Our basic accommodations were a hotel room with a balcony view of the Berner Oberland Alps. The hotel offered breakfast buffet and dinner (“half-board”) for $45 per day and the food was fabulous. Breakfast comprised of eggs, sausage, pancakes, cereals, dried fruits, nuts, cheeses, meats, juices, coffee, and assorted fresh baked bread. At breakfast is when you order dinner, fish, meat, or vegetarian entrees. The dinner meals always had a winter vegetable, healthy starch, main course or Rosti (root vegetable mixture “roasted” with melted cheese). They always gave a vegetarian option. Desserts were beautiful cheese trays, carrot cakes, ice cream, coffee, wine, etc.

After the nap we set out for a walk ending at a small pub for pumpkin soup, leek soup, and a couple fresh salads…YUM! The evening temperature was mild at about 50 F. I wore my Royal Robbins Megan hooded jacket that has a 100% polyester suede face and 100% polyester faux fur lining, fur pipe trim, and the inside has sheared fleece. The front of the jacket sports on-seam front pockets and three easy toggle closures with leather trim. The hood is a deep cozy hood where I could hide my cheeks and nose. It actually has a Swiss flair to it. This was my favorite warm travel piece. It is dressy, lightweight, warm, hooded, packable, and does not wrinkle. Ready for any adventure.

As the days went on, we were humbled by the multitude of activities coupled with GORGEOUS weather! The relaxing vacation became fast paced in a good way. During the days, we would leisurely awaken, have breakfast, make a plan, and head out until dark. Most days I would go for long hikes in the mountains with my Montrail Leona Divide sneakers, my RR Ashland Fleece hoody, RR Coolmax L/S top, Nuun electrolyte water tablets, Swiss trail mix (see recipe below), bottle of water, and RR Avani pants. I would also carry along Power Bar Harvest Bars and a Power Gel. The trails went on forever from valley to valley, mountain to mountain, glacier to glacier. I hiked numerous unnamed peaks and traveled through many small villages. The trail system was technical and sometimes far too slippery or snowy for crossing. The Swiss take pride in their trails and have good signage but do not rate trails or express caution. They do make estimates on how long time wise it will take you to reach a destination. One particular trail brought me to the Schiltornbahn Peak at 2930meters with a revolving restaurant The Piz Gloria (a 007 movie was filmed up here). The view extends from the Titlis, along Eiger, Mšnch and Jungfrau to Mont Blanc and far across the Mittelland to the Black Forest. You can see more than 200 mountain peaks, innumerable glaciers and lakes. Part of the trail takes you up a suspended metal staircase that overhangs a 1000 meter drop off. In some areas you walk along narrow VERY steep cliffs, with a cable wire for security. I was thrilled to be on these trails and peaks returning everyday with amazing mountaineering stories. On days that Scott was paragliding (right down the street from our hotel) or checking out BASE jumping walls (the famous “Yellow Ocean”), or sky diving from helicopters in Interlaken, we would meet up in the evenings with many adventures to compare.