Plans have a way of changing and my winter project was not going to be updati hiking guides. Motivated by new experiences and changes we encountered and fresh perspectives (who says repeat visits to the same location are boring?) it seemed beneficial to issue new-for-2023 editions.
The Val Gardena book now includes some ideas for rainy days as well as for lazier days without hiking. There are also extensions and options to some hikes for increased activity and where possible, and details on where shorter hikes can be linked together for longer excursions.
For Switzerland, there s a new chapter on rainy day ideas since we had about 10 days of cloudy and damp conditions during our late-season stay in 2022. We still found plenty of fun things to do. Some of teh hikes have been tweaked based on 2022 experiences.
In each book, all URLs and maps are up-to-date.
This is a great time of year for planning a summer or fall hiking trip to either Italy’s Val Gardena or Switzerland’s Berner Oberland.
Inevitably we are bombarded with “best of” lists and year-end compilations. If you hate these lists, just stop now because I am going to assault you with mine. I would love it, however, if you would respond with some of your favorites. They might become mine in 2023.
Best Book
Recently, I tried to recommend my favorite book of 2022 to someone and found myself perplexed: I have several I enjoyed so very much I had the devil of a time picking one.
Goodreads tells me I read only 32 books this year, 11,921 pages, ranging from travel books (5) to mysteries (12), and assorted fiction (15). Goodreads does not have a log of my cookbooks, but I know I read two new ones cover-to-cover for inspiration.
No single genre nor author shot to the top, rather my list is of entirely different specimens.
Tied for top book of 2022: Horse by Geraldine Brooks, West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge, and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. I think Gayle recommended all of these to me. I shall heed her every word on books to read.
Runners Up: Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig, and A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway, both by Amor Towles.
Best Picture
We watch a lot of movies. Some are forgotten as soon as they finish. Some of my 2022 favorites are much older than 2022. We aren’t necessary current in our viewing so thank goodness for streaming.
The Fabelmans tops my list.This one will stay with me awhile and we will rewatch it soon. The acting, the script, the arc of the story, and the truth in this movie come together in a rewarding manner.
Others of merit: She Said (gripping!), The Outfit (Mark Rylance), Nobody (Bob Odenkirk), and Vice (Christian Bale as Dick Cheney is a transformation to behold).
Best TV Series
We have a real weakness for great series. While none of these will make my all-time top-10 series list, they are excellent entertainment and far better than network series. Not included are series that are ongoing that we started in years past like Vera, Shetland, Better Call Saul.
The following are in alphabetical order as I cannot pick a favorite.
Alaska Daily: Hilary Swank as an investigative reporter. Cliffhanger on season one. Will there be a season two?
For All Mankind: Alternative history drama about the space program starting in the 1960s. Particularly interesting to those of us who lived through the era. Awaiting season 4.
Gaslit: Julia Roberts as Martha Mitchell and Sean Penn as John Mitchell in another stunning transformation.
Grace: We are suckers for British detective dramas. Season 3 is due out soon.
Inside Man: Stanley Tucci and David Tennant. Too bad it was only a mini-series.
Karen Pirie: Another British detective drama but aimed at a younger market than most. Thoroughly enjoyable.
The Restaurant: This is an outlier. I have two seasons under my belt and am looking forward to the final 10 episodes. In Swedish, with subtitles, so demands attention but extremely well-done with interesting characters.
Best Meal
Ahhh, so many good ones! Sazón in Santa Fe, Recipe A Neighborhood Kitchen in Newberg, and Tina’s in Dundee. But the standout for me was in Geneva at Boccadasse: Italian food cooked by Italians in Switzerland. It was the last night of our fall trip and we feasted on octopus with potato puree, Vermentino (one of our favorite wines with seafood), seafood pasta, and semifreddo. Absolute heaven and so memorable!
Polpo con crema di patateSemifreddo. There was no sharing.
Rifugio Emilio Comici to Mont di Sëura in the Alpe di Siusi. This was a difficult hike for us with a 900 foot descent, beyond what we usually do, but so terribly rewarding in that we did it. We self-congratulated for hours.
