Torgon
On Saturday I traveled to Torgon Switzerland; it only took 10 hours by bus, plane, train and another bus. At least I was lucky that all the stops were right next to each other. The last bus dropped me off half a block from my hotel.
I had been having a lot of problems with pain in my left foot so I went to see a podiatrist in Malta. He thought there was a broken metatarsal bone but an x-ray ruled that out. I wasn't able to get back in to see him before coming to Switzerland, so he advised I use crutches and stay off my foot as much as possible. I freely admit that traveling with crutches was a bit of a hassle, but was far outweighed by the benefits. I got to zip to the front of the security line and people freely gave up their seat without me even looking at them.
I had an apartment in the tiny village of Torgon, near the French border. And I use the term village very liberally. I arrived after dark so it wasn't until the next day that I got to look around. It's a beautiful area, with several ski chalets overlooking the valley below. The village consisted of a tiny market and a café. Groceries were a shock; I bought a few things that should have cost around €20, but were closer to €50. Welcome to Switzerland, where a Big Mac and fries cost €16. The nearest proper store was 25 minutes down the side of the mountain, in the town of Aigle. The food prices were just as high down there.
The apartment was a one bedroom, with an absolutely stunning view from the deck. I was surprised when the desk clerk said that the hotel was fully booked. Who would have thought many people would travel to such a remote ski village in the summer. I did meet some of the other guests, two ladies and I ended up going on a walk through the woods. They were really fun and it was nice to have some company for the day. We took more than a few pictures of goats, which were everywhere. One in particular had long hair around her face and actually seemed to be posing for us.
While the mountains were beautiful, they weren't quite the alps I was expecting. They were rocky and barren on top vs heavily forested or snow capped. I guess our elevation was only about 4000 ft and was still pretty warm for September. Since it was Sunday and nothing was open in Torgon or Aigle, I enjoyed some quiet time sitting on the balcony reading and enjoying the mountain view.
It didn't take long to realize there was no way to get around by public transport because I was too remote and the trains were quite expensive, so on Monday I rented a car. I drove around the little towns around the east end of Lake Geneva. I stopped in Montreux at the Chateau Julien. It was pretty underwhelming to be honest. It was a nice enough fort, right on the lake, but inside was basically just a lot of walls and empty rooms. As I was leaving, I saw a group of soldiers doing some training. What a difference from American military, I couldn't believe the lack of uniformity. Their uniforms had no markings. Some of the men had facial hair, ponytails and man buns, and some had a more traditional short military hairstyle. It was quite interesting to see the wide assortment of looks they had going. In the US military, uniformity is quite important. Men's haircuts are the same, uniforms are the same, we wear all kind of insignia to identify rank, branch, job, unit etc, so this was quite different.
While driving around, I thought I saw an avalanche. Then I noticed a tiny bulldozer at the top; apparently this was a rock mining operation. The bulldozer would essentially create an avalanche of rocks, which would then be scooped up into dump trucks at the bottom and hauled off. Quite an interesting set-up they had.
In the town of Aigle, I found a bigger market and did some shopping. Prices were still quite expensive, especially the meat. I picked up one nice-looking steak when I realized it was horse meat. Although as a practical matter I see no reason to not eat horse meat, I just can't do it. There was a surprisingly wide assortment of animals to choose from - goat, deer, and boar seemed the most popular.
On Tuesday I got up early and drove to Zermatt. When I was stationed in Germany, I remember my mother coming over and us taking a trip through Switzerland. What I remember most was the beautiful village of Zermatt. It was right at the base of the Matterhorn and our hotel had this stunning mountain framed in it's huge picture window. I thought it was the most amazing place I had ever seen and I always had a desire to go back. I took the train up to Zermatt, (there are no cars allowed) and I was so disappointed! It was crowded and very touristy, with shops and hotels everywhere you look. You couldn't even see the Matterhorn.
In order to get up higher, I took the cog train as suggested on Trip Advisor. The Gornergrat railway is a small train running from Zermatt to the summit Gornergrat. It gains an elevation of almost 5000 ft. A cog is railway with a toothed track. Think of a bicycle with its sprocket for the chain. It's designed for steep grades; the teeth pull the train up the mountain and keeps it at a steady pace coming down.
