Switzerland-Day Ten-Appenzell to Seealpsee

We left from our hotel in Appenzell...

And took the train to Wasserauen and then a gondola to Ebenalp.  From Ebenalp, we hiked down to Berggasthaus Aesher, which is a mountain inn built on the side of a mountain that Jessica has wanted to visit for years. 

On the hike from Ebenalp to Berggasthaus Aesher, the trail passes through old caves. 

Jessica coming out of the cave (actually a tunnel I suppose). 

There is a church built right into the side of the mountain. 

Along the trail by Berggasthaus Aesher. 

And then the Berggasthaus Aesher comes into view. 

We decided to keep hiking as it was raining and the inn was pretty crowded with people (lunch rush).  

Then it REALLY started to rain, I mean rain!  I've hiked in rain before, but nothing like this. Luckily, we were well prepared with full rain gear and we stayed mostly dry. 

We made it to our final destination of the day, the mountain inn, Berggasthaus Seealpsee, which sits on a lake in a beautiful canyon. We did a little day hike around the lake with a couple beers and I took this picture of our inn. 

It's kind of pretty here. 

Switzerland-Day Nine-Lugano to Appenzell

Jovan had a big interview for a job in Lugano (he completed his PhD recently in Bioinformatics) and we needed to do laundry, so we headed into town and grabbed a coffee at a great spot...

And we explored Lugano and got out laundry done while he went to his interview. 

This was a cool whale tail sculpture on Lake Lugano. 

Jessica and IL Gatto. 

Jessica and I in front of Lake Lugano. 

Art. 

Jessica drinking from a fountain in Lugano. 

We met back up with Jovan (his interview went great!), grabbed lunch and got on the road back north. 

We saw a sign for Heidiland, which was a tourist stop for fans of Heidi I guess. Well my grandma told me she loved Heidi as a kid so we stopped and checked it out. We paid 5 Swiss Francs and an animatronic Heidi came out a sang in German. Grandma Joan, this ones for you. (Jessica took a video of this I'll share with you later). 

Jessica pet a goat, and we were back on our way to Appenzell. 

A pretty view along the way. 

 

The view of Liechtenstein (pretty much all of it).

And the border with Austria.

And a beautiful rainbow. 

We pulled into Appenzell in the rain, bid adieu to Jovan, and before we could put on our rain gear, it stopped raining. 

Then we finally took a picture with all the travel gnomes we've been carrying. 

Watched the sunset...

And said good night. It was good to trade in these for flip flops for a few days, but back to the mountains for us tomorrow. 

Switzerland-Day Eight-Lugano with Day Trip to Italy

We woke in Lugano early to a beautiful sunrise over Lugano and hoped in the car to Italy. 

On the way to Italy, we picked up these delicious little chocolate espressos to go. 

We got off the freeway and drove behind this interesting three-wheeled truck in Andora, Italy. 

It was a perfect, warm day on the Mediterranean Sea, and the beach was packed. 

We rented our own spot, with chairs and an umbrella. 

We swam in the sea and then got lunch at Jovan's favorite restaurant. It didn't disappoint. 

After lunch, we swam again and then relaxed a bit before the drive back to Switzerland. 

Jovan and I at the beach. 

Switzerland-Day Seven-Grindelwald to Lugano

After yesterday's weather, we woke up to perfect blue skies this morning and a clear view of the Eiger from our room. 

After breakfast, we walked through Grindelwald to the train station, where this interesting car was parked. 

On the train out of Grindelwald, I captured this last view of the Eiger. 

After a train change in Interlaken, we were on our way to Lucerne.  After a climb out of Meiringen, the train came around a corner and we saw this beautiful lake and town of Lungern. 

A postcard view from the train to Lucerne. 

In Lucerne, looking across from the train station. 

We met my friend Jovan in Lucerne and hoped in his car and headed for Lugano. It is in the southern area of Switzerland, where they speak Italian.  

Jovan's house. 

Here's a plant we haven't seen in awhile from Jovan's parents balcony. Lugano is on the southern side of the Alps, and is much more Mediterranean than Alpine. 

Jovan, Jessica and I having a beer and dinner at Jovan's favorite Italian restaurant in Lugano. 

Switzerland-Day Six-Grindelwald Day Hike

We have been so lucky on this trip thus far when it comes to weather (and everything else for that matter), but today it caught up with us a little bit. Everyone we have talked to said that this was a wet summer in the Alps, but we hadn't had more than a few sprinkles in Zermatt since we have been here, until today.  We woke up to rain, but decided to go for our plan of a big day hike anyways. I'm glad we did because the rain wasn't that bad and the hike was amazing. 

We took the gondola from Grindelwald to First...

Where Jessica took a picture of "The Most Beautiful View of the World."

We then set out on our loop hike to our first destination, Bachalpsee Lake.  Even though the weather was closing in, we could still get views back towards the Eiger with this beautiful waterfall in the foreground. 

We hiked past some friendly cows...

And didn't forget to take some pictures along the way. 

Our first view of Bachalpsee Lake. 

At Lake Bachalpsee, there was a hut to use in bad weather. You can also see the signs that mark the trails. These signs are well posted and really make hiking in Switzerland easy as they list your next destination and the time it takes to get there. 

Jessica in the hut. 

The other great thing about the trails is that they are well marked between signs, with two white lines and a red line marking a mountain trail and a yellow diamond marking a walking trail or "Wanderweg."

We had originally planned on going to Faulhorn, which has views back towards the Eiger, but also down towards the Interlaken area, but the rain was coming down pretty good and the visibility not great, so we headed to Bussalp. 

Looking back up at Jessica with Faulhorn barely visible on the ridge line. 

Dropping down into Bussalp, Jessica walks past a cow. 

After a delicious lunch in Bussalp, we got back on the trail to Bort, which was a mid-point stop on the gondola. 

Just out of Bussalp, we walked past this house with massive cow bells on the side of it.  The cows here graze on the grass high in the mountains all summer long and then the cowboys bring them down in the winter, while the cows wear large bells that almost make music when there are a bunch of them. 

Our hike then went through a beautiful forest...

Where we stopped, picked and ate these...

But not these. 

We rode the gondola back to Grindelwald from Bort, and walked back to out hotel.