The Aletsch Glacier (5/15)


My plan this morning was to go to the Aletsch Glacier, a UNESCO world heritage site.. That meant taking the train from Mörel to Fiersch and then taking the only gondola ride up and down the mountain available at this time of year. I had a terrific breakfast in my hotel. It’s amazing to me that the Swiss put out a kind of buffet breakfast with beautiful breads, scrumptious cheeses, and always some fruit, as well as coffee served the way you want it. They also offer a soft-boiled egg.  In fact, this morning the egg was do-it-yourself. (So I did!) I’m going to be spoiled, although I long for coffee and the newspaper in my PJs before I have to make an appearance anyplace.
I went to the train station and rode to Fiersch, where I arrived early for the gondola. That meant I could walk around the town and get a little bit of a sense of it. I walked into the church, took some pictures, and continued to be amazed at all the flowers everywhere. Finally, it was time to get on the gondola. There were about 30 people who fit into the car and we rode up to just above the timberline, where we got off to change to another gondola. The second gondola took us to the very top, where there was a restaurant and spectacular views of the glacier. It was so interesting to watch the mountain because, although we were fortunate to have some sunny weather, snow had been forecast. I found myself looking out the window, turning away for a minute, and looking back. The mountain that had just been in the window had disappeared. I couldn’t see a thing out of the window where just a second before, there had been a mountain. The sudden changes, caused by either fog or snow, gave me a sense of why people are so aware of potential danger on a mountain. Until I saw this “disappearance act,” I really hadn’t understood it before.
The restaurant was set up to feed a lot of people all once, so the menu really only had two choices: spaghetti carbonara or cheese toast with a variety of toppings. I had a cheese toast with egg and ham, and it was fabulous! There were a lot of Asian tourists on my gondola, perhaps because a tour group had arrived at the glacier at about the same time. Even so, people were speaking a whole variety of languages, which was fun. On the way up and down the glacier, I saw cows grazing on the mountainside, but I also think I saw llamas. Somehow, they don’t seem appropriate in this part of the world, but I’m pretty sure that’s what I saw.
After getting back from glacier, I stopped in Mörel and got some fruit. My diet has been heavy on bread and cheese, and light on vegetables and fruit. I’m spending another evening just catching up. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to just sit, and I’m enjoying it. It took a while to decide where to go tomorrow, but it looks like I’m going to the Italian part of Switzerland. We’ll see what happens …

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