The ride up lasted about 35 minutes and the views were dramatic! We could see glaciers in the distance and rolling hills with majestic mountains in the background. Eventually the Matterhorn came into view, or at least what would have been the Matterhorn. Just my luck, I paid €90 to see a mountain that was shrouded in clouds. I walked around a bit, taking pictures of the scenery which was quite beautiful. I would have loved to hike around a bit but I was on crutches and it was very rocky terrain. I could see the clouds were moving and I thought, if I sit here long enough, eventually I'll get the picture I came for. So I waited, and waited and waited. I amused myself with people watching. It was a bit chilly at this elevation but I thought some people were dressed for the arctic. They were bundled up in parkas and scarves. I had long sleeves and a thin sweat shirt and was quite comfortable.
As I watch the clouds, I thought they were heading in one direction and I could see a big clear space coming. It took me about 45 minutes to realize the clouds were moving in the opposite direction! No great photo op for me. Well, I hoped by that time I got back to Zermatt, the clouds would clear and I would get my shot.
I hobbled around town for a bit and as I rounded a corner on the outskirts, I looked up and there it was; the Matterhorn with no clouds. There was maybe a one minute window before it was obscured again. I raised my camera with my crutches dangling. I had the kind that go around your forearms, not up under your armpits. There was a light pole in the way so I took a step forward. As it turns out, that was a mistake.
I didn't realize was that I was on some stairs. When I moved forward, there was nothing below me and down I went! I landed on top of my camera and the crutches and I instantly knew that my shoulder had been dislocated. Of course everybody rushed over to help me. All I could do was yell don't touch me, don't touch me! They were all reaching for my dislocated arm. Call me crazy but I didn't want to go through all this and not get a picture so I handed someone my camera saying get a picture of the mountain. He looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I was but I still wanted a picture and the clouds were rolling in fast. He snapped a few shots while everyone else was still trying to drag me up and I was still yelling at them not to touch me. They all seemed quite excited; trying to call an ambulance, asking what to do. I told everybody to just calm down and give me a moment. Eventually they stepped back and I was able to assess my situation.
I realize that one way or another I was going to have to get up and it was going to be difficult. I have very bad knees, so once on the ground, it's quite hard to get up. Eventually, feeling like a beached whale, I was able to roll over and get on to my knees and then struggle up. Once I was standing, everybody started again with the ambulance. There were two young girls who seem to know their way around town and told me there was a clinic nearby. I told everybody thank you for your concern, but I really will be okay. Please don't stay, go on about your day, nothing to see here folks, move along.
So these two girls, who turn out to be Swiss, started walking with me to the clinic. The whole time I was trying to move my shoulder, hoping I could get it back in the socket. I've dislocated my other shoulder twice; if its not too bad, you can maneuver it back in. After about 10 minutes I relaxed my arm enough that it slid back in place. I decided not to go to the clinic so I told the girls, look I'm fine. As it slid back out. Okay let's continue. We got to the clinic and I told them they didn't need to wait but they really wanted to see what happened.
In the US most people are pretty modest. When you go into a doctor's office, they hand you a gown and then the whole time you're there, you're covered up. I was quite taken aback when the two nurses basically stripped me down with the girls there and the treatment room door open. Granted they were quite gentle about it, but there I was, standing in front of these young fit women with my big fat belly hanging out LOL. I was never given a gown, I was just sort of standing there in front of the open door when the doctor walked in and said let's get some x-rays. Finally the two young ladies decide they've seen enough and left me to it. It wasn't very exciting. The doctor brought back the X-ray and even my untrained eye could see the brake. Basically a corner of the socket broke away, that's why it kept dislocating. He said I would need surgery, but there was no reason to cut my trip short. As long as I kept my arm immobilized, I should be fine till I got home. I got a brace to hold my arm against my body and my shoulder in place. This little adventure cost me €500. As I gathered my things to go, I realized I broke one of the crutches. Just as well, I couldn't use two anyway. I was a pathetic sight but I wasn't going to let it get me down. I decided I was going right back to the scene of the accident and get my damn picture.
