Passive Architect.
Tonight is the Third Thursday of the month!
That means that the Environmental Book Club at Oglebay is meeting. Tonight we will watch the
Film Viewing of The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil at 7pm with special guest, director of the film, Faith Morgan!
~I hope you can join us another time too~
Click to download a Poster – 2011BookClub
…a week spent in Colorado Springs.
Colorado is a dusty place with a western flair in the front lands where we were in Colorado Springs. My first time in Colorado mesmerized me. The cave dwellings are here, the healing springs in nearby Manitou Springs, the Broadmoor, a resort by the lake with Rocky Mountain backdrops which will host the Women’s U.S. Open this summer is located here. The Garden of the Gods has a garden of vertical red rock slabs coming from the earth in hundreds of feet high. Colorado is a mystical place where I could sense past tribes, an old culture living in the mountains, a place that still held a maze of spells out to it’s visitors. My husband and I spent a week with old friends and here is what we uncovered.
Stone pillars in the airport walls.
The wind trying to break in our apartment at 3am
it was only rolling down the mountains just west of us.
We visited the Garden of the Gods
the dirty windy rock and sultry flat plains
before the Rockies in bright reddish colors.
We ate at the Pantry, in the gravel front yard where the screen door slammed behind our waitress and I gazed into the bright big sun I couldn’t hide from.
The shadowed part of the Green Mountain had waterfalls coming from below the melted ice. We scrambled lightly on the lush side of the mountain staring up into the open skies and rock. The day was spotless, very blue and slightly chilly. We’d walked along a cabin road with wood carved statues of bears.
Through old Colorado City we drove through flat neighborhoods where houses had turned to boutiques. Some young creative shops were booming –Squash blossom, Out of the Box, and Envi.
There were clay pot places and great western antiques. Signs were reminiscent of the old West and Las Vegas. On every drive you could see the dusty trails and pale ground cover going somewhere, perhaps all leading to the west, onward along Pikes Peak road to the Peak itself.
Then, there was Manitou Springs…
“Manitou,” a Native American word for “spirit,” describes this beautiful mountain community. Eleven named mineral springs throughout town are fed by the snows of Pikes Peak. Long before white men traveled here, the Ute, Cheyenne and many other natives considered this area sacred. -Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau
The businesses boasted locally owned, not to Colorado but to Manitou Springs, and I began to think to myself about what made it special. Obviously being a hub for the Cog Rail up to Pikes Peak, and the mountains scored a beautiful backdrop, but if I were coming here to shop or drink at a local brewery, these things didn’t necessarily have to be there. I began to think about super imposing my town of St. Clairsville over the streets of Manitou.
Manitou brought visitors to town often with different parades, traditions, legends and events they held to celebrate them. What did St. Clairsville have?
Running at home, upon our return, I imagined all of our storefronts of St. Clairsville boasting a home brewery, an art gallery, a bead shop, a Hip Vintage Stop, Momentum, a potter… but all of our storefronts were dark and empty for a sunny Sunday evening.
We didn’t get to the Cliff Dwellings but next time that will be on my list. My visit also made me want to reread The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook.
I hadn’t finished reading Davis book when our environmental book club met last Thursday night to discuss it. But, it was such an interesting book that I did finish it within the last week and now have some additional thoughts to share.
A full synopsis of the book and discussion points can be found on our Environmental Book Club Blog at ecobookclub.wordpress.com
When I hear a grave environmental fact, like Global Warming, the warnings of GMO’s and pesticides that are in our food, or what leaches into our ground water I am always equally and defensively greeted with an opposing opinion from someone who I may bring it up with next.
Why? Why don’t we error on the side of being safe? Is there too much information to know what to do, and what to do right?
Well, after reading this book a little bit of that grey area was swept away with the rain pouring facts Devra Davis provides throughout her book.
What I hadn’t realized before reading the book was that controversial issues are just so because the scientists that are figuring out what is unsafe for us, are being disproved by other scientists who are being supported by those companies creating the problems. This is a central struggling theme throughout Devra’s surprisingly positive book. Positive because it is enlightening and knowledge is powerful. I’ve recently heard that Dr. Laura talk, Follow the Money, and I think it’s on cue. It’s the first time I’ve heard of her –Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Our group was lead by Dr. B who had done extensive noting and question-asking while reading the book himself. His full synopsis and in-depth discussion points are located on the EcoBookClub Blog here.
