[CR Switzerland] Day 12-2

September 28, 2006
Interlaken - Brienz - Ballenberg - Mt. Pilatus - Engleberg

The trip on "the steepest cogwheel train in the world" provided all the mountain paparazzi with still more opportunities to take shots of the mountains. Those with ultra-high zoom lenses were lucky to get close-ups of the commercial airline jet that whizzed through a gap in the mountains; or of the Swiss Army soldiers doing their required mountain-climbing training. No closed windows on this train ride - either they were half open, or, if the carriage was filled with photographers, open all the way. There was a little plaque set into the window frame that implored all the passengers: "Please do not stick your heads or arms out the windows..." A reminder not to get carried away while in search of the perfect composition for one's photograph, no doubt!

Having done this ascent in 2000, my delight at the lack of people on the peak knew no bounds. To be sure, nursing a cup of hot chocolate on a mountaintop is so much better in sunshine and no crowds, as opposed to being damp, wet, rushed during the height of the tourist season! The latter had been the case in 2000, and the difference could not be more extreme. This time around, I was actually able to climb to the official peak of the mountain! No view of Lucerne but we did see the summer luge run and a tiny church on the very top of one of the lower peaks. This church invited a lot of speculation on how people got up there to begin with. I thought that the church's height would certainly give new meaning to the phrase "falling from grace"!

While sipping at the hot chocolate my parents ordered against my coming down from the peak, I was distracted by the sight of a window-washing man blithely doing his work despite being close to the mountain’s edge. It was amazing to watch him work without so much as a safety harness, which meant that he was nowhere near the danger zone, but still...quite a feat. I also took pictures of the black mountain birds that have learned coffee shop/restaurant leftovers make good eats! We had been cautioned not to feed them, as per warnings from environmentalists, but that didn't stop the birds from perching on the terrace railing and looking as appealing (and conniving) as possible!

Our cable car descent was like that of the Kleine Matterhorn: a huge boxcar-type carriage from the peak to the first station, and then four-seater bubble carriages from the second and third stations. Good news was waiting for me when we disembarked at Kriems - my mobile phone chirruped with an SMS that the typhoon had left Manila, and all was perfectly well at home. That is to say, our roof was still whole and entire, no trees had fallen on the house, the outdoor cats had all had the sense to take shelter in the lanai and laundry area, and were perfectly safe. No electricity, but at least we had a generator, and diesel enough to keep it running through the night.

Blessed relief! I was able to share the good news with Ueli and some other members of the tour, as well as my previous experience with Mt. Pilatus. Relayed the happy news to my parents, whose expressions lightened visibly. So it was in a considerably more cheerful frame of mind that we made our way up to Engleberg and the Schweizerhof hotel for the group's last dinner together. Again, this was an alternate hotel, a business that had been family-run for well over a hundred years. The room we were given was at the end of the first floor hallway - a veritable junior suite, which allowed me to have my own room, and with bunk beds, no less! ::insert random happy bouncing here:: We also had a corner of the roof deck as our terrace, overlooking the main drive, and with a lovely view of the Engleberg (Angel Mountain) and part of Mt. Titlis as well.

On the way to Engleberg, Elmar went into the customary spiel about the Insight customer satisfaction survey. He told us to detach the 5% discount certificate and put it in a safe place, as it would be applicable to our next tour. Then he described how to fill up the form, requesting it to be handed it before we parted ways, since we would be splitting up after tomorrow night.

Knowing that this would be the group's last dinner together as a group, and Ueli's last night with us, cast a nostalgic air over the proceedings. It seemed like only yesterday that we were setting out from the Zurich Movenpick, and now, we were having to set our minds to departure details! On our Glacier Express ride, Elmar had confirmed with everyone their flight departure times, so that he would know which bus to put us on for the transfers. Turns out that he would be leaving with the early bus at 7.00 AM, and Sara would take charge of the second bus at 10.15 AM. Waah, was starting to miss our tour team already. Upon entering the pretty dining room, I gave Elmar the survey forms, sealed in the provided envelope, and slipped him his tip together with the family's usual note of appreciation for all that he had done to make this trip one of the best ever that we've had with Insight.

For all that I was tired from the long day and feeling sentimental, I still had a huge appetite left for dinner! The family kitchen had outdone themselves with the home cooking. It was a splendid meal, and my eyes lit up when I saw that ox tongue was one of the featured items on the menu. Although prepared in a different manner from the style that I know (which is pressure-cooked and served with red wine-mushroom gravy), it tasted wonderful all the same. The ice-cream cake that was presented for dessert! Pure artistry - it looked like a cake with fondant frosting, with three layers beneath: strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. Seemed almost a shame to put a knife into it, it was that beautiful (and of course I did not think to use my phone to take a picture of the thing)!

On the other hand, it *was* ice cream. And it had *chocolate*...

On the way in to the hotel, it seemed that a whole lot of people were waving and blowing their horns as Ueli passed by - and then we discovered that Engleberg is just a short hop away from his hometown of Stans. So those folks were probably friends from school or family. In keeping with company policy, "spending dinner with the group" meant spending it at the same table as Elmar, which was set back in a little alcove so they could get their down time. Elmar brought Ueli ought as we were lingering over after-the-ice-cream coffee, and the dear man was roundly applauded by all when he made his farewells. We sincerely hope that the replacement driver will prove to be as good as he is!