11.2: SWITZERLAND
Switzerland had been a dream place of mine to visit for many years now. In March, I was accepted to a small chamber music summer festival called Talis in Saas Fee (pronounced "sauce fay"), Switzerland. I took it as a sign to go to Europe and finally see Switzerland! The festival was 10 days long, with performances almost every night starting on Day 3. After the festival ended, my oldest childhood friend Julia flew over to do some hiking in the Alps and continue exploring with me in Berlin. Our conversation regarding whether or not she should come over to Europe went something like this:
Julia: So based on your Facebook posts, we should all obviously join you in Switzerland. Are you going to do some traveling in Europe after the festival?
Me: Yes, I really want to, I'm just not sure about having my violin with me. But I hope it will work out! I'd love to go to Italy.
J: Well, I've never been to Switzerland, Austria, or Germany, so if you decide you want a friend...
M: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Omg are you serious. Because that would be amazing! Austria and Germany are also on my list of places to see.
Three days later
Julia: Saas Fee, right?
Me: Yep!
Julia: Sophie. You didn't tell me. They have summer skiing.
Me: So...what are you saying?
Julia: #TeamGoToSwitzlerand
And that was how I got Julia to come visit me in Switzerland!
Saas Fee is a tiny little mountain village that is surrounded by the Alps. To get here, I flew into Geneva, took a train to Visp (2.5 hours), and then took a bus to Saas Fee (45 minutes). I wish I had been a little less jet lagged during the travel after the flight. It was an unbelievably gorgeous train ride through Switzerland and the bus ride through the valley, but I was so tired my eyelids kept drooping!
People seem to overwhelmingly speak German here, even though we're very close to Italy and I thought I read somewhere that we're in a French speaking region. We were housed in little hotel apartments, with a kitchenette and a balcony, and most of our rehearsals take place in the hotel's main building, in the room where we also eat all of our meals. The climate was like a more dramatic Colorado: cold in the mornings and evenings (cashmere has been my friend) and sunny and warm in the afternoons. It's a ski town very much like Vail or Breckenridge, with cable cars going up the mountains and Swiss chalets everywhere. On our "day off," we took a cable car about 3/4 the way up the mountain, and hiked across and down the slopes. The weather held out and we were able to get some really fantastic views of the mountains.
After the Talis festival was finished, Julia and I hiked out into the Alps (we took a cable car up to ~3000m first) and spent a night at the Britannia Hut, a modest sized hut that has 166 beds but is dwarfed by the mountains surrounding it.
We had originally planned to spend two nights there, but the weather worried us, so that morning we packed up our things and headed back to Saas Fee, where we spent the National Day of Switzerland enjoying rainy Alpen Horns and fireworks.
The next day, we rode a cable car up to ~2800m, and hiked partway down before taking the cable car back to town.
After days of hiking and trying to ski but the weather not cooperating for Julia, we left Saas-Fee for Zurich. Being in the Swiss Alps was AMAZING, and I would love to go back to do more hiking and exploring of the country. Oh, and for the cheese and chocolate, too.
People seem to overwhelmingly speak German here, even though we're very close to Italy and I thought I read somewhere that we're in a French speaking region. We were housed in little hotel apartments, with a kitchenette and a balcony, and most of our rehearsals take place in the hotel's main building, in the room where we also eat all of our meals. The climate was like a more dramatic Colorado: cold in the mornings and evenings (cashmere has been my friend) and sunny and warm in the afternoons. It's a ski town very much like Vail or Breckenridge, with cable cars going up the mountains and Swiss chalets everywhere. On our "day off," we took a cable car about 3/4 the way up the mountain, and hiked across and down the slopes. The weather held out and we were able to get some really fantastic views of the mountains.
After the Talis festival was finished, Julia and I hiked out into the Alps (we took a cable car up to ~3000m first) and spent a night at the Britannia Hut, a modest sized hut that has 166 beds but is dwarfed by the mountains surrounding it.
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| On our way up the cable car, at the beginning of our adventure! |
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| Pointing at the hut in the distance! |
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| We made it! |
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| On the glacier heading back to the lift |
The next day, we rode a cable car up to ~2800m, and hiked partway down before taking the cable car back to town.
After days of hiking and trying to ski but the weather not cooperating for Julia, we left Saas-Fee for Zurich. Being in the Swiss Alps was AMAZING, and I would love to go back to do more hiking and exploring of the country. Oh, and for the cheese and chocolate, too.
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| Thanks for being my adventure buddy! |
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