French. I felt "home" again, able to read the signs and pick up on conversations,

More about our afternoon in the "Montreux Riviera" tomorrow.

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Location:Golden pass to Montreux, Switzerland

MORE YODELING FEST/INTERLAKEN, Sat., June 18

After a 20 minute train ride from our home in Lauterbrunnen, we were back in Interlacken. (Did we mention how great the trains are? Such an engineering feat, with trains and cable cars going to all sorts of places high in the mountains.)

Today the hills were alive with the sound of music -- at least Interlaken was. We spent the entire day listening to yodeling groups present in competition and never got tired of it. A special treat was seeing our new friends from the yodeling club in Laufen; decked in their local costume, they looked quite different than when we'd seen them at their rehearsal and the sounded great! We also enjoyed the presentation from the club in New Glarus , Wisconsin - not far from John's family home!

The brightly colored costumes, different for each canton, the intonations, the harmony, the amazing voices with terrific ranges- what a treat. During intermissions we walked around town, sometimes in a torrential downpour. Rain or shine, there were yodeling groups or alphorn players gathered on corners, in plazas and in cafes. The town was alive with the sound of music!

We enjoyed the shops, too. The wood carving, the Swiss watches, the music boxes, Swiss army knives , Hummels - they were all there. So, too, were the native costumes. We both bought native blouses decorated with edelweiss - to wear when yodeling!!

This festival is clearly an effort to keep alive the Switzerdeutsch language and customs. Is was a privilege to be a part of it.

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Location:Yodeling fest, Interlaken Switzerland

INTERLOCKEN, YODELING FESTIVAL, Fri.,June 17

It was like hearing angels voices! So many styles of yodeling - solos, duets, trios, quartets, larger clubs (even 21 from a club in Calvary, Alberto, Canada) - singing love songs, hymns, peppy songs....

The festival opened yesterday with children's groups competing. This morning the booths opened, selling food, clothes, souvenirs and giving away trinkets. As we wondered and got a lay of the land, we came upon groups of children or alphorn players performing in the sidewalks - all in their gorgeous canton costumes. What talent!


Adult competitions got underway in the afternoon. First we went to the alphorn players. It was like a concert. People sat in awed silence. Some of it reminded me of bugle music - apparently it is not easy to play the alphorn - no valves or slides - you just play it with your lips. Nor is it easy to carry around!

When the flag throwing competition got underway, we switched to that. The atmosphere was one of a sports event. Similar to baton twirling but more complex and requiring a lot of upper body strength. Quite awesome!

The real delight,however, was the yodeling competition with performances every 10 minutes going on simultaneously in 13 large venues. We spent the evening in a large ballroom in the Victoria Hotel and were thoroughly entertained.


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Location:Yodelfest, Interlaken

THE ALPS, Thurs., June 16

Oh! Ah! Look! These were the words of the morning, as we viewed the magnificent scenery during our climb by train and 3 cable cars to Shilthorn peak at 12,000 feet. There from Piz Gloria, the solar-powered revolving restaurant and panorama terrace, we viewed the spectacular Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau mountains, as well as dozens of other marvelous peaks.

We had gotten the first train out in the early morning and arrived before the clouds moved in. What sights! I recalled these mountains when I'd seen them in the winter with the skiers. They are equally beautiful in the summer. (I still remember reading Heidi.). There is little wonder that 007 wanted it's James Bond movie ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service") filmed here right after the restaurant opened in 1968. We lingered, ate, took photos, lingered some more and read the information boards that identified each peak.

After a rest back in Lauterbrunnen, we took a train to Wengen, a fancier mountain town that is traffic-free.

Returning in the rain, we made a beeline for a restaurant and waited for it to clear. What a great day!

At Shilthorn, John was moved to poetry:

If the top of Europe you'd be born
It's best to ascent to the Shilthorn
In large cable cars
That fly to the stars.
Piz Gloria is its commercial nom;
Close to heaven you can make your home.


Three giant look eye to eye with you- 
Namely, Eiger, Monch and the Jungfrau.
Thirteen thousand feet tall they stand,
So high over the clouds and over the land.


Rather than always looking up to the sky
You'll find yourself looking down to earth from on high.
Maybe you're standing on a planet up in orbits
Viewing below landscapes from the top of their tips.


This Shilthorn is a restaurant merry-go-round;
360 degrees it abounds.
Above valleys, mountain peaks and over the ground,
Circling, circling where heavens are found.


For geologists it's a paradise,
Beneath snow cover and ice,
So many geologic forms to see,
So many different rocks, a treasure for thee.








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Location:Shilthorn and mnt. Towns

LAUTERBRUNNEN, Switzerland, Wed., June 15, 2011

As the train passed through Bern on to the mountains, my stomach did a little jump; memories of riding through this beautiful scenery during my Jr Yr (1960-61) came rushing back! The chalets with their window boxes filled with flowers, the green hills, green/blue lake....

At Interlaken we changed trains to climb to Lauterbrunnen, a lovely ski town (reminding us of Vail, but not so over-the-top)' which will be our home for four nights.

In the afternoon we went to Trummel-Bach falls (10 glacier water falls) inside the mountain accessible by a tunnel lift. This site drains the glacial waters of Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau, carrying over 20,000 tons of boulder debrie each year and 20,000 liters of water per second! The falls were mighty, indeed!

That left us enough time to "do" the main street (the only street), checking put the restaurants and shops.


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Location:Travel from Laufen to Lauterbrunnen