March 21, 2009
"Near Heaven, or in a Dream" ("Neben der Himmel oder noch im Traum")
I woke early today, gathered the last few things I'd need for an overnight ski trip in the Alps, and headed out of Bern in my borrowed wheels. The sky was clear as a bell.
The Mountains were gorgeous, with just a little fog in the valleys and around Lake Thun, as I drove toward my first destination of the day, the nordic ski trails of Kandersteg, at the base of the Alps, enroute to the higher elevations of my second destination Adelboden, and my hopes were high for great nordic skate skiing conditions.
I arrived in Kandersteg to picture perfect blues skies, passing under a wooden bridge which served as the welcome sign to this beautiful ski village nestled in the Alps at a nice elevation for nordic skiing. The mountains just towered above this village of ski chalets, and the creek, and me!
I was really overwhelmed with it all, unable to process it, take it all in, but I skied on, trying my best, and hoping this wouldn't be my only chance to ski in this wonderland of snow, trees, and mountain peaks.
I hit drove down the one main street until I found a blue "P" is for Parking sign, and as luck had it I parked directly next to the main trailhead, with a good map and trail condition sign. I could hardly wait to get my skis on and glide across the crisp morning snow, with the sun about to peak its way over the mountains.
The trails wound through a lightly forested area and around Swiss chalets and cabins, and even a Sauna along the trail, but it was morning and the fire was out.
The sky was so clear, and as the sun made its way higher above the mountains the snow began to soften and the skating got even better and better. There were only about 12 of 30 kilometers of trail open and groomed. There are two lifts here that take you high up toward some lakes with loops for nordic skiing alongside the downhill areas, but these weren't open today, and this alone was enough to whet my appetite and make me hungry for more. I even found a 3 1/2 bedroom Chalet for sale....I wonder how much...
The Volvo was great to drive and getting around was made easy by the voice activiated navigation system that I dubbed "Car-in" and the speed radar detector that I called "Dash-i". The winding, curvy, narrow roads may not be for some, but I love 'em! I particularly liked the window sticker that Urs snuck down in the company garage and put on the back window for Kenai Riverfront the night before. Now it's on 3 cars in Switzerland at least!
Driving over the Brünigspass nach Sachseln aus Interlaken.
Das erste Mal (nicht die Letzte!) bei meine wunderschöne Freunde Ihsan und Necla im Sachseln am Obwalden! Grüsti!
Und Deniz...die Komikerin...macht viel Spass!
Und jetzt kommen die Essen! Lecher! Turkischeschwzyer Essen war super!
Here's the table we ate on, hand made by Ihsan, such an incredible masterpiece (more at the bottom of the page). Practially every piece of furniture in his house was handmade by him, he is an incredible craftsman, and such a nice warm-hearted, generous, positive guy. To finally be in Switzerland, at his home, with his family, is something I'll treasure forever.
Die ganze Familie ist wieder zusammen, hat ich das Gluck!
Just another great day in Switzerland!
More of Ihsan's incredible craftsmanship...
