With each television shoot this year, what could have been an easy job became demanding and stretched me to the max because the weather went south on us.
Mentally and physically fried after three weeks of guidebook research and TV production in Paris, I escape the big city, taking the train to the Swiss Alps. (En route, I email my editorial staff back home, saying I’m skipping Interlaken and that they’ll have to get someone else to update that city for our Switzerland guidebook. I need that Interlaken time to rest up.)
In Gimmelwald — a high-altitude village quaint and quiet as an Advent calendar — I check into the B&B of Olle and Maria Eggimann. Rustic and humble on the outside, perfectly cozy and charming on the inside, it feels made-to-order for the business at hand — convalescing and recharging.
Parked in my top-story window, gazing out at the village drenched in pristine nature, it occurs to me I’m part of an alpine cliché. I marvel at how the best way to really enjoy the Alps is as a kind of cultural shock treatment — zipping here directly from Paris.
From my perch, I survey the village. Chocolate log cabins are buttressed by a winter’s supply of firewood lovingly stacked all the way to the eaves. Grassy fields radiate a vibrant green, as if plugged into the sun. Feeling part of the village — standing sturdy yet small under monster mountains — I marvel as nature puts my world properly in its place.
Leaving my shoes in the mud room and stepping into Olle’s slippers is like leaving my world and entering his. Now it’s purely people-to-people — the essence of travel — and we talk.
Appreciative of the hospitality I always receive here, I encourage Olle and Maria (as I do with each visit) to come to the States and visit. Maria says, “Now you’ve asked three times. We say you need three invites from an American before they really mean it. Now that our children are on their own, perhaps we will come.”
We talk about their experience as teachers in the village school. In the nearly 20 years they’ve been teaching here, the worldview gap between village kids and city kids has essentially vanished. A generation ago, village kids had more isolated views. Today they are as worldly as city kids — but you still know who’s who because city kids use umbrellas, while village kids just put up their hoods.
We talk of how running a B&B can try your patience. Olle recalls how one guest came to him distraught that her electronic noisemaker was burned out and wondered if they could loan her one. Olle asked, “What’s a noisemaker?” It makes nice sounds like birds and waterfalls so you can go to sleep. The need for such a device had never even occurred to Olle and Maria. We opened the door and stepped out onto the porch to enjoy a pianissimo lullaby of bird call, rushing water, and the calming rustle of leaves in the breeze. The same guests also needed an iron and ironing board, as their clothes were wrinkled. When preparing to go up on the mountain lift to the top of the Schilthorn, they asked how long the ride would be, and then, “Is the gondola car heated?”
Love this entry. I’d say you should do a special of just you enjoying your down time. Similar to your quick video blog entries but edited to the moments of YOUR trip that you like.. not as a tour guide write, but as Rick Steves.
And BTW, I’ll gladly take on the task of updating the guide book in Interlaken :)
When the weather is good, views in the Alps are stunning. But often the weather is not good and several continuous days of rain are not unusual. If you are out on your porch, beware of biting flies, omnipresent with cows. Gimmelvald is especially cute for those without acrophobia or for those who can screw their eyes shut on the ride up. If you don’t double check the schedule for the gondola, you will convalesce whether you want to or not because you are stuck up there until the next day and it is boring. And as guides we all have funny stories about customers who can’t understand why the blue Danube is so brown or why they don’t repair the crack in the Liberty Bell. But we whisper so we don’t hurt their feelings. Anyway, RIP. Gimmelvald is the place to plant yourself.
Beautiful place. Enjoy your rest. I’d love to go there, too.
The place sounds lovely, but when I’m tired and stressed after a long trip, I find no place better than my own bed for convalescence. I may visit a scenic area near my house and breath the fresh air during the day, but my nights would be spent at home. Just wondering if other’s felt this way.
I agree, Steven, there is no place like home if you really want to rest and unwind, especially if your job encompasses all that travelling.
I agree, too. There’s no place like home (hubby! doggie! home cooked food!) after being away so long at work and on the road. There’s so much in my own hometown that I haven’t experienced yet because I work and travel all the time.
Makes you wonder if he is avoiding home for some reason.
Gimmelwald is my favorite place that I’ve seen on your shows. It has become my dream to visit. Every time I read something about it, I fervently hope I make it there some day. Thanks for bringing a brief calm to my day and re-inspiring my dream!
deja vu! I was just in Wengen across the valley – and tried to explain to some friends who were with me why this area was A MUST for experiencing a true Swiss trip. You mentioned some of my same points with the quaint, cow and chalet environment not set up for tourists per se – but for the locals too who keep it authentic – tradition! As you point out – globalization is present even here as they are serving somosas next to bratwursts on Kleine Scheideck Cafes – before going up to the famous Jungfrau Joch train. And they serve Chai next to Caffe-Schnaps at the top! So tradition along with perhaps a bit too much accomodation for tourists! but hey – these people are competing with US, German and UK tourist bucks now!
I love it when I get to experience GAS – Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In no particular order, my three most favorite countries to visit in Europe. The people there are fantastic, and “Gemutlichheit” is the rule for the day. When you have Germany with it’s beerhalls and great food, Austria with Mozart, and Switzerland with it’s cool cows with the large bells, what else in life do you need? “Prost” to GAS!
Rick: I say tape the show in the so called, “bad weather.” Show it like it is; warts and all!
I often comment that when I visit Europe, it never seems like a Rick Steves video, because
it is not OFTEN sunny and bright as in your videos. I always say…the rainy weather makes those cozy pubs, museums and coffee and tea houses all the more inviting.