Luckily I was in no pain whatsoever which was kind of a strange thing. I thought a broken bone would be quite painful. Sadly, the Matterhorn was still covered in clouds, but it was a very beautiful view. The sun was just setting and it was behind one mountain but shining on the Matterhorn.
I took a few more pictures and just sat there contemplating life. The two girls who helped me to clinic happened to walk up. They were quite delighted to see me and asked what happened. I told them and they said I can't believe I was just sitting there watching the sunset. I had just been thinking about how much worse it could have been. In Europe when you rent a car you generally get a stick shift. By some weird fluke I had an automatic. No way I could have driven a stick shift. The other point was that I was not in pain. To me that's a huge benefit.
The girls sat and chatted for a bit more. They are quite interesting young ladies, both were interesting, smart and well travel. It was getting dark so I called it a day. As I got back to the station, I saw I had about 2 minutes to make the train, the next one being 45 minutes later. As I ran through the gate, the ticket agent asked for my ticket but I just the receipt. So I set my bag down and started digging. The poor fellow took pity on me and said never mind, you can go, it looks like you're having a hard day. I made it home safe and sound but felt sorry for myself so I had cake for dinner.
Mic was coming Wednesday evening, so I decided to take it easy and hang around the hotel all day. I couldn't believe how lonely it was! It was me and the desk clerk. In fact she got so bored around noon that she went up to one of the rooms for a couple of hours. She told me that she would be back at 3 and would let me in the hot tub. I thought that sounded like a great idea so at 3 o'clock I was downstairs with my bathing suit on. And let me tell you it was a struggle to get into it when I couldn't move my right arm at all. I looked at the pool and hot tub and sadly I realized, I couldn't do it. They both had a ladder and there was no way I was going to haul myself out with just one arm. Damn looks like I struggled for nothing! Eventually it was time to go get Mic and I was so happy to see him! Not only did I need his help for pretty much everything, but it was just so nice to have him there for moral support. He felt so bad for my predicament.
On way back up to the resort, we saw several foxes on the road. One little guy ran across the road in front of us and ducked behind a guardrail. Before we could start moving again, his head popped up from the bushes. It seems like he sat there forever, but sadly not enough time for Mic to get the camera up. It seemed like every time he got the camera ready, the fox ducked down. We put the phone down, he popped up. This little game of hide-and-seek went on for quite some time before the he finally disappeared for good.
On Thursday we decided to try our luck with another mountain, the Jungfrau. As we left Torgon and drove down the mountain, we actually saw people blowing leaves off the road and sweeping the street in front of their house. Everything up there was so beautiful and well maintained, you could see people truly took pride in their homes and the village.
I actually learned to ski on the Jungfrau back in the eighties. My friends and I took a weekend trip and I remember what an amazing experience it was. The mountain was so huge that the chairlift to the top took forever. Our trip down was even longer, because none of us had ever skied before and we spent most of the time falling and laughing our asses off. That was before email and I used to make audio tapes to send home to my mom. Apparently I sent one of this trip and she said she could barely make out what I was saying. I was laughing so hard as I told her about the weekend. I wish I could hear that tape now.
We went to Grindelwald and took another cog train to Kleines Schreckhorn. The ride up was absolutely stunning, even more so then Zermatt. We passed the north face of the Eiger Mountain, which you may remember from the Clint Eastwood movie the Eiger Sanction. Kleines Schreckhorn is one of the highest points in the area and from there Grindelwald looked like a tiny speck in the distance. We walked around a little bit, climbing to rocky outcrop where you could see forever.
For lunch I had Raclette; melted cheese and potatoes. It was really good but so rich I couldn't even eat half of it. I guess there is such thing as too much cheese.
We had a late flight on Friday, so we decided to take our time and see the city of Bern. There really wasn't very much to see, it was just a big city. We did find a nice park where we had a picnic lunch. Of course they were little sparrows everywhere but these little birds were quite friendly. Several of them eat bread right out of my hand. Sometimes lined up on my arm to wait their turn. The park overlooked the river and all along we could see these urban gardens in people's backyards. It was actually quite beautiful and a peaceful place to pass the afternoon and out last day in Switzerland.
Link to pictures
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