Friday, March 23, 2007
Interlaken, Switzerland (Ski trip) / Tri-service summit
One of Patrick’s co-workers organizes ski trips to Switzerland. We had actually found out about this trip months before back in October. What can I say, the Germans like to plan ahead, especially vacations. I’m not a skier and until last winter, Patrick hadn’t skied in about 20 years. I thought it would be nice just to relax in the mountains while the others skied. We took off from Wiesbaden around 5:30 pm on Friday. The trip started out with an interesting start. We got a taste of what not to do when a German national plans an event: show up late. We were schedule to leave at 5:00 pm promptly. In fact, the bus was ready for loading starting at 4:30pm. Turns out a family of four was waiting on the wrong side of the parking structure (meeting point). Now why these people didn’t think they were in the wrong spot, since there were no buses nearby, I don’t know. But now that they’re about 15 minutes late, one of the late comers forgot their passport at the office. So we sat a few more minutes waiting for her to get the passport while our tour organizer lectures about being on time is one of her pet peeve. So finally 5:30pm we started rolling out of the parking lot and on our way to Interlaken, Switzerland. About four hours into our trip, Jackie, our tour guide announced that we would stop for about 30 minutes, for “mandatory rest”. Apparently in Germany, (commercial) drivers are required to have a 30-minute break after four hours of driving…. What a bunch of pansys… resting after four hours of driving? I guess they’ve never heard of all-night driving before. Anyway, I guess we can’t really begrudge a country that is no bigger than the size of New Mexico. You can actually drive from one order to the next in four hours, so I suppose four hours of driving is a long time. We finally arrived in Interlaken about 11:30pm.
The next morning at breakfast, we met our friends who had traveled from Naples, Italy to meet us. Thus began the tri-service summit: Navy (friends from Naples), Army (Patrick), and Air Force (me for a whopping whole month with the Air Force at that point). We spent Saturday in Lucern, about an hour away from Interlaken. It was a beautiful warm day and the weekend of Faushing. Faushing is the equivalent of Halloween/Mardi Gras combined in the U.S. We heard live music everywhere and people dressed in customs. It was very lively and a sight to see. We also sampled some Swiss chocolates along the way. It was awesome! Beats Herseys or M&Ms any day. That evening we had dinner at the hotel and had some of Don’s homemade Italian wine. Between 8 of us, we polished off almost 4.5 liters of wine! I guess living in Italy for a period of time has improved our ability to hold our alcohol. After a couple hours of eating and drinking great Italian wine, we decided to hit the town and have some chocolate fondue. We walked into a very nice restaurant with a live pianist and several tables of people quietly enjoying their dinner. Then enter our raucous motley group of people from Italy and Germany. Within an hour, we had practically emptied the restaurant, even the pianist left. I guess they didn’t want to join our fun!
The third day, Patrick decided to join the ski group and hit the slopes. I hung out with two of our Naples buddies and hiked around the city of Murren. Switzerland really is a beautiful country. Rugged mountains and dramatic landscape. As we were hiking and getting quite lost, we ran into a local. Actually she was originally from the Philippines but has lived in Switzerland for the past 20 years. She was in her 40’s and in training for marathon. She led us down to the city and I must have almost fallen on my butt a couple of times. After breaking one side of my tush in Mallorca (read the previous blog for the history), I didn’t relish the thought breaking my ‘good’ side. Luckily, after a couple minutes of hiking the ‘trail’ which not marked and covered in snow and ice, we made it down. After a couple of hours of hiking, we had worked up a good appetite for some good Swiss food. We enjoyed our lunch outside and enjoyed the mountains with our grub. Dining outside in the mountains in the middle of February, I would have never thought that would be possible. Patrick who decided to ditch us and ski instead managed not to break any bones, though he did have a collision with another skier. What’s skiing without a collision or two?
