Off to the Alps! #4

So we made our 2:07 train and the scenery was much better today...green fields, snow capped mountains in the distance, lakes, farms, etc. The sun was shining and the sky blue...we had a nice one hour train ride with circular booth seating before we had to board train number 2. So many damn trains!
After that we boarded a bus for the final stretch up the mountain. This was pretty scary. There was a baby up front who cried out every time we got close to the edge...my thoughts exactly.




We finally got to the tippity top and found ourselves in Leukerbad- a stone's throw away from the ski resort in a French section of Switzerland.



Just when I was starting to learn to say 'bitte' (please) and 'danke shun' (thank you), I now have to say 'merci' instead! We walked about 20 meters and Yetta recognized the exterior of the B&B apartment building right away. A woman welcomed us and showed us around our apartment which sleeps 8. It is like living in an Ikea showroom! Sleek black leather and white lacquered furniture, an orange kitchen and black and white bedrooms, plush shag rugs, hanging lamps and mirror-tiled storage cabinets. Patios off the kitchen and bedrooms. The place is immaculate and ultra modern. Yetta insisted we take the master bedroom complete with a heated water bed (with separate heat controls and for each side!)...ok well maybe the water bed is a flashback in time...

We set out to explore...everything is really close to where we are staying. All the rooftops have about 3 feet of snow layered on them and the backdrop of these rocky mountains just looks surreal. We got fitted for our rental gear...I was glad that I didn't forget anything important...everything is ridiculously marked up (I.e. a knitted ski cap was 79 Swiss francs!). I convinced Yetta to snowboard with me tomorrow and the boys will ski :)

We stopped at the grocery store for some essentials for the next few days...yogurt (apparently Patrick cannot live without), granola, eggs, milk, cheese, chocolate, pasta, wine, fruit, cookies, sparkling water...

Church bells chimed as we headed to dinner at 6pm...at a restaurant our land lady suggested which had a painting of Marilyn Monroe from Seven Year Itch and James Bond on the window.


They played American music inside too. Never the less, they did not have English menus so we had to rely on Yetta translating for us. I ordered vegetable soup and insalata mozzarella caprese which were both really good. Everyone else got a form of spaghetti with meat and we all cleared our plates except for the entire cloves that we piled up on the sides after almost breaking our teeth. The chef must really like cloves, or as a wise comedian once called them- nature's thumb tacks.



We walked back to the apartment in a light, misty rain (this was not in the plans) and drank after-dinner schnapps. Between the 4 of us, we managed to polish off an entire box of assorted Swiss wafer cookies...yum. We browsed the 10 tv channels and of course found nothing of interest...so off to bed it is...

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Location:Lichtenstrasse,Leukerbad,Switzerland