Bells & Beautiful Views: Eigenthal, Switzerland
Fierce and I were all packed and very excited to jet set from the ATL airport. The flight was long, but screaming toddler aside, there were a few highlights. The baby boy one seat in front of us was absolutely precious and sort of rolled his head from looking at me to giving enormous smiles to Fierce. It was an evening flight, so we were hungry by the time dinner was served. With two thumbs up, we both really enjoyed the onboard food of chicken and mashed potatoes. Lastly, endless movies, which included the Hobbit, are always looked forward to and appreciated.
Arriving in Zurich, we were able to navigate catching a train right from the airport to Luzerne. Fierce beat me at chess while we waited (we are one day into our trip and I can already tell you this sentence might as well be on copy and paste for future use). From Luzerne, we took a bus to Eigenthal. As we started to leave city life behind and the country life came in and out of view, we listened to the bus’ very loud horn sing a tune as it warned oncoming traffic of it’s arrival around blind corners. We smirked, but soon we were pointing out the window to make sure the other caught all of the beauty rolling by. Little villages, a church with red spires, and at the last stop we grabbed our bags and stepped outside. The bus driver also stepped out and started taking pictures. I looked up and couldn’t quite take in all of the majesty of the Pilatus Mountain. My bag tipped over and I left it there to take a picture.
I can’t tell you how tired we were as we made the three minute walk to Hotel Hammer or how relieved I was that our room was adorable in that famous Swiss Chalet style. In an attempt to fight jet lag, we descended to dinner at the Hotel restaurant. The Alps are a backdrop to a valley just below as you eat on the terrace. It’s stunning. Fierce wanted to try fondue for the first time and that was a blast. During our meal, we heard little bells in the distance, but it didn’t sound like church bells, rather, sort of sweet sounding. Our waitress suggested that we try out the little footbath up, behind the hotel to see more views. She said it was very short and Fierce was pretty excited to go explore, so we set out. The little path did indeed lead us to view after view after view of the Alps. We also saw what was making the bells toll…sheep! How adorable, they were grazing along the grassy cliffs and bringing us delight on our first day in Switzerland.