Our group talked about how scientists think. I thought about how I think. Dr. B described how a lawyer’s thoughts were to boil it down to the essence, to defend a case. While, as a scientist, he would want to include the loose (and sometimes extraneous) thoughts.
I’d taken a thirty-minute walk before our discussion through the wood chipped forest. Some barkless tress were laying across heavy needled pine branches that never lost their green luster. Spring wasn’t budding yet but I was able to wear short sleeves. I thought about a scientist’s children.
Beautiful big-eyed wonderers
children of a scientist
trees unwrapping, pulling down their canvases
heavy limbs
light in the sky, but heavy on the earth
looking dainty and effortless,
fragile without their leaves.
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A few portions of text that struck me are below.
In a story of The great London Fire of 1666, Devra talks about John Evelyn pg 39.
With nearly a blank slate, the city could have been redesigned. Evelyn had urged that the major producers of smoke be located in a common industrial zone, far from where most people lived. But he failed to reckon with the traditions and convenience that kept these same businesses as they were. Despite his friendships with those in power, Evelyn was no match for the economic forces of the day. In the seventeenth century, as in the twenty-first, pressures to keep things as they have always been could be far more powerful than well-founded suggestions for improvement.
The capacity of people to get on with what they have been doing all their lives, even when they know it is not in their best interests, is a marvel. Denial is one of the strongest human emotions. It gets us through the shock of chronic illness or sudden deaths, and often it is what keeps us from making changes in life. Thus it is not enough to have a good idea of even a great one to bring about social change. People have to believe that the problem being addressed is so bad that something must be done, and they must believe that something can be done.
Stop expecting Prince Charming. We must rescue ourselves. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. -Bella Abzug
The book gave me a way to defend the facts of Climate Warming by better understanding climate change and the two types of gasses generated by humans -chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) and greenhouse gasses. Next, in the same chapter, was the recipe to save us all from toxic products.
pg 256
The story of how the planet finally took action to get rid of CFCs provides an important lesson. Three things were required: the finding of the ozone hole provided sufficient proof that the planet faced grave and imminent danger; industry had found a way to profit from making major changes in production of the source of the danger; and governments saw that the costs of persisting were much heavier than the benefits of acting. Only when all these were in place did actions to phase down CFCs begin.
In thinking that we must not only calculate the cost benefit of continuing like we do, but consider the cost benefit to prevent what we will have to pay in health and money through the future, I think: Money or Health. We need both. What could you be doing right now to save yourself or, at least to save your children?
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Have you seen Annie Leonard’s video on The Story of Cosmetics? If not, check out my friend’s review of it on her blog, and view the video she has linked on her page.
A great site that I’ve found to see what’s in your cosmetics is the cosmeticsdatabase.com website. I look through it when I think of something else in my house that I could substitute to have less chemicals if it’s something that I can’t make at home myself.
My friend, Pencil In Hand, works with Arch Daily, the worlds most visited architecture website!
And, here they are.. there she is, on CNN Chile! Check out the video here.
Whenever I need to be lifted out of my world or be more aware of it, I draw. In the last few weeks I’ve found some great new blogs on drawing and I thought I’d share them and others today.
Drawing Inspiration:
A great Fashion Blog:
Friend & Creative Blogs:
Health Blogs:
Then, I read an article that pertains to architects designing with a computer mouse, versus the very natural and creative design that comes when you put your hand to paper.
The Washington Post article Computers are great for tools for architects, but don’t let CAD go wild by Roger K. Lewis. PDF link: computertoolscadgowild
When asked by my sister, What is Modular? Is it more expensive, can it be green? I thought, not necessarily and sure it can, and here’s a quick rendition of how!
One of my favorite Modular House designers is Michelle Kaufman. She has a Basic Process section of her website that you can click to here.
A group that I am a part of does Modular housing too. We are called Online Green Design. Click that to see our website. If you go to Interiors, that is me. Online Green Design is a group of Engineers, Landscape Architects, Architects, & Energy people, that give you a holistic approach to building new. The idea is that all of these people play an integral role in the building of a sustainable building. We work with Haven Homes, a modular builder in Pa.
You can custom design your prefab home or get a predesigned plan. Modular just means that most of the house is made in a controlled environment. That the wood and materials to build the home aren’t exposed to the elements of weather during construction. Your construction loan period is less, there is less waste when homes are built this way and companies have a factory-like system for building your house in parts, then delivering it onto a site, setting it on a foundation, then ‘zipping’ it up. Because the foundation of the house and the house can be built during the same time frame, the construction loan can be less.