Looking back over the trail we hiked.
Best Urban Walk/Hike:
Mount Tabor. I had not been up on Mount Tabor in over 10 years so revisiting with my walking buddy, Grier, was a delight in rediscovering the area. Grier and I also hiked the Alameda Ridge in spring, which is a contender for Great Urban Walks. Thanks to Laura O. Foster’s books on Portland walks we are still discovering treks even after 30+ years living here.
Best Household Improvement: Molly & Sven joined us in January and March, respectively. Such a joy to have their lively selves cavorting about the house, even if they do want breakfast waayyyy too early.
Happiest of New Years to everyone! Tell me, what were your “bests” in 2022?
The Harvest Moon has passed and fall is entrenched with stunning color and crisp, cool air. Winter is not far behind in these Swiss Alps. Tomorrow we depart our favorite mountain community and start the journey home by way of Geneva.
Each year it is hard to say goodbye. The promise of a return, already scheduled, will sustain us through the coming months.
Despite more rain than we usually experience while here in Switzerland’s Berner Oberland, we have enjoyed our time of trekking, riding trains and lifts, exploring corners we’d not yet poked our heads into. There is so much to do we cannot even get back to all of our old favorites every year.
I have a list of places and hikes to explore — in addition to our old favorites — in 2023. As long as we can keep putting one foot in front of the other we will be back.
A few photos to remember this trip. After all, this blog is my journal and I like to look back and remember the places, people, experiences, and animals we encountered.
Everywhere we go, goats and cows. The young cow came up to me to be petted, over a fence of course.New friends, Chris and Jin, over dinner in Ortisei. We met because of our book.Waterfalls everywhere, thanks to the rain. We are happy hikers! The night view of the Staubbach Falls is from our apartment. This is my favorite photo from the trip, looking down toward the south end of the Lauterbrunnen Valley during our walk from Mürren to Gimmelwald. Fabulous fall colors contrasting with green pastures and the lofty mountains.
Rain on a forecast makes me cringe. Is my travel going to be a washout and won’t see anything I came to see? Will we be confined to quarters or get soaked on our way back from a hike?
This week’s dreary forecast. Thank goodness last week was divine!
No traveler wants to look at the forecast and see five days of rain, especially if you only have a few days in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Fortunately, for us the weather in Switzerland usually turns out better than the forecast and a high percentage of expected rain is balanced against how many minutes or hours of actual rainfall. A 90% chance of rain in a day is accurate even if it only rains for 15 minutes.
Having a few activities in your virtual back pocket makes it possible to enjoy even a dreary day with hopes that it will actually turn out better than forecast.
In our books, we mention outings that are OK on an overcast or even rainy day. Yesterday we used one of our own ideas and while we got a bit wet, we had a nice hike, didn’t get too cold (layers!), and we were done in time for lunch back in our cozy apartment. While many travelers headed for the lifts to higher elevations hoping for views, we chose a walk along the Lütschine River and incurred a small fee for a train ride back from the end of the trip, not the high price of a mountain gondola on a day without views.
Cows bid us adieu as we head out of Lauterbrunnen.Crossroads. Hard to get lost with such good signage.The river is higher thanks to the rain.We encountered no other hikers in our 75 minute walk.
Yesterday afternoon offered a couple of rain free hours enabling a little stroll with weak sunlight and we were back “home” right before a downpour. Switzerland, like most of Europe, needs rain so we can’t complain.
Today was supposed to be dry in the morning and it was. In fact it has been dry all day! The cloud deck is low so views are not stellar but we invoked our Pacific Northwest mantra, “At least it’s not raining” and headed out on a long walk through the valley and a stroll through Mürren, high on the cliff, with coffee in our favorite cafe. Number of people encountered in the valley in a three mile walk: four. The cows easily outnumbered humans by 50 to 1.
Housemade cake and coffee at Cafe Liv, Mürren.
In fact, the sun is breaking through so I think we’ll take advantage and have our evening passeggiata a little early in case it the weather changes its mind.
