Every Christmas Bob asks me what I want, and the reply is always the same: I want to see the Matterhorn. Last Christmas I asked for the same thing, and Bob surprised me by telling me that if I make the arrangements we could go to see the Matterhorn. I did, and off we went!
I decided that it would be fun traveling through Switzerland by train, and we found the train station underneath the Zurich airport. What luck! We also found the Brezelkönig, but we were already on the train and agreed to wait for the next train station to see if the Brezelkönig was there too. Oh, did they ever smell good!
Our first stop was Appenzell, a pretty little town filled with flowers, trees, and the Alps nearby.
We like to hike, so we asked the proprietor of the hotel for a suggestion. He checked to be sure we were wearing hiking boots before he told us to take the train to Wasserauen, hike to Seealpsee, take the connecting trail to Ascher, keep going to Ebenalp, and take the cable car to the train which would take us back to Appenzell. That sounded easy enough.
We had our first view of the Alps,
and then we heard cows. The cows in Switzerland are not afraid of steep pastures, and their bells sounded so peaceful.
The trail was paved but very, very steep. We kept puffing along and we were so glad that we did.
This is Seealpsee, and it was absolutely beautiful.
The trail to Ascher wasn't paved, and it got pretty rugged and steep.
There were handrails at some of the worse parts, and that helped quite a bit.
This sign made me laugh. Tie a rope to your children! Yes, the trail is that steep!
The goats that passed us on the trail were very friendly, and so cute!
This is Ascher where there's a little restaurant and hotel perched on the side of the mountain.
Swiss trails are marked with these yellow, white and orange signs.
We're way up there, so I held on tight and kept marching on.
The trail went through three caves, and I HATE caves.
The view at the end of the trail was outstanding,
and the ride down the cable car was easy. High, but easy.
Appenzell is famous for their pungent cheese so we had fondue and, after getting past the smell, it was delicious.
We stayed in Hotel Adler while in Appenzell.
We really enjoyed out stay in Appenzell, and wished we could have stayed longer, but the next day we took the train to Luzern.
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