Oh,The People We Meet

The small Alpine village of Grindelwald is a melting pot for tourists who have traveled great distances to see and experience this beautiful Swiss region, cradled between towering snow capped mountains. Visitors to Grindelwald arrive either by train, bus or car. My wife and I usually take a direct train from the Zurich airport to Interlaken (a little more than two hour journey), and then a connecting cog train from Interlaken to Grindelwald, a scenic 30 minute trip.

When we arrive at the Interlaken train terminal, we make our way to track 2B, the track where a train to Grindelwald departs every 30 minutes. Usually the train is crowded with tourists, both young and old, and through the years we have enjoyed sitting next to people from India, Australia, South Korea, Canada, Africa, South America, China, Japan, the Middle East, the United States, and everywhere else you can think of. There is always a lot of passenger excitement as the train slowly leaves the station and chugs its way toward Grindelwald.

Interestingly, most people on the train, regardless of their nationality, speak fairly good English. I am embarrassed at how limited my language skills when I meet tourists who speak three or four different languages. Many of these passengers know a great deal about America and keep up with our nation’s current events, especially our presidential election. In the fifteen years or so that we have been coming to Grindelwald, we have never encountered a rude person or anti-American sentiment.

As the cog train makes its way up the steep incline to Grindelwald, my anticipation begins to grow. When I spot the famous Eiger mountain, I know that we have almost reached our destination. Finally, the train stops at the end station and the excited visitors, with suitcases large and small, leave their coaches. A symphony of different languages can be heard as everyone hurriedly collects their belongings and makes their way toward the train exits.

After leaving the train, some people mill about on the station’s platform for a moment or two to get their bearings. At the same time, moms and dads can be seen trying to corral their energetic children who are anxious to stretch their legs. First-time tourists often stand frozen in place, gawking at the incredible beauty of the Bernese Alps. For the newly arrived visitors, Grindelwald can appear like a magical fairy-tale land.

There is so much to enjoy in this region of Switzerland. If you like to hike, there are miles and miles of mountain trails, most of which are easily accessible for average hikers like myself, and a number of rather difficult and challenging trails for the more experienced and athletic sort.

If you’re not a hiker, there are many other activities to choose from. If you’re a bit daring, you may want to paraglide. A number of years ago, I went up in a paraglide and had the time of my life, soaring over 8,000 feet in the crisp mountain air, sandwiched between the majestic Alps. You tandem fly with an experienced paraglider, of course, but jumping off a 7,000 foot high mountain, trusting your parachute to deploy as you step off the edge, did give me an adrenaline rush!

Some people ride the various cable cars or gondolas to places like First or Männlichen, where the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. Other people casually stroll through the village and shop in one of the many locally owned boutiques or dine in a restaurant to sample Swiss cuisine or savor a Swiss beer or a glass of wine. Switzerland is famous for its Raclette, Fondues, and Rostis. I also love the pumpkin soup, especially when the weather turns cool.

Many people, perhaps most visitors, come to Grindelwald in order to travel by cog train up to the Jungfraujoch, a spectacular journey through a tunnel that takes you to the highest train station in Europe. There you can marvel at a still existing glacier, walk through an ice cave or enjoy a delicious Swiss meal. Some more adventuresome tourists actually take guided hikes on the glacier.

Not far from Grindelwald is Lauterbrunnen, one of our favorite places. It is a very small village but world famous for its numerous waterfalls, the most famous of which is Trummelbach Falls. Although some people take the five minute bus ride to Trummelbach Falls, we like to walk along the country road to the Falls (a thirty minute walk), admiring the lush green pastures and farm animals. The Falls are cataracts of water cascading down from the melting snow of the mountains Jungfrau, Eiger, and Mönch. The force of the water pounding continuously on the granite rock is deafening.

There are many wonderful places to visit, things to do, and sights to see in this bucolic Bernese Oberland region. One of the more meaningful experiences that my wife and I look forward to each year, however, is meeting other tourists from around the world. Virtually every day we speak with people on the trains, busses, or in cafes who have come to Grindelwald from a faraway place. We talk about the beauty of Switzerland, but we also happily exchange information about our families and the places we live. People fascinate me, with their different cultures, religions, languages, and manner of dress.

A few days ago, we were walking down a hillside path (in Grindelwald, one is always walking up or down) and met a beautiful young couple from China, Connor and Sue. We couldn’t begin to pronounce, let alone spell, their Chinese names, so they invited us to refer to them by their English names, Connor and Sue. They were on their honeymoon, taking selfie photos, with the mountains as their backdrop. They spoke excellent English, and we spent 10 or 15 minutes in conversation with them. They are both teachers in China and were first time visitors to Grindelwald. What a memorable place to spend your first days together as husband and wife! It was such a delight to share part of our day with these two thoughtful and engaging people. We wish them only the best.

A few days later, while walking along a river, we stopped for some coffee at a small cafe and met Eva from Slovakia. Eva is a fascinating and adventuresome young woman whose goal is to see as much of the world as possible before she marries and starts a family. She speaks a number of different languages and has already traveled to Egypt, Portugal, Spain, and many other places. Eva works in the cafe and will soon return home to spend time with her mother before she returns to Grindelwald to earn some more money to support her love for travel.

Through the years, we have met many wonderful people who traveled to Grindelwald to simply enjoy the beauty of this mountain village. What I find fascinating about the people we have spoken with is how much we have in common, even though we are from different parts of the world. We should not be surprised. Scientists, who study the hereditary genes (the human genome) of the human race, tell us that humans have over 99% of our DNA in common. You might say, we are all literally one family, brothers and sisters, scattered across the earth. In other words, whenever we visit Grindelwald, we are privileged to see and visit with a few of our distant relatives. Oh, the people we meet!

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