by Pete Barba, with contributions by Gwyn Barba

And now for something completely different!  After our 5 weeks of adventures in Southern Africa, we headed north, waaayyyyy north to the Swiss Alps.  If our itinerary seems crazy and illogical it’s because we tried to plan our trip around shoulder seasons and climate.  Logically it would have made sense to head from Africa to the Middle East, but it is still way too hot to visit Egypt in September, so the Alps made more sense.   Kate also had a lifelong desire to experience Oktoberfest (which is actually in September). More on that next time.

Geneva

After 24 hours of travel from Cape Town, through Johannesburg, then Paris, we finally arrived in Switzerland, where our Alps road trip begins.  On this leg of our journey, we started in Geneva, then headed to Interlaken, Mürren and Lucerne for Swiss adventures.  In future posts, we will tell you about our explorations of Liechtenstein, Germany and Austria.  We landed in Geneva, Switzerland around midday, and immediately jumped into the Swiss food scene.  As told by Gwyn:

“Geneva is known for chocolate and offers the “Choco Pass”, so we decided to do the chocolate tour.  We visited 7 different chocolate shops in one day!  Each shop had a ready-made package with 6 to 10 chocolates in each. Some of the chocolates were truffles, some had fillings, and some were chocolate bars. One shop even offered a menu of hot chocolates!  There were many unique flavors like strawberry and basil, and rosemary and apricot. The next shop was always nearby so it was easy to walk.  While we were enjoying our chocolates, Drew bought some fruit candies to enjoy (he doesn’t like chocolate, can you believe it?).  My favorite chocolate was a dark square filled with passion fruit syrup. It had a smooth and silky texture. One of Dad’s favorites was the peanut dark chocolate, it had a crunchy texture. If you ever go to Geneva I recommend the Choco Pass!”

This walking tour of Geneva also included a few of the beautiful sights we love about Europe:  gardens, architecture, and climbing church towers for the views.  The 140 meter high water fountain on the lake, the flower clock, and St. Peter’s Cathedral all made nice stops when we needed a break from chocolate.

After stuffing ourselves with chocolate, we continued our sin of gluttony by having a fondue dinner.  (For my patients who are reading this, yes you should eat right and exercise, but also when special occasions present themselves, it’s ok to enjoy the finer things in life).  We went to a fondue restaurant that was on the water and made the rookie mistake of ordering 4 servings of fondue.  When the food arrived, we were served a massive pot of bubbling, delicious, creamy cheese and a huge basket of bread.  It was phenomenal but too much for our family.  Despite doing our best, we probably only ate half of the molten lava cheese.  I’m not sure my guts will ever be the same after consuming so much dairy.

Interlaken

The next day we moved on from Geneva to the adventure capital of the Alps, Interlaken (and Mürren).  On our scenic drive, we stopped in the town of Gruyère, where we learned about how cheese was made.  After an educational tour (science class for the day: “Fermentation, aka how to make food delicious”), we tried their cheese aged 6, 9, 12, 18 and 36 months. It’s amazing the difference time makes.  As we continued our journey Kate was swooning over the stunning landscapes and small towns between jagged peaks.  Interlaken lies at  the foot of the Alps, between 2 glacial blue lakes, and is known for any kind of life threatening sport your heart may desire. We chose paragliding.  

If you don’t know what paragliding is, let me explain.  🤪 First sign a waiver, saying you won’t sue and that you don’t value your children’s lives.  Then find the tallest mountain you can find.  Strap yourself to a (hopefully) experienced guide, who is wearing a parachute.  Run as fast as you can off a cliff, despite your mind screaming “This is a very bad idea”.  Then by some miracle (and probably a decent amount of physics), the parachute inflates at the last second as you hurl down the mountain.  Suddenly the fear and underwear-soiling panic disappears, and you are soaring with the raptors high above the mountains on the afternoon thermals.  

Paragliding is the slowest, and as a result, the most peaceful way for man to fly.  Flying at a mere walking pace, you glide just above trees, along cliffs only accessible to birds and feel the updrafts as you gain altitude.  

