Transfer to Bettmeralp, Monday 8/26/19

Today we have to leave our tiny Alpine village of Wengen, and transfer by bus to Bettmeralp.  Our almost-week here has been a joy, for the Lauterbrunnen Valley is without doubt the most beautiful place in the world.  Lucky us to be a part of it, if only for a little while.  It took me the better part of a week to get the hang of saying the word "Wengen," but I think I finally got it.  The W is pronounced as V, that part was easy, but my brain told me I should call it Ven·gen. Nope. The closest I can reproduce for you is Veng·in, sort of like the word "again." Isn't life like this? You finally have something down pat, and then have to leave! Our group wondered what Bettmeralp was like ....

Above, at the train station, ready to roll down the hill via cogwheel for the last time.  Looking on a map, Bettmeralp is nearly due south of Wengen, but the Alps are in the way!  Our bus will have to drive east around them, over the Grimsel Pass, and then southwest, a roughly four-hour trip.  But we know Road Scholar will find things for us to see and do along the way!  Jimmy's wearing some bright shoes!

First stop -- a cheese-making factory.  We were all in favor of this -- everybody likes cheese!  In the room above, local farmer's milk has been cooked over the hot wood fire to a certain temperature.  (That room was HOT!)  The huge kettle was hoisted off the fire to where you see it above.

Cheesecloth was carefully inserted into the boiling hot mix to gather the curd and drain away the whey. 😊  A sieve was inserted so the cheesemaker could test the curd for consistency.  Each of us tasted the curd -- kind of crunchy and tasteless to everyone.

Placed in this large cheesecloth-lined tray and drained,

the soft curd forms into large slabs.

... which is then put in round blocks ...

... and weighted down to harden.

Long story shortened, here is the some of this year's final product, above, in various sizes.  These cheeses will be picked up by the farmers to age.

Lunchtime!  We had picnic lunches packed for us by the hotel and most folks opened and ate theirs.  We had lots of lovely cheeses to taste, along with fresh bread, so my lunch consisted of an apple, cheese and bread.  Delicious.  I especially liked the thin-sliced two-year-old cheese, at bottom on the cheese tray.

A short walk from the cheesemaker's was a suspension bridge, the 229 foot-long Handeckfallbrücke, built in 2006.  Yup, it swayed as we made our way across, and it was a long way down!

Jimmy and Sheila ready to walk!  Sheila and I found a great wild blueberry patch on the opposite side, and spent a few minutes in blueberry heaven.

On the other side was the Gelmerbahn -- truly a straight-up funicular.  When we looked at the red carriage taking the folks above to the top, we gasped.  No way would we get on that thing (we didn't have time for it, anyway, but look at the gradient, below).  A lovely alpine lake on the other side, with hiking trails around it, would have made it more desirable, but really, No. Thank. You!

Think we were finished?  Nope, next came a visit to a hydropower plant.  I won't go into great detail about our one-and-a-half hour stop here, but suffice to say, it was very interesting.  Not everyone had the desire to learn A LOT about this, but Jimmy liked everything he heard.  Intelligent Swiss tapped into using hydro power and KWO has been producing sustainable electricity for almost 100 years.  They have begun planning for the time ahead when Swiss glaciers melt and rivers run dry.  Their trains and trams and buses all (if not 100%, it has to be close) run on electricity, much of it from hydro.

We used "whispers" supplied by the power plant, so we could hear what our guide said, and they also blocked out some of the NOISE produced by these HUGE machines.

We piled into a small van to access the plant, driving under the lake in a large tunnel, which gave some of us pause ... but on the way back, we stopped to view the crystals discovered during tunneling of the access tunnel to the Grimsel power plant back in 1974.  The crystal cavern contained specimens up to 20 cm long, many highly valued because of their total transparency.  We oohed and aahed at this exhibit.

Back on the bus and on switchbacks to reach Grimsel Pass.  We've left behind one of the (obviously glacial) hydro lakes.  We'd seen a number of bicycle enthusiasts riding UP to the pass (below), and we shook our collective heads in awe of anyone being able to do this.  Also, maybe they're nuts!

Finally, the pass!  A group of Yellow-bellied Marmots lives in a sort of haven up here!  With regular feedings of carrot peels and rabbit-type pellets, why would they leave?

The people behind me didn't move fast enough and rusted in place, unlike the hikers on this Road Scholar trip!  Look at this picture!  Before leaving the US, we checked weather forecasts and despaired at what we saw -- a week of cloudy, rainy, chilly-into-cold weather loomed in Wengen, according to them.  I love it that they were WRONG.  We enjoyed a week of warm, sunny days with cool nights; short-sleeve shirts and even shorts were worn on several days.  It's been beautiful.

Another suspension bridge?  Longer?  Yes -- the second-longest one in Switzerland -- this bridge measures 280 meters (918 feet) and dangles very high above a river canyon.  You can barely see the far side in this picture.  Not everyone wanted to tackle this one, but Jimmy and I threw caution to the wind and crossed it.  This bridge wasn't too far from Bettmeralp.  Below, Jimmy has begun recrossing.

At last, we made it to Bettmeralp.  Holy Toledo, wait ... the bus pulled into Betten Talstation, where the group piled into a gondola with all our luggage and traveled via cableway up a mountain to the Hotel Waldhaus in Bettmeralp.  Whew!  What a day!  The hotel glowed like a gem in this alpine village (also car-free), and we settled into our room, below.  We didn't think we could improve on our hotel/village of Wengen, but ... oh my, we can see the Matterhorn in the distance from our room.  Oh wow!

Will this post ever be finished?  This being Monday, it's fondue/raclette night at the charming Hotel Waldhaus -- menu below.

I don't eat sausage or preserved meat like you see below.  Or, at least I didn't prior to tonight!  I ate everything on my plate, including the small piece of rye bread.  Delicious.

Cheese fondue came next, with bread for dipping, and it was also so good that we ate too much!  Save room for the raclette!

Neither of us had ever eaten raclette -- a half-cheese wheel broiled over an open flame.  When the top layer bubbles and browns, it's scraped off onto a plate, and placed atop the burner for a minute.  Also served with bread (different kind), this was so delicious, I ate till I nearly blew up!  Amazing day!

At 6,400', we have an idyllic view of the valley and the surrounding peaks.  I believe we'll do just fine here.  Just fine.