I took a panoramic train over a very high and impressive pass in the Alps- Oberalpass. Well, let me start at the beginning. I began the morning, as always, in Lausanne on the shores of the lake. Lausanne is on the north side of the lake (Lac Leman, commonly known in English as Lake Geneva) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Geneva ) and looks across to the mountain peaks in France on the south shore. The train took me east, to where the Rhone river enters the lake, and proceeded up the Rhone valley. I went through beautiful farm land with vineyards going up the foothills of the surrounding mountains.
The foothills were terraced, with old stone walls separating the vineyards. As the valley narrowed and the peaks became more impressive, I was amazed by the steepness of the gardens on the mountain slopes. The train took me to Brig. The river was strong and wide, and a deep blue color. The peaks clustered around, towering over the town and covered in snow. This is a picture from the Brig train station-I had brought some food with me- some greens, bread, cheese, and fruit. In Brig I bought a sandwich and some juice. I wanted to be prepared, I was about to take a 5 1/2 hour train ride without any major stops.
The train itself was so cool. It was very fancy inside, and many people had reserved lunch tables. Their tables were set with white table cloths and fancy wine glasses. I heard at least five languages in my train car and all of the people who worked on the train spoke at least four. There were windows above our heads so that we could see the tops of the peaks as we climbed the narrow, steep valley up to the pass.As soon as we started to climb, the snow started to get deeper and deeper. I had learned to see the depth of the snow as a gauge of my elevation. This may seem obvious, but I'm not used to make the fast elevation changes that I had been experiencing since my arrival in Switzerland.
I wished that I had brought a pair of sunglasses. We quickly found ourselves completely surrounded by snow, with the sun refracting at all angles off the peaks through the many windows of the train car. Eventually, we climbed over Oberalpass and went through many ski areas, including Andermatt which is one of the most famous resorts in Switzerland.
The mountains were enormous and went on for hours, building up and up. There were always more peaks beyond the ones I could see. I had started the morning in a French area, as I traveled up the valley it became German, and after I started down the other side of the pass I entered a Romanisch area. I had also begun in the valley of the Rhone river, and came down in the other side of the mountains into the Rhein valley. Those are two of the most important rivers of western Europe. This means that they provide water to a large number of the farms that grow the food that is eaten here.
I arrived that afternoon in Chur (pronounced Coor), once again looking at mountain peaks crowding around the town. I had been told that although Chur was in the area of Switzerland that is Romanisch, it is German speaking. But, upon arrival I saw signs in German and Italian. So, I got the feeling that this area is probably more linguistically mixed, instead of being so clearly divided as had been the German/French parts that I had visited.
I caught a bus to visit a friend's (Iren's) son, Marco, and his family in the Italian area. The busdriver spoke to the passengers in Italian and German. The bus was mainly filled with Italian speakers. We started down a valley spotted with some German and some Romanisch towns. I could tell the difference by the name of the town, and the language of the signs.
We climbed to the top of another pass and started down into the Italian area of Ticino. It was a dramatic descent into a narrow valley. We spent a lot of the trip in tunnels of various lengths and crossing bridges back and forth across the steep valley.
The bus was full of Italian Swiss soldiers who were speaking a Swiss Italian dialect that I could understand pretty well. I was so happy to be in a place that I could understand some of the language even if I couldn't speak it. The bus ride ended at the train station in Bellinzona where I caught a train to Locarno.
Marco's wife, Sarah, picked me up at the train station and took me to their house. It was dark, but I could see from their windows that Locarno sits on a lake with mountains around it. I had a wonderful time talking with Marco and Sarah until bedtime and was excited for the morning so that I could see the view in the daylight.
It was so beautiful to see the sun rise light up the mountains and the boats crossing the lake early in the morning. I got to meet Iren's grandkids, who were great. Sarah took me into the center of Locarno where I walked around until it was time to get on the train home. I saw several old castles that were built there to defend the area during its past.
Ticino (the Italian area of Switzerland) had buildings with brighter colors that I had seen yet. They also had tons of great Italian food.
The next day was Saturday. I stayed in Lausanne for the first time that week. I walked to an incredible museum- the Musee de Art Brut- http://www.artbrut.ch/ . Art Brut is 'rough' art, instead of 'fine' art. But, after having spent a bunch of time in 'fine' art museums recently, I didn't see that much difference. Art Brut is made by people who are in difficult circumstances. People who are deaf-mute, have autism or down's syndrome, are in prisons or asylums, are homeless, or have been through some traumatic experiences.
It was so incredible and emotional. Much of the work was the most detailed that I have seen in my life. Each artist's work was accompanied by a plaque with their biography. Each one's work was so different. Many of the artists had to make do with almost no materials to create some of the most detailed, honest, sincere work I have ever seen. Much of it was made out of found objects, pieces of paper sewn together, and colors made from plants or other things.
The museum was four floors high. I got tired before I had seen all of it, but I had to stay to see every piece that they had. I am so glad that I got to go see this museum. There was a a group of young people with disabilities there who were very excited by the museum. The whole experience just delighted me.
That night my family made an amazing birthday dinner for me, even though the next day was my birthday. I had suggested that we do it a day early since we were going skiing on my birthday and I knew we'd be beat after a day on the slopes.
Sunday morning we left early for the mountains. I have never seen a ski area so huge. Really it was three different ski areas at the bottom that all met at the top. Or, how else could I explain it? It spanned several peaks, with many lifts going this and that direction. Before getting down to the bottom we had to watch the signs to make sure that we were headed towards the lift where our car was parked. We took three lifts to arrive at the highest point that we got to. At that point we got above the clouds that had been over us the rest of the time. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, the valley blanketed in clouds and the peaks rising above them all around us.
I had rented skis. I had not skied since I was 12, that is to say, in 15 years! So the morning was hard for me. But, I was so happy by the end of the day that I had remembered how to ski! I really enjoyed my birthday, and in style. Skiing in the Alps! The conditions were great and the setting was stunning.
I'll do one more post tomorrow, wrapping up with Switzerland and answering the questions that the La Puerta students have asked.
Thank you!! Hugs!
