It’s been seven years since we moved away from Switzerland. Which also means seven years since the last proper mountain hike.
We stayed in a village called Ulrichen in the Goms district in the canton of Valais.
This summer, my wife’s friend kindly offered us to stay at their beautifully furnished apartment in the Alps. There are plenty of really hard choices in life, and going to Switzerland was definitely not one of them. Lucky us! We got to spend four nights in the the canton of Valais, then a day in Bern and the last one in Zürich
First dinner of the trip was in Restaurant Baschi. Absolutely delicious filet! Excellent! One of the more memorable culinary experiences I’ve had. Unfortunately, we could only afford cup noodles after this.
I’ve been exercising lately and figured I was in decent shape. Better than in ages, really. After all, we even started cycling this summer. Disappointingly, it turns out hiking muscles are different. Especially downhill. All that stomping on the Finnish flatlands hadn’t prepared me at all. My legs were wrecked already after the first hike, and after that, even the gentlest descent hurt. Recovery was… much slower than I’d like to admit. Getting older is not for the weak.
Still, it felt so good to be back. The mountains, the air, the faint sound of cowbells in the distance. People actually greet you on the trails. I had forgotten how nice that is.
Visiting Switzerland from the battered eurozone is more expensive than ever, so we did our best to keep costs down. Despite that, we managed a few culinary splurges, and even treated us on a spa visit (which we enjoyed, despite not really being spa people). As always, as good as the scenery and food were, the best part of the trip was seeing old friends again. Merci vielmal!
Geschinersee may not be the most picturesque Alpine lake, but swimming in the glacier-cold water was refreshing.
Our first hike was down from Nufenen Pass, “the second highest mountain pass with a paved road in Switzerland, with an elevation of 2478 meters“. It connects the cantons of Valais and Ticino, and Italy is just a couple of kilometers away.
Hike from Nufenen Pass bus stop back to our place of stay was about 15km, with over 1200m of descent. The path followed an old mule trail connecting the Rhône valley to Italy. People really love cheese; not enough to move mountains, but enough to cross them.
Our hike was cut short by about 5km because part of the path was blocked by a landslide. At the time I was bummed, but in retrospect, it was probably a divine intervention. They would’ve needed to send a pack mule to rescue after my calves went in a strike.
We saw marmots on the hike, cute but elusive little fellows.
It’s a long, steep way down.
Panorama from the Nufenen Pass trail.
Mountains, a dam and a PostBus; very Swiss.
Back in the valley. This is Pfarrkirche Himmelfahrt Mariens in Münster, Valais.
Münster hotel Croix d’Or & Poste, “hospitality since 1620“.
The old houses and barns look pretty. It’s really nice that the Swiss have kept the traditional look of the villages. The style is so different from old Nordic wooden houses.
According to Wikipedia, The Rhône is a major river and with the Po and the Nile, one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge. Come on, it doesn’t look that big. 🤔
We were not super lucky with the weather. We decided to ascend to Grimsel Pass, following again an ancient mule trail. That way, we could see at least something before entering the clouds.
Most of the cows are friendly, but some of them are creepy, and a few are even aggressive. This old lady gave us an intimidating stare the whole time we walked by. The classical “go ahead punk, make my day” face.
There’s a sneaky cow hiding in this picture. Can you find her?
Plenty of bilberries higher on the mountain. Fortunately we didn’t have a bucket. Otherwise my wife would’ve spent the rest of the day just picking berries.
Hiking gets nicer after you’re above the forest and start actually seeing where you’re going.
Legendary Hotel Belvédère and the Furka Pass in the distance. Location for one of the most iconic James Bond scenes.
Finally at Grimsel Pass.
Mountain climbing requires lots of motivation. This is how my motivation looks like: Kalbsbratwurst mit Pommes. Perhaps one day my tombstone will read: “died to motivation problems”.
Rainbow.
Bye bye mountains, jumping to the capital of Switzerland, Bern.
This is actually modern art by a French artist known by pseudonym Invader.
Blueberry wine?
Dude with a fancy codpiece in front of Bern Zytglogge medieval clock tower. That cute little bear should not fire it’s musket holding it like that though, or there’s going to be a big ouchie.
Nydeggbrügge over river Aare.
Jumping to rainy Zürich, our last stop.
Crostini al tartufo nero, bread with fresh truffle, or as in my case would be adequate to say, pearls for a relatively well-fattened swine.
Filetto di vitello al limone con tagliolini. I need to apply for another loan to keep eating like this. Or to rob a bank. Or even worse, to become a banker. Anyway, at least I’m learning Italian.
My wife has a natural talent of taking photos at the most awkward moments. I’m learning from her.
River Limmat and rain rain rain…
Tha’ts it, thanks for watching.