Mountains rising vertically up from green valleys into the sky. Sometimes exposed with dramatic shapes, sometimes hidden in clouds that can suddenly open up, revealing an alpine meadow covered in wildflowers. Old villages with their timbered houses and the sound of bells from the cows grazing the steep meadows. A country that has united Latin and Teutonic languages into one culture, celebrating both diversity and integration among its people.
Jennifer and I went there for a holiday of a week and a half. The first few days we spent near Thunersee and Brienzersee in the German part of Switzerland, and then we crossed over one of the many mountain ranges criss-crossing the country to reach the French part, where we visited our friends Arne and Rada in Verbier.
The next posts will be from Switzerland, and I start with something very simple, the views from our hotel in Gunten, along the Thunersee. Gunten is a small village, but our hotel was quite grand and went back in time to a period, when families didn’t frequent the restaurants in walking boots and shorts.
Gunten is on the northeast side of the lake, and the photos are looking south across the lake towards The Bernese Alps, the alpine mountain chain that constitutes the border between the Cantons of Bern (German-speaking to the north, where Thunersee is) and Valais (mainly French-speaking to the south). The tallest peaks are Eiger (3,987m), Mönch (4,107m) and Jungfrau (4,158m). On one of my photos, you can see Jungfrau shooting up among the clouds.
The following posts will follow our exploration through this part of Switzerland. It was Jennifer’s first time to travel through the country, although we had been skiing in Verbier before.