The cost of construction is comparable when comparing a ‘modular’ to a ‘stick built’ house. Because Modular is more assembly line in the making, the price is easier determined prior to construction.
Check out the plans Michelle Kaufman has on the bottom of the site I sent you to. Glidehouse Breezehouse, & Solaire.
All ‘modular’ and ‘stick built’ buildings can be green. It just depends on what materials you are selecting. I’ve got an extensive list on my blog. Click that to see. It also matters when building green that the right building systems work together. Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, Position of Building/House, Coordination of architectural and interior elements to maximize space, and natural light.
Go Fab, Be Mod, FabMod, think Modular.
I came upon Dora Malech’s Love Poem. It made me think about the common figures of speech that I say every day, that really make no sense. I’m collecting my own figures to try a poem with them.
If by truth you mean hand then yes
I hold to be self-evident and hold you in the highest—
K.O. to my O.T. and bait to my switch, I crown
you one-trick pony to my one-horse town,
dub you my one-stop shopping, my space heater,
juke joint, tourist trap, my peep show, my meter reader,
you best batteries-not-included baring all or
nothing. Let me begin by saying if he hollers,
end with goes the weasel. In between,
cream filling. Get over it, meaning, the moon.
Tell me you’ll dismember this night forever,
you my punch-drunking bag, tar to my feather.
More than the sum of our private parts, we are some
peekaboo, some peak and valley, some
bright equation (if and then but, if er then uh).
My fruit bat, my gewgaw. You had me at no, duh.
Friday, February 11th, was a good day. I found out my sister and brother-in-law are due to have a boy in July. I got to write, and I saw the sun. That evening lead to an impromptu dinner at my favorite restaurant in Wheeling, Later Alligator, with 5 girls and Phil. I caught up with an old friend, brought along some new ones and met a young girl staying here. She is an exchange student from Italy. So, I began to remember the language and it brought me back to the first day Phil and I spent in Italy.
Day 8, Interlaken to Como
We left Balmers after our meal ticket breakfast and jumped on a bus to get to the train station in the rain. We ran into a grocery store nearby to get pig rolls, (?) nuts, dried blueberries and snacks for our trip into Italy. We boarded into our comfortable seats. I read and wrote. Phil made a video that included music from his ipod buds. We had a train exchange in Luscerne which left us about an hour layover to explore the town. Just like eight years before, it was cloudy and the picturesque mountains were out of sight. We walked the crowded 14th century Chapel Bridge and grabbed a cup of coffee at Starbucks where we nearly didn’t escape the excited tourists gals wanting their photos taken, then another one with the barista, then another one… just because they were in a Starbucks. Fortunately we didn’t run into them near the Chapel Bridge.
8 years ago I took this picture in Luscerne Switzerland.
This photo of Botta’s work, The Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels was also taken in 2002. This time in Italy Phil and I gazed up at it from our train.
A bus photo taken on the move in 2002. Then, my first time in the border town of Como, Italia.
Terragni, Terragni, Terragni. The fascist architect whose public work we toured in o2.
As you may be able to tell… I look a bit younger 8 years ago.
Side trips into the country-side for one night or two. These are from Parma, Pecia, and other hill-top towns outside of Florence.
Phil and I finished a 45 minute loop tour and then jumped on our train to Como.
I wrote:
A birds wings tapping the water
skipping like well-worn rocks
The train a Lugano awaits me, Italia!
After eight years I arrive again.
Ah, Italia and film. Stone washed houses, pink facade worn.
Trains are good for us, through the mountain tunnels to the lump hills of the northern country.
The land of terraced grapes and olives.
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In the plan of things, looking at a map, a simple 20 minute bus ride to the down town of Como looked easy enough from where our train would take us to the Switzerland/ Italy border. We had our passports ready… and then Italy began.
An odd start to Italy. Not even border control knew what to do. It was 4 or 5 in the afternoon on Friday and after walking along a sidewalk into Italy, then, walking back into Switzerland to talk to the Polizia, and again following the sidewalk out, we were entering into another country without a passport stamp. Ok. Then, we decided to walk to Como. Highways were the borders and I knew this was kaotic for Phil. This in-between place, the farthest outskirts of each country touching, no one seeming to care where we walked. We found Via Asiago on my Como map and decided to wait for a bus. After it didn’t come for 5th time the schedule said it would we decided to continue walking. We just weren’t exactly sure we were walking in the right direction. If only we could see the lake. Welcome to Italy, my secret garden, iron gate doors, cobblestone courtyards, skinny women in tight black clothes. It was ok that this was the entrance, it could only get better and I was in love. We walked and found someone to ask which bus to Como Central. The bus took us to the places along the lake that I recognized -sail boats closed up and wrapped tight in the sunlight. (But even the bus ride wasn’t without hiccups. Phil and I tried to pay, but the bus driver kept waving at us.. we noticed the money machine finally and being quite exhausted took a seat.) Then, here was Como Central! We stepped off, heard music in the piazza, found our hotel, the interior clad in ceramic tile, two men I addressed in Italian. One man showed us to our room and showers. Thank You! We left our luggage, opened the shutters and made a quick video to remember our crazy day.
