Secret of the Ages

Author: admin

  • Riding The Gelato Train

    Riding The Gelato Train

    Im definitely on the gelato train! Italian gelato is certainly one of the best things in the world. i’ve known this for some time. So for this trip to Italy I had a simple goal of eating as much gelato as possible. BTW gelato is NOT ice cream. It’s sooo much better, especially compared to the mostly artificial stuff you get in the USA. Two main differences:

    Gelato contains on average 1/3 less sugar than ice cream and half the fat.[…]. American ice cream contains up to 60% more air than gelato does.

    Ice cream is served between 0 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit; whereas gelato is served between 7 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that gelato doesn’t numb the mouth as much as ice cream, allowing the taste buds a fuller flavor experience.

    I also wanted to try every possible flavor that existed. Each gelato place tends to have about a dozen flavors, so this shouldn’t be too hard right?  Wrong!  This turned out to be much harder than I thought. Because lots of places make their own homemade gelato!    It was not the same dozen flavors everywhere, but a huge variation. For example, I would go to one town and they would have a homemade flavor that was unique to that town and couldn’t be found in any other town!

    In Riomaggiore (one of the Cinque Terre towns) I found this great gelato quote:

    In Italian it says:

    “You can’t buy happiness,
    but you can buy gelato.
    And that’s practically the same thing”

    So I’m on the gelato train. And proud of it.  So far I’m averaging at least three gelatos a day, sometimes more.  I’ve had gelato for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner. I’ve had gelato in three different towns — in a single day! I’ve kayaked to another town just to eat gelato there. 

     It’s also possible to have gelato as part of another dessert. Such as the famous Italian dessert, affogato. This is a scoop of (usually vanilla) gelato with a shot of espresso poured over it.  It’s great!

    Note: I will keep updating this blog entry with my current gelato count at the bottom of the page.

    And btw this is not even counting the many gelatos I had in Switzerland. This is only gelatos consumed in Italy!

    I’ve also been taking pictures of some of the flavor tags:

    As of right now, my gelato count is:  10 14 16 21!

  • What’s The Matter Horn?

    What’s The Matter Horn?

    From Mürren we took the train to Zermatt.

    Zermatt is probably the largest ski resort town in Switzerland, much larger than the other towns we’ve been to.
    Its chief attraction is the famous iconic mountain peak, the imposing Matterhorn, towering over Zermatt.

    I had two nights in Zermatt. First day I did the 3 lakes hike.  The “lakes” are small ponds really, but they provide an opportunity to get a photo of the Matterhorn’s reflection in the lake.

     

     

  • The Riddle of the Sphinx

    The Riddle of the Sphinx

    Today is my rest day. I had added an extra day into my schedule thinking I would need a recovery day. I was right! My legs thanked me for taking a rest day.

    I considered many options for my rest day. First was to visit the tiny remote medieval village of Soglio. But this turned out to be extremely difficult to get to and back in a single day. The second option was to attend the Yodeling Festival in Andermatt, where Rudy was performing and invited me to attend. This is exactly the type of thing I like to do in a foreign country; a chance to experience directly a cultural event that is primarily for locals, not tourists.

    My guide was very helpful and we tried very hard to make this work, but ultimately it just didn’t work out. The distances, train schedules, and lack of hotel availability made it nearly impossible. So I decided to visit Jungfraujoch and the lakes at Interlaken instead.

    Jungfraujoch is the train station next to the Jungfrau. At an elevation of 11,782 ft., it’s the highest train

    Sphinx Observatory

    station in Europe and called the “Top of Europe”. At the Jungfraujoch is an observatory and scientific monitoring station with two telescope domes, one higher than the other. It’s commonly called the “Sphinx” because when viewed from a distance the shape is reminiscent of the Great Sphinx in Egypt.

     

     

    Sphinx in Egypt

     

    This is what Jungfraujoch looked like when it was first built.

     

     They had many ice sculptures inside:

     

     

     

     

     

    I was surprised to find they had a single malt scotch which was kept in casks in the mountain.

     

    It was actually pretty good!

     Lindt had an exhibit showing how they made chocolate

     

    Speaking of the Sphinx, most people are familiar with the ancient Riddle of the Sphinx, 

    What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?

    But most people are not aware that there was a second riddle from the Sphinx (and possibly a third). The second Riddle is probably more difficult than the first one, Can you solve it?

    Two sisters, one gives birth to the other who in turn gives birth to the first. Who are they?

     

     

  • On Her Mürren’s Secret Service

    On Her Mürren’s Secret Service

     

    Went to Schilthorn today. It’s a mountain peak behind Mürren and is most famous for being the site when a James Bond movie was filmed: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The mountain and the revolving restaurant at the top, Piz Gloria was the filming location of several
    scenes in the movie. Piz Gloria was Blofeld’s secret hideout.

    They really try to milk the movie connection with tons of merchandise and a pretty cool interactive James Bond Experience exhibit.

    The view from up there is fantastic!

  • The Ogre, The Monk, and the Young Girl

    The Ogre, The Monk, and the Young Girl

    The three major peaks in this area are the Eiger (Ogre), the Mönch (Monk), and the the Jungfrau (Young girl). 

     

    There is an old legend about these peaks, that the Monk is
    protecting the Young Girl from the Ogre.

     

  • Tschingelhorn to Mürren

    Tschingelhorn to Mürren

    Today is the third consecutive day of trekking.  We left the Tschingelhorn hut, hiked back down into the Lauterbrunnen Valley and then up to the town of Mürren, where I will stay for 3 nights.

     
     
    Mürren is a lovely little town with a train station (cog wheel train of
    course!) and a fantastic view facing the Bernese Alps around the Eiger
    glacier.

