Switzerland – July 2020
The journey starts in Lucerne, where Kim and I take the panorama train heading to Interlaken. It sports magnificent views on lakes, mountains and small countryside villages. We get off the train in Meiringen and try to find the yellow bus from the Swiss Post Office which should take us to Engstlenalp. After waiting for quite some time, we realize something is off and turn to the bus drivers to ask where we’re supposed to go.
They tell us that we’re indeed in the wrong place, but one of them could fetch us to the right station and make the driver of our bus wait for us. Marveling at the kindness of Bernese people, we hop on. Once the driver announces that “this is the stop for the two ladies heading to Engstlenalp” we descend and change to a more colourful bus. The drive up the curvy mountain road is quite scary at times and prolonged by the odd wait for a cow to leave the tarmac.
When we arrive at the top, we find the way to the mountain restaurant where we are to meet Kim’s Dad and his girlfriend for lunch. Kim and I each enjoy a big portion of Älplermagronen (Swiss Mac’n’Cheese) with apple puree and glazed onions. After lunch our goal is to go for a swim in the Engstlen Lake. Peter and Petra are telling us that we’re crazy and that they’re definitely not going to join us. Even though it’s peak summer, the water which springs right from the glacier is freezing cold.
Nevertheless, Kim and I change into our bikinis and all together we walk to the lakeside. Peter prepares his phone camera to make sure to catch our faces when we jump into the water. There is lots of screaming, uncontrolable waving of hands and panting. But, we manage to at least swim a couple of meters before running out of the lake and wrapping ourselves up in the cozy towells we brought.
After changing back into our hiking clothes, the 4 of us and Rick (Petra’s dog) start the decent to the mountain hut where we’re gonna spend the night. On the 2 hour walk we pick fresh berries and mushrooms from the side of the path. Rick runs after squirrels and marmots – but doesn’t catch any of them. From time to time we pass grazing cows who don’t bat an eye on us.
Finally arriving at the alpine hut, Kim and I are shown up to the attic, where we can set up our sleeping bags. On the ground floor there are 3 rooms. One is the old stable, (now storage room) from there you walk through a door into the kitchen with a wood-fired stove en and then there’s the master bedroom. There is no electricity but a beautiful fire place and a bench with a magnificent view on the waterfalls.
After playing a game of Scrabble, we start preparing dinner. Peter wants to cook a white wine risotto with the mushrooms we picked earlier. Us girls cut the mushrooms while he sets up water to boil on the stove. Once we’re done Kim and I go on a journey to discover the surroundings of the hut. When we return about an hour later, dinner is ready and we enjoy a lazy evening watching the sun set slowly. Once the fire has burned down, Kim and I retreat to the attic.
We are woken by the sun peaking through the little window. It’s another beautiful day and we head downstairs to find Peter and Petra already preparing breakfast. After a plate of Rösti and eggs, Kim and I go on another expedition to the closeby river. We retun a good while later and are sad to be leaving this magical place soon. We say goodbye to the cows and around lunch time hope into Peter’s car to return to civilization.
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