We didn’t walk far for food -ordering Italian pizza in a courtyard set up for a reenactment of a renaissance dinner. Phil got funny and the men with roses, fuzzy animals, and glow sticks didn’t know how to treat a man singing to them. These men were relentless. Some men bought their girlfriends the whole bouquet. In love. I was happy and with my marito. We discussed how we needed to be better aware of what we did at home, walk more, like ourselves and what we did more. We walked arm in arm wrapped around one another as the streets became rainier.
Then, we tucked ourselves into our… bunk beds! What? Yes, the Twin Private Bedroom, second on the list of pre-planned choices of how to choose and book a bed while traveling, was not the option for honeymooners. Oops, oh well. It’s a good think we don’t mind sharing a tiny bed.
Day 7
Signs around Interlaken ask ‘Are you Bad Enough?’ There are children acting as adults –running errands on a bike, jumping off to stop in a store, pick up the latest toy train. Lots of nine-year olds are walking around in grownup hats. Others are buying fruit in the grocery store, or wandering outside of it with no knowledgeable purpose or adult in sight.
After a day out in Interlaken you begin to see the same faces after a few hours. Balmers Hostel shower was so nice last night before dinner. The hot pounding water after walking till we literally dropped. However, you had to keep on top of the shower button, Phil warned, for the fact that pushing it once only allows moments of lather before you must push it again. We were in the attic room with window shutters that opened out onto the main street.
We took our breakfast ticket to the counter down stairs and exchanged a piece of fruit and dried oats for it. We were sill a little dazed. The coffee was instant. We walked North into town, the 5 story buildings looking more commercial and business like. Not as much uniqueness as in the other past rural towns, but more real. I think Interlaken would have been a good hub to climb more of the Jungfrau region. Just days before, the town had hosted the Jungfrau marathon, an incredibly difficult run up to the face of the mountain itself. Extreme. But, other than that, it was an easy town.
As we crossed an open field and sat below a tree line taking in the sun and writing about yesterday, parachuters were landing in the meadow. Large Indian families were in full dress and riding bikes –the children off and ahead into their own world. The Swiss jobs in this region are very precise, centered around keeping up what they own and do for a living.
Houses have exquisite painting on the facades, stucco faces have ornate trim boards with edges that drip like lace from the soffits.
We were hungry again and found an outdoor patio nearby with shade trees.
I wrote: Heels clicking as our restaurant waitress strolls by, over the concrete tiles beneath low trees in the alpine plains.
We ate an expensive lunch of mushroom ravioli and delicious white soup and ordered coffee and a beer. The sun is high. Most people in this restaurant are reading a newspaper, looking over the nearby meadow, just south of us, into the sun. It seems to be brunch time well into the afternoon, and it is just lovely.
Phil and I begin to rate our hiking, determine a level system, based on our physical ability and age. We think of all our hikes and give them a number of difficulty. 10 being Mt. St. Helens Hard and 1 being something a toddler could do.
