Ken and Elise's trip

Day 13: Wengen

Oh Joy! Oh Joy! I know that my beloved family who are following this blog are getting ready to rolll their eyes and say, “Everywhere she goes is the best!

But truly, I don’t think this location will be surpassed. We are in Wengen, in the heart of the Swiss Alps. Our room has a balcony and when we look out we see towering mountains in every direction. On the right is the famed Jungfrau with its snow-capped peaks. Beyond it, are more snow capped mountains although everything to the left of Jungfrau in this area is just massively huge mountains with jagged edges--but they are green. Oh it is so beautiful! I could stay here the rest of my life. Ken agrees.

We got up this morning and pulled back the drapes and just gasped at the beauty surrounding us that we didn’t see in the dark last night.

It was a sunshiney, fairly warm day so we headed back up the hill (huff puff) to the little town. We had such a wonderful time exploring everything. Ken, unfortunately, has caught my cold so didn’t feel like eating much, but sat with me while I had apple strudel ( you HAVE to try apple strudel in Switzerland, right?) with warm vanilla sauce. He had some Swiss coffee.

I will attach pictures to this of course but do not think they will in any way do this beautiful part of Switzerland justice. You just have to be here. I keep pinching myself to believe this isn’t a dream. When the waitress brought my strudel out to the little deck outside I asked her, “Do you eventually just get jaded by this--do you start taking it for granted.” “Not for one second,” she said. “I never take this for granted. Every day is different and always beautiful. My partner is the same way. I asked him years ago when I moved here to be with him if he takes it for granted. He doesn’t either--and he’s lived here 50 years. We know how fortunate we are to live in this beauty.”

All I can say is that as far as the eye can see, beauty reigns. There are flowers of every description, beautiful chalets, a waterfall, deep green valleys and always, always the towering, magnificent Alps. I feel as though I have been blessed beyond measure to have been able to come here.

Our hotel is wonderful with such lovely people. We decided to actually spend a couple bucks (well it was definitely more than that, but it needed to be done) and have them do our laundry for us. We have been washing everything in the sink as we went along, but we are to the point where the clothes really needed a real washing. There is no laundromat anywhere close to the hotel (might be one at the top of the hill but as tough as I’ve gotten I still am not hauling clothes up that hill to launder). So we spent the 30 francs and had our wash done. They brought it back to our room this afternoon--ironed! Even the underwear! Wow!

We had decided to take advantage of the chalet’s dinner service. You have to let them know in advance, and they cook a 4-course meal for you--and they will work with me as a vegetarian. Ken was so sick he really didn’t feel like going (it got worse as the day went on), but we had paid for it and he hated to make me go by myself too. So he dragged himself down and he is so glad he did. What a meal! It was outstanding. A special kind of salad that was unusual and mouth-watering. A soup that looked like pea, but didn’t taste anything like it. I could have had about 4 bowls of that (the little menu they give you called it Lauchcremesuppe--darned if I know what that is!). A lovely pasta with fresh tomato sauce--everyone else had some kind of mixture of tomato and cheese sauces. And a fabulous cream dessert with a wine sauce on top. It was great!

We have one more day here. I’m hoping it isn’t going to rain (started raining in the evening) and that Ken will feel better. But even if we have to spend the day in the room, I won’t care much. The view is worth the price!

End of Day 13