A Winter Tour of Switzerland – Take Three: Mount Titlis

Hello again

This post is about my friend M.'s and my second excursion in Switzerland, a daytrip from Berne to Mount Titlis, high above Engelberg, which is high in the mountains south of Lake Lucerne. We took the train along the beautiful Entlebuch valley, superb-looking with lots of hoar-frosted trees and woods and cascades of ice. Not much water in the Emme.
We changed trains in Lucerne, to the little red train that goes up to Engelberg (1050 m asl). From the Obermatt hydropower station up to the plateau, the train locks into cogs set into the ground. It's a steep ride :)
The weather was great and looked even better higher up so we caught a series of cable cars to ride up to Mount Titlis, 3020 m asl (10,000 feet). I think the views from up there are way better than from Jungfraujoch, which is another 430 m higher.
You'll find mountain choughs in either place :)
Otherwise, it's hard to compare the two locations, though: one thing that's absolutely fantastic about Mount Titlis is that it is skiable all the way (excellent if demanding slopes for skiers and snowboarders). There's also a lot of space to take a leisurely walk in the snow, too. They even have an ice cave ...
... but that is not a patch on the Ice Palace at Jungfraujoch! And the climate and atmospheric research being carried out at Jungfraujoch is unique in Europe. Nor is the unique view of one of the biggest glaciers in the Alps, the Grosse Aletsch Gletscher. Both locations are very touristy, with boutiques, shops and restaurants to cater for the needs of thousands of visitors each day.
Well, here come some visual souvenirs of our excursion of December 29, 2007:
M.'s very first ride in a cable car. This is the third leg already and M. is visibly enjoying herself in the spacious, if crowded, revolving cable car from Stand to Titlis (the outer shell stays in place while the floor turns slowly round giving passengers a 360° view of the breathtaking scenery). Here it comes, or goes ... and this is the view:
A quick look back at the Truebsee mountain restaurant -- very busy and its lovely terrace bathed in the bright winter sun -- before we are awestruck by the sheer cliffs and snow:We've arrived -- you did it, M.!And yes, your kids need to know about your exploit right away: M. calling her daughter from this august place, shortly before I'm divebombed by a boisterous chough:One of the neat views from the terrace at the Titlis tourist complex. If you look carefully, you will see a Buddha-shaped outcropping in the shadowy area at the centre of the photo, well a little left of centre.
Above: one of the not-so-lovely views. As is common for mountain tops in Switzerland, there's a huge, ungainly, ugly communications tower. I suppose I shouldn't complain because I use mobile telephones and radio, telephone and TV... But do the towers really have to be this ugly?Mountain choughs are wheeling and diving just beyond the tourist terrace. They are a gregarious lot and always out for crumbs tossed to them. The sun is very bright, the slope at least 45°, very steep: You don't want to go over the railing here.
But look at the view:Mountain peaks stretch as far as the eye can see beyond the glacier and tourist facilities at Mount Titlis.Above: View due south of Mount Titlis. Below: View due west.
Tightly packed snow above the tourist centre.

Not everyone was having such a great day, though. We witnessed someone being wheeled past in a bright red-orange stretcher to be taken out to the helipad in the snow.
The REGA air ambulance was soon ready for take-off, kicking up a snowstorm …… and turning into a hair-raising descent. I love flying but I was glad it wasn't me in that chopper.

Time to go. On our way down, the sunny terrace of Truebsee is now bathed in the blue light of early evening.We make it down to the carpark at the foot of Mount Titlis just as the light fades at about 4:20 PM.
The proud Hahnen (The Rooster or Cockerel) bathed in pre-sunset light towers high above the car park.
A few minutes later the very last sunrays catch the Ruchstock (left in previous photo) and the Hahnen (above, left) and Spannort (above, centre) while the rest of the scenery is already bathed in the blue light of early evening.
Twenty minutes later, we're well on the way to Lucerne again.
It's a steep drop from the narrow-gauge railway track to the road below.A babbling brook or raging torrent in spring, summer and autumn, the Engelberger Aa (above) is just a band of ice right now. I missed taking a daytime snap of the cathedral-like hydropower station at Obermatt. But this is a lovely blue impression including the hoar-frosted trees and shrubs.
M. would have liked to have a really good photo of one of hundreds of massive ice falls that adorned the cliffs along our route, but in the fading light it was difficult to snap a decent photo.
Good job if you like the colour blue.

Next post: Meiringen and Grindelwald. Coming soon!

Another Swiss Blog -- schools this time

Hi, I'm back.
Ok, all you gals and guys abroad, since you insist, yes I will take you on a little tour of school buildings. But please note that this is very much a work in progress, and early pictures were not taken with architectural interests in mind. In fact, sometimes the buildings themselves were not what really mattered to this here photographer. But see for yourselves.
Let me start with one of the oldest specimens. This little school was built in 1859/60; in 1873 the upper floor and the clock turret were added. Ever since, it has been known as the «Tuermlischulhaus» («Tuermli»= turret). It was here that coeducation was introduced to Bernese schools.
Outside the western entrance, the foundain proclaims its age (1870).
The playground used to look dismal until a few interesting features were introduced about five years ago, once the renovation work on the school was completed:
I rather like the next one, with its red window frames, verdigris dormer windows and eaves. Currently used as a training school for secondary school teachers (it's part of the Institute of Pedagogy of the University of Bern), it was built in the 1930s when the neighbourhood was going through a spurt of growth, fields were built over and the city limits pushed north. The local «Volkshochschule» (or Academy of Adult Education) use classrooms in the evenings, too, and I used to be one of the teachers.
The above is a photo I took on a weekend in the autumn of 2005, well, mid-December, actually. The valiant little sycamore was just stunning in the early afternoon sun.
And this is what things looked like eight days later, Dec. 26: the golden glory is gone, the school has taken on a chill aspect. This was holiday time, but someone's working -- or left the lights on. Do teachers never stop?
That's better, don't you think? May evening, with the setting sun warming a façade that looks pretty drab on a grey day.
Some more recent photos of the same school, from different angles, starting with the main access to the north-east, taking you around the north-east end to the south-east facade with its huge windows.
This is the south-west entrance - very plain, very elegant -- and very hot behind that glass on a summer afternoon!
Between this chunky, yet graceful school and the «old» school, some gormless sixties architect inserted an eyesore of a pavilion (lack of funding is no excuse for poor architecture).
Several years ago, teachers and their kids painted their version of the four seasons on the lower frieze of the façade to brighten up the dismal aspect. It was a constructive way of muscling out the otherwise ubiquitous graffiti:
The gabled little school next door is probably the oldest in my series. It was built in 1833 and renovated in 1905. It started out as a primary school for the population living along the little stream downhill and westward. Until about twenty years ago it served as the training primary school for the trainee teachers from the building in the previous pix, and is now part of the Institute of Pedagogy of the local university.
And this is part of the playground between the «new» and old schools:
On a cold and foggy day early in 2006, the old school looked like this:
Oh yes, it was a cold and foggy afternoon that day -- mid-January 06, to be precise. But we have proper winters, too, and that's what the school looks like then (March 04):
The air ambulance homing in on the nearby hospital, and the weather always seem to be coming in over those spires, which may serve as lightning rods (the next photos were taken in July and Oct. 04):
And on a good day in spring or fall (or in a bigger picture) you can see several hot-air balloons floating in (March 03):
Occasionally, as in May 06, a rainbow spans the two schools:
Can you see the rainbow in the middle one?
More to come -- I hope! Thanks for coming back.