10 Mt. Saint Helens Summit 8 mi (1 day)
9 Grindlewald -Fulhorn- Schinge Platte – 14 mi (1 day)
8 Gresalp to Murren via Sefinefrugge -10 mi (1 day)
8 Katahdin Summit (AT) 9 mi (1 day)
8 Beaver Brook (AT) NH (to Beaver Brook Shelter) 1.5mi
7 Laurel highland Hiking trail (Ohiopyle to Rt. 653) 19 mi (2 days)
6 Warrior Trail (Greensboro to Covered Bridge) 12 mi (1 day)
5 Dolly Sods (Little stone coal -Big stone- breathed mt. Lionshead) seven mi (1 day)
5 Monterosso to Riomagiore (IT) Cinque Terra – 5mi (1 day)Then, Phil loves to climb high points…
Highest Vertical Climb
1. (4922 Vert) 8,297 Fulhorn, Switzerland- from 3,375
2. (4620 Vert) 8,365 Mt. Saint Helens- from 3,745
3. (4183 Vert) 5,268 Katahdin – from 1,085 (HP)
4. (3810 vert) 8,550 Sefinefrugge, Switzerland – from 4740
5. (3195 Vert) 5,695 Mt. Grona, IT – from 2,500
6. (2300 vert.) 6,800 Grand Canyon (Bright Angel) from 4500
7. (2000 vert) 4,000+/- Beaver Brook Trail, NH (AT) from 2,000+/-
8. (2000 vert) 2,075 Multnomah Falls (back way) from 75
9. (1700 vert) 1,750 Monterosso to Venazza (Road beyond church of Madonna) -from 50
10. (1415 vert) 3,075 Falcon Cliffs, WV (north fork) – from 1660
11. (1400 vert) 2,700 Pt. Along LHHT, Pa – from 1,300
12. (1330 vert) 4,700 Chimney Tops, TN – from 3370
13. (1049 vert) 5,729 Mt. Rogers – from 4680 (HP)
14. (950 vert) 950 Punta Mesco, IT (cinque Terra) -from 0
15. (860 vert)2,400 Seneca Rocks – from 1540
16. (830 vert) 850 Beacon Rock, WA -from 20
Being an off day when you have the curious couple, meant another 2-4 miles walking. We walked to the West train station (east) where we’d travel to Italy tomorrow from. (Ost meant west?) We followed the train tracks and a trail to the aqua sea. The path that turned into a cattle line through a field lead us to a small beach there where children were throwing rocks and sticks into the water for their lab to fetch.
We found a bridge to cross that would lead us to a ruine castle, up a stone path, that lead to a tower among a cemetery. We couldn’t climb up but marveled at the pristine plots again and then walked down the uncut rambling path that lead back to a road that went into town. I needed to sit so we found an outside wine bar on a patio with comfortable chairs. I read Walden and drank a glass of white wine while Phil moseyed over to the Ost Side of Town, further along the river walk we’d found when crossing over the bridge earlier in the day.
Hotels along Hoheweg were beautiful, very luxurious with dining in the lawns.
The grand Hotel Et Beau Rijage
He took beautiful pictures in the low sun, bright water day… the sun that comes just before the looks of a storm. Then, he joined me for another drink. We refreshed ourselves at Balmers not knowing what else to do and being so tired we set out for 1 last Swiss dinner. On our way ot the Hostel we located Mad Cow bead shop, recommended as a must stop and I bought a beautiful bead ring from the Australian woman shop owner. (Trip Adviser recommends..)
She recommended Tai food over any swiss patty here. I’d call the ring the Allison Ring because upon coming home Allison, our friend, would buy all the materials and begin to make them herself! Oh, but we didn’t, unfortunately, take The Mad Cow woman’s dinner advise and began to try to locate something close. We made concentric circles around the residential parts of the city and we found Hotel Regina here too. We saw more 80$ meat driven dinners and settled on a small cottage hotel looking restaurant with fine linens, glass mirrored walls with wood battens, and an Italian family with children in the corner and fake flower spreads in the foyer. There were murals on the walls in the back when we took the liberty to walk around and find out if we could take a seat. It looked like a forgotten movie set of some sort and the waitress treated us like she really didn’t care to. We had our last rosti and a beer and salad each and the total came to 70$ which made us feel as mad as a cow and then we left feeling ripped off and full of potatoes.. then we went to sleep in our last night of the Alps.
Day 6
36 Miles and Three more weeks to go.
The breakfast fare was typical and I ate what I’d usually eat – yogurt, granola, and coffee. My hiking pants were beginning to get a little snug. The nice thing about having few clothes was that I took care of what I had. The day looked sunny and it turned out cloudy with spotted sun, no rain but a lot of wind.
We arranged our packs and headed out. I was glad to leave Grindelwald this way. We found the chalet we were unable to find yesterday -the house on the knoll. We passed small fields and yards, flowers and people working. There was dew on the ground and the 64 franc gondolas passing over head. The extra 3-4 miles this was adding onto our hike was worth it. The beginning of our climb had asphalt roads used as paths.
I wrote this in my journal:
Two hours up from Grindelwald mountains growl with the passing airplanes. We walk through the topiary forest, a natural japanese garden with water fall streams and organic made bamboo see saws, tipping and bouncing off rocks. Smooth wooden benches formed from hiker butts. New glaciers form in front of a clear blue sky.