    The Mönch (Monk)

     

  • Wengen to Tschingelhorn & Alpine Horn

    Wengen to Tschingelhorn & Alpine Horn

    Garden chess in Wengen

    Day 1 of the hike (yesterday) was exhausting but there was no chance to recover. The first three days of hiking are the hardest, and a rest day comes only on the fourth day. Today we are headed to Tschingelhorn, a nountain hiker’s hut. Weather was a concern, because possible storms were in the forecast.

    Staubbach Falls (“bach” means river in German)  

    We started out by first going to the town of Lauterbrunnen. Here there is a very unusual waterfall; the falls goes internally through a cave system, and is quite noisy as it gushes inside the caverns.

    There are waterfalls and creeks everywhere from the melting snow, and this mountain spring water is so pure and good to drink. Because of this we didn’t need to carry much water with us since we can refill the water in many places. Every town has drinkable fountains fed directly from this natural spring water.

    But this cave waterfall is different; something unique. It bored a hole through the mountain instead of flowing over the side. This led to the formation of internal chambers where the water pools and tunnels through the rock.

     
    Video of the cave waterfall. Turn on sound!

    We’ve had good weather so far but the sky started to turn ugly at the very end of the hike. With only about 100 meters to go, we got — not rain, but hail! Luckily it was just a few more steps to the shelter of the mountain hiker’s hut called Tschingelhorn. and anyway the hail only lasted a few minutes.

    When they they said “hiker’s hut” I was  visualizing something very primitive and rustic, basically four walls and a roof. But it was quite a bit nicer than that! It had shared bathrooms, but separate bedrooms and a separate dining area. It had electricity — enough power for the lights, charging cell phones, and some small appliances. The power comes from a small hydroelectric generator in a nearby creek and a few solar panels.

    The owner/operator of Tschingelhorn is a very nice gentleman named Rudy, and he is very good at playing the Alpine Horn. As soon as the hail stopped he went outside and started playing it.




    He was practicing because he is playing in the Yodeling festival on Saturday in Andermatt.
    The Yodeling Festival is a traditional Swiss cultural event and will feature Yodeling, Alpine Horn, and Wrestling.

    Rudy playing the Alpine Horn (turn on sound.

    Rudy graciously allowed me to try playing the Alpine horn myself and gave me a few pointers.
    I was able to play it somewhat and produce a range of sounds on it but it wasn’t as smooth as Rudy was when he played it.  I discovered I could also play it like a didjeridu, which was kind of funny.

    Outdoor fondue station.

  • The Great Alpine Trek — Grindelwald to Wengen

    The Great Alpine Trek — Grindelwald to Wengen

     The trek starts today! All the preparations of the past few weeks have culminated in today. It’s time for the rubber to meet the road, put the pedal to the metal, and other cliches. Now we will see if I have what it takes to do this trek. I am hopeful, but not without a certain amount of trepidation because the hike will be very challenging.

    Like it says on the bottle, it’s time to rock and roll!  

     

    When I awoke this morning I looked out my balcony and was treated to this stunning view!

    Breathtaking view of the Eiger!

     

    The clouds had cleared completely and I was staring at the Eiger in all its glory.  Just magnificent!

    Today is off to a good start.

    Track for cog wheel train with center cog rail

     

    First we started by taking a cog wheel train (one of several on this trip) part way up the hill. Then we started the trek in earnest.

    Can you spot the windows?

    Not only did we pass by the Eiger, we nearly got close enough to touch it! Once you get close the Eiger you can see the windows they installed in it. Initially, the windows were just holes they cut in the side of the mountain, so that they could dump out the debris from the train tunnel they were building through the mountain. Later they made them into glass-paned windows so that the train passengers could get a view from inside the tunnel.

    Here are the windows!      

    Close-up of Eiger windows

    What most of today’s trail was like. Amazing, huh?

    The hike ended with another cog wheel train ride into the town of Wengen.

  • Grindelwald, North Face of the Eiger

    Grindelwald, North Face of the Eiger

    Alpine glow gives the Eiger a pretty reddish hue

    A very old telephone

    Arrived at the Hotel Belvedere in Grindelwald to meet up with my guide. This is where the hike will start tomorrow. Although there were clouds blocking the view when I first got there, the back of the hotel (and the balcony of my room) is staring right into the face the famous Eiger mountain. The Hotel Belvedere is a very old hotel, dating back to around 1905, and is the oldest (I think) family run hotel in Switzerland. The Hotel is filled with 100-year old artifacts, like this old phone that was actually used in the hotel:

     

    The ski village of Grindelwald

     

     

    Grindelwald is a ski village in what’s known as the Bernese Oberland region. It lies embedded in a welcoming and green hollow, surrounded by a
    commanding mountainscape with the Eiger north face and the Wetterhorn. 

     

     

     

    The Eiger mountain is in there somewhere hiding behind the clouds.

  • Single Malt Scotch Detour

    Single Malt Scotch Detour

    I searched for bars in Luzern and was surprised to find there was a whisky bar in town, and it was highly rated. The map showed it was not far but it was up a long steep hill. It was called the Louis Bar and the picture of Louis Armstrong inside gives the origin of the name. The bar is actually part of the Hotel Montana, the top hotel in Luzern.

    Their Scotch selection was extensive! They had many rare whiskies including the 30 year Balvenie and many others. They are also an “Ambassador” for Ardbeg which I guess means they are some sort of favored vendor for Ardbeg scotch and they had some very rare bottles of Ardbeg that I had never seen before.

     

    I had the 21 year Port Wood Balvenie for the first time, which was excellent!