Our last day in Interlaken, we decided not to join the ski group and explore the town. We bid good-byes with our Naples buddies and off to explore Interlaken. Interlaken lies between two lakes and about 30 minutes from the closest ski slopes. Its peak season is actually spring to summer where tourists would come for shopping, hiking, and general relaxation. We took our time wondered around town and had some more fondue for lunch, this time as a main course rather than desert. Around 4 p.m. we met our group at the base of the ski basin and started our long trip back to Germany. It was a great trip, visiting old friends, making a few new ones and most of all, a civilized first ever Tri-service summit.
The next morning at breakfast, we met our friends who had traveled from Naples, Italy to meet us. Thus began the tri-service summit: Navy (friends from Naples), Army (Patrick), and Air Force (me for a whopping whole month with the Air Force at that point). We spent Saturday in Lucern, about an hour away from Interlaken. It was a beautiful warm day and the weekend of Faushing. Faushing is the equivalent of Halloween/Mardi Gras combined in the U.S. We heard live music everywhere and people dressed in customs. It was very lively and a sight to see. We also sampled some Swiss chocolates along the way. It was awesome! Beats Herseys or M&Ms any day. That evening we had dinner at the hotel and had some of Don’s homemade Italian wine. Between 8 of us, we polished off almost 4.5 liters of wine! I guess living in Italy for a period of time has improved our ability to hold our alcohol. After a couple hours of eating and drinking great Italian wine, we decided to hit the town and have some chocolate fondue. We walked into a very nice restaurant with a live pianist and several tables of people quietly enjoying their dinner. Then enter our raucous motley group of people from Italy and Germany. Within an hour, we had practically emptied the restaurant, even the pianist left. I guess they didn’t want to join our fun!
The third day, Patrick decided to join the ski group and hit the slopes. I hung out with two of our Naples buddies and hiked around the city of Murren. Switzerland really is a beautiful country. Rugged mountains and dramatic landscape. As we were hiking and getting quite lost, we ran into a local. Actually she was originally from the Philippines but has lived in Switzerland for the past 20 years. She was in her 40’s and in training for marathon. She led us down to the city and I must have almost fallen on my butt a couple of times. After breaking one side of my tush in Mallorca (read the previous blog for the history), I didn’t relish the thought breaking my ‘good’ side. Luckily, after a couple minutes of hiking the ‘trail’ which not marked and covered in snow and ice, we made it down. After a couple of hours of hiking, we had worked up a good appetite for some good Swiss food. We enjoyed our lunch outside and enjoyed the mountains with our grub. Dining outside in the mountains in the middle of February, I would have never thought that would be possible. Patrick who decided to ditch us and ski instead managed not to break any bones, though he did have a collision with another skier. What’s skiing without a collision or two?
Our last day in Interlaken, we decided not to join the ski group and explore the town. We bid good-byes with our Naples buddies and off to explore Interlaken. Interlaken lies between two lakes and about 30 minutes from the closest ski slopes. Its peak season is actually spring to summer where tourists would come for shopping, hiking, and general relaxation. We took our time wondered around town and had some more fondue for lunch, this time as a main course rather than desert. Around 4 p.m. we met our group at the base of the ski basin and started our long trip back to Germany. It was a great trip, visiting old friends, making a few new ones and most of all, a civilized first ever Tri-service summit.
# posted by Antipasta @ 2:59 PM 
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I didn't know that you landed a job with the AF. Congrats! We just got back from our mid-tour trip to the States. Didn't make it back to San Diego, but we had a great time in North Carolina and Virginia (and Nicki and Josh also got to see Sacramento, CA).
Great pictures in Switzerland, too. That place is beautiful. I can't get over all the open spaces, large buildings, and beautiful landscapes. Such a difference from Japan's crowded streets, small and congested buildings, and lack of landscape.
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Great pictures in Switzerland, too. That place is beautiful. I can't get over all the open spaces, large buildings, and beautiful landscapes. Such a difference from Japan's crowded streets, small and congested buildings, and lack of landscape.
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