Tomorrow will be drier than the forecast above indicates…we hope! Rain hats and waterproof boots will ensure our plans aren’t ruined by some much-needed moisture.
I found this picture from the same day last year. We were eating outdoors in a beer garden. May that weather return in the coming weeks!
Leaving Bettmeralp and the amazing Hotel Waldhaus in snow flurries, we arrived Saturday, north of the mighty Jungfrau to find sun in Lauterbrunnen, the peaks here freshened with snow and a powdered-sugar dusting even in the high meadows.
The fabulous Hotel Waldhaus behind me as we head for the cable car to the valley. Goodbye, Bettmeralp!
We are “home” here for the next four weeks and settled into our favorite digs at Ey-Hus. We can’t seem to quit this place.
Yesterday (Sunday) dawned cold and bright, a delightful day to take in the views from perhaps the most perfect of easy-hiker hikes, Grütschalp to Mürren. The three iconic peaks are in constant view, watching over us, showing off fresh mantles of snow in the morning sun. The Eiger, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau have seldom looked better and the skies have seldom been clearer. The sun teases the 40-degree temperature to feel much warmer and soon we are shedding gloves and unzipping jackets. In and out of forests, over rivulets that become waterfalls as they hit the cliffs, with the little electric mountain train chugging back and-forth along the cliff. The train is filled with passengers intent on the cable car ride to the Schilthornbahn. Every step is picturesque and the only sound our footsteps. Only the cows are missing as the alpabfahrt (descent from high summer pastures) has already occurred for many.
The last mile or so of the hike is mostly level, with lovely views and in sight of the little train.
All of the work on this hike (featured in our book) is in the first half. With only about 500 feet of gain in a mile-and-a-half, the wide path has no tricky footing and accommodates those who run, those who seek more strenuous connecting paths, and those of us out for a little exercise and to take in the day. The last mile undulates with many flat portions along the tracks as it enters Mürren. I think this path actually made us fall in love with the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Now we have taken it perhaps a dozen times and it never gets old. Especially on a perfect day.
The Eiger (left) and the Mönch. The Jungfrau is out of sight on the right.
After a restorative cappuccino at Café Liv in Mürren we hightailed it to the mountain train and transfered back down to Lauterbrunnen via cable car and on to the eastern side of the valley, taking a cogwheel train up beyond Wengen to a place we know for Sunday lunch, Bergrestaurant Allmend.
Mürren main drag. No cars!
You have to experience it to understand the transportation here. This area is a wonder of Swiss ingenuity and the ability to efficiently connect multiple forms of transportation to get from car-free village to car-free village while respecting nature and serving the people. Every conveyance coincides seamlessly with the next.
The Wengernalbahn runs between Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg but stops on request at Bergrestaurant Allmend.
Sunday lunch is a thing for us when we are traveling. It is an opportunity to slow down, indulge a bit, and join with the locals. Wherever we are in Europe, we find families gathering on Sunday for a midday meal. Often multi-generational, sometimes groups of friends, and many couples like ourselves. While the tourists are taking photos on the Schilthorn and Jungfrau, we gather at Allmend with families eating fondue, couples enjoying a pre-lunch aperitif, and groups of adults, kids and dogs playing, eating, and lounging in the autumn sunshine.
Bergrestaurant AllmendLunch on the terrace”3823” Burger was amazing!View of Wengen from Allmend
My phone said it was 46 degrees at 13:00, but in the sun we peeled off jackets and ordered Radlers and burgers. What a treat at 4951 feet above sea level to gaze upon the peaks, watch the waterfalls, and be served fine food by a cheerful waiter!
The blue sky followed us back to the valley and the reality of needing to get groceries. Sunday means a lot of closures in this conservative country, so we hopped on a train to a neighboring village that had an open store. What a wonderful way to commute to the market! We arrived home just as the sun slipped behind the western cliff but it lingered for hours on the peaks to the south as we cracked open a bottle of wine.
A perfect day.
Our last day at Bettmeralp a chilly but beautiful hike from Fiescheralp to Bettmeralp. Tough downhill for my cranky knees but Ric handled it like a champ.
Girovaga 