It was getting pretty cold. We were sweating through and when we took our backsacks off I would begin to freeze. It was on this hike that I took one of my favorite photos – showing everything we carried, and all we took for a month. I had to leave room for eventual souvenirs too.
We began to pass a few structures in mucky fields. Older people were hiking down. Maybe by now it was 10 or 11 in the morning. The fact that so many 60-70 year olds were doing this amazed me. The area had a lot of cow waste smells, the field turned to rock and grass slopping meadows and I was really ready to find this picturesque view of Balchapasee. Then we came upon the lower lake.
Everyone raved of the clear days, the reflections of the mountains off of this pristine lake. Not until we climbed up to the other side of it, sat down to eat and look from where we’d come from did we truly appreciate the view. At first we were both thinking…what’s all the hype about? We ate our nut mix and gummy bears. Phil filmed me and watching myself made me realize that I sometimes spoke without a point. I spoke with pointlessness actually and it was annoying to watch me open my mouth and let spill out whatever my mind was piecing together. hm. Amazing what you can learn watching yourself.
It took us 4.5 hours from Grindelwald to Faulhorn. From there we could see the gem sea trapped by the mountains, Interlaken. Up 1200 feet per hour was tiring to a late 20’s couple. There were some grassy fields with open vistas back toward a framed view of the mountains. But, what was about to come was more varied, from Faulhorn to Schynige Platte. In hindsight we could have gotten a bus from Grindelwald to Buesalp, or even stayed at a different place like Wanderweg nearby instead. Taking a hike from Buesalp via Rotihorn to Balchapsee and then onward to Faulhorn would have worked nicely too.
Ah, but Falhorn. It is the first hike we have taken to peer down on any mountains in this trip. From here we see our first glimpse of the aqua lake, and crisp clear teal water of Thurnsea and Brienzersee. The seas are strung like a bead threading through land connecting range to range, North to South.
At 8100 feet, after bean soup, we decide we must go to Schynige Platte. It took us three hours from Faulhorn to Patte. Leaving time to photo the golden eagles. Make sure to arrive in time to catch the last cog train down into Winderswil. On a Wednesday in September 5:53 was the last train down. We hiked that day from 9 – 5:15 and we were zonked. It was long. Faulhorn to Platte was not difficult (or scary), at times had fist sized rock or larger that was unstable. It made mountain music. The sleek soft rock embedded with years of rain and slow grooves took tiresome to my knees. A lot of looking down to be sure footed, it was like climbing ancient mountains and naturally formed graveyards of boulder sized tumbling rock. There were actong signs to watch for rams, but we never saw any. At one hour away from Platte the paths became places to look into the valleys and gorge from where we had come. The Jungfrau opens up to us out over the grassy plain. We spot Grindelwald again, 7 1/2 hours of walking away.
In our catalog of hikes Phil had this hike more difficult than Mt. St. Helen, but not me!
What I enjoy after this trip is the top peak of our trip where my video of Phil shows him talking, but no words can be heard. His map is flapping furiously and the whole scene is so comical. At Faulhorn, the last switchbacks up to this high point with a tattered swiss flag are killer. Sometimes it’s too much to see the top before you begin climbing. A top of Faulhorn, where we see a wooden roof and hear there may be food inside. The wind by now, as we’ve stopped walking, is through us. The pristine views of the turquoise seas to the north and the green hills to our south are glorious and gem like compared to the bland and cold sky.
We open the creaky wooden doors expecting an interior to match the shab exterior and find ourselves walking over the threshold of a Hollywood movie scene.
Inside is a Paulie’s girl clanking beer mugs for us to join in the drinking. This 40 x 12′ structure is packed with about thirty people. How did everyone get up here – and how is this a restaurant? Soup and beer await. We share a table beside 2 Californians who are coming the opposite direction we are and say our trek ahead is scary. Hm. My definition of scary is much higher I realize than many of the elder people we meet. So we sit with warm hearts and eyes to one another and take a gamble on the journey that follows. The couple by the window leaves and we have to step out to let them by because this place is packed. It really was like steeping into a portal. I expected a city outside of this establishment. We could take a bus 3 miles away or we could go discover Platte, and that is exactly what we did.
So, at the end of the day our long long hike made us so tired. But, we didn’t stop there. We walked another mile to dinner after setting up at Balmers Interlaken Hostel… the coolest hostel I’d ever been in.
Below is an Oberland Map I drew as well as a google map looking south on our trek.
Visual Basic