Then when the pilot gets bored and you are least expecting it, they pull on one of the control handles and suddenly the parachute dives steeply towards the earth in a corkscrew downward spiral, and as you suddenly go from weightless to 5G’s, the blood is sucked from your head and rushes to your feet.  As your vision starts to dim, the last thing that flashes through your vision is the earth hurling up to meet you as you spiral to your death….

Now since I am writing this blog post, you know the story doesn’t end there.  Thankfully our pilots were experts and didn’t have a death wish.  Just before your body is pancaked on the field below, they pull out of the death spiral and with less impact than jumping out of bed, they gently and safely land us on the grassy park in the middle of town.  What an amazing and thrilling experience.  Since I love life threatening sports, maybe I’ll have to take lessons.

Mürren

After a brief stay in Interlaken, we headed up the mountain, literally, to the town of Mürren.  Mürren is accessible only by gondola and is located high in the Alps on top of a massive cliff.  With the exception of a few local delivery vehicles, the town is blissfully car free and the walkable roads have never ending views.  The massive peaks soar so close that it feels like you could touch them.  Our AirBnb had breathtaking views of the mountains; each sunset was magical, especially when paired with local wines and cheeses.  

Our days were full of hikes and views, interrupted only by the necessary homeschooling, which seems a little less painful when set below such amazing peaks and with fresh mountain air.  The hikes were breathtaking, due to either the high altitude or more likely being out of shape from 2 years of working too hard in my job.  I felt every one of my 47 years, and going forward I promise myself I won’t neglect my exercise like I have for the past few years.  It was in Mürren that we started walking a minimum of 10,000 steps per day and we have kept it up ever since.  

I can’t recommend Mürren enough.  If you want a classic Alps experience, away from traffic, full of views, alpine cows and thousands of miles of hiking trails, it needs to be on your list.  

After a few days of hiking in Mürren we were off again.  We took the gondola down the hill, got back in our car and headed off to Lucerne, an old city in western Switzerland.  On the way out of the mountains, we stopped by a waterfall that had cut its way into the mountain.  I’ve never seen a waterfall inside a mountain before but it was a thing of powerful beauty.  Then we hiked through a gorge that was cut by a glacier, unfortunately the glacier has receded by miles in the past few years, like most of the glaciers in the Alps. 

Lucerne

Lucerne is an ancient walled city that spans a river on the shores of Lake Lucerne.  It sits at the foot of the Alps and is a beautiful city full of medieval buildings, bridges, and cobbled streets.  This was a quick stop, but again we managed to fill it full of adventure.  

After exploring the city by foot, we went to nearby Mt. Pilatus to play on a ropes course. After a brief safety instruction, they let us go on our own to explore the course. (I’ve got to say, I love European laws. There’s no “cover your butt” rules, if someone does something stupid, it’s on them.) We spent 4 hours 30-60 feet in the air, suspended by wires, working our way through ten high altitude obstacle courses. The treetops were full of zip lines, climbing walls, monkey bars, tightropes and other crazy obstacles. At the end of our adventure, we were full of exhaustion, hunger and immense happiness at our accomplishment. We also took in a lot of ideas for an obstacle course in our backyard when we get home next year…..

That’s our quick tour of Switzerland.  It is a beautiful country, full of rich and delicious food, incredibly clean cities, public transportation that is precise, and breathtaking mountains.  While it is crazy expensive, it is definitely worth a visit next time you are in Europe. 

Note:  These stories are about a month behind our actual adventures.  Because this is a public site we are keeping our current location private, but we intend to catch up a bit over the next couple of weeks so we are only one location ahead of you, the reader.  If the adventures seem to be quickening in pace, it is due to the timing of these posts.

Thanks for reading to the end!  Next up: Bavaria, Germany! Don’t forget to check out our past stories and subscribe for future articles as well.  Find us on Facebook and Instagram for bonus content!  Please note the links below are for information only and are not affiliated with Vivid Travelers. As always, if you are planning a trip to any location we visit we are happy to provide more details and opinions, so feel free to contact us.