Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo

From Lausanne, Switzerland to Innsbruck, Austria

Grindelwald

Most Photos by Giorgio

“Wow, this place is what every ski resort in the States tries to look like,” my son Ryan observed. The sun was streaming down the pyramid-like slopes where he was going to ski for the day.

We were in Grindelwald, Switzerland, hugged by the Bernise Alps all around.

There was a sense of comforting confinement. Maybe it was the history of mountaineers who had climbed these slopes for centuries. Or the villagers who carried out their daily tasks on skis in the winter. Perhaps the ghosts of Tyrolean soldiers returned to tell tales of their heroes.

Maybe I had just slipped into Heidi’s snow globe where Grandfather herded his goats with a little sparkle on the side.

Shops and restaurants lined the alpine village streets with a sense of purpose from other times when they had few visitors and a population isolated in the winter. It was easy to pretend that we were Swiss ourselves with a plate of raclette and a hot mug of chocolate in front of us .

The snow muted the sound of skiers taking the lifts that disappeared into merging white landscapes. Grindelwald is easily described as a Wonder of the World.

At the top of the World

Our starting base for our Christmas trip that year was Lausanne, Switzerland, where our son Nathan was attending The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). He met us at the train station with a scarf wrapped around his neck, indicating he had gone European. At any rate, that was his brother Ryan’s take.

Nate would be our guide in the coming week. At his suggestion, we stayed at The Château d’Ouchy with its 12th-century tower, the only remnant of the medieval castle that once stood there. The chateau may have been destroyed, rebuilt, and turned into an elegant hotel, but the stories about ghosts and prisoners, bishops and outlaws, romantic couples and feuding families still persisted.

Visitors only needed to find a friendly concierge eager to share the château’s history.

The Château d’Ouchy—public domain

Lausanne is Switzerland at its best. We ate at underground jazz clubs, kept time by the clock tower in Palud Square with its music box history, walked along the shores of Lake Geneva, and bought a lot of chocolate. (Just a caution, chocolate in shops is often to be eaten immediately, lacking the preservatives to carry it home.)

The train schedules in Switzerland are precise and easily relied on to search beyond Lausanne. We took the train to Berne to watch the brown bears in their pit from platforms above the park. We also experienced a town bifurcated by French and German cultures. The arcades of the old town are filled with the venders speaking not only German and French but many other languages as well.

I have always envied my Swiss friend. His mom spoke German to him, his dad spoke French, his teachers taught their courses in Italian, English and Romanish. These weren’t languages he learned in a language course. Rather, they were the necessary tools of\ communication in his world. Did I add that by the time he was 33, he spoke 28 languages to some degree?

What are the effects of such cross-cultural integration? Is that how the Swiss maintain their neutrality? If any of my readers have thoughts on that, please share. It would be a fascinating conversation. I’ll put a chat up about it.

Berne from the upper town

On day trips from Lausanne we made our way through a blizzard in Geneva to buy a watch. We took the train to Fribourg, one of the most beautiful medieval towns in Europe and not to be missed, particularly if you are in search of a language school.

In Saltzburg we bought tickets for Mozart’s Magic Flute, which turned out to be populated by marionettes. Some of us loved the show, but the less enthused fled at intermission in search of the elusive Sacher Torte. We nearly missed our train back to Lausanne.

We could have stayed in Switzerland for many more days, but we had other plans for Christmas Eve.

The typical hanging Santa.

So--we were back on the train on our way to Innesbruck, Austria, the next day. To say this Alpine city is unique is an understatement. The quietude of the Alps is lost in the busy streets, the Christkindlmarkts, and the rush of the Olympic village.

But before being completely drawn into a Christmas season of Alpine enchantment, let’s review the history of this city’s shifting landscape.

Since medieval times, Innsbruck has been an important market town along the great trade routes from Germany to Italy and through Switzerland to the rest of western Europe. Due to its position and its stunning natural beauty, the Hapsburgs royalty eventually made it part of their empire, even choosing it to be the capital of Tyrol.

To make the town more their own, they created architectural wonders like the Golden Roof, the great library, numerous museums, and a grand cathedral. It is certainly worth the visitor’s time to walk the streets with Emperor Maximillion I and Empress Maria Theresa to see the rich designs of the buildings, squares and parks they gifted to their adopted town.

Such a backdrop works well for a winter holiday, particularly at Christmas time. If you choose this experience, these are my suggestions.

First, find an historic hotel like the Weissus Creuz, opening its doors in the 1400s but recently remodeled. It’s right in the middle of Old Town making it accessible to most major attractions and immersed in the holiday spirit.

Christkindlmarkt

If your hotel overlooks the Christkindlmarkt in Old Town, you can hang out the window and watch the little ones surround St. Nicholas, as their parents shop for decorations, folk art, and the traditional foods of Christmas Eve.

Second, don’t forget to listen to the music coming from the Golden Roof, the architectural symbol of Innsbruck built by Emperor Maximillion to celebrate his second marriage. The roof of this balcony is made of gilded copper tiles created to immerse the town in a golden aura when the sun hits them. I suspect the emperor was hoping for many sunny days.

The outside of the building is stunning also. and the inside museum chronicles the rich history of the area.

The Golden Roof

An excellent idea; That night you may want to wind down from the architecture and museum tours to attend the Tyrolean Show with the Gundolf Family in Innsbruck.

I know. Some travelers would protest that this is touristy--as if they are not tourists. But they would miss what might be the Greatest Show on Earth.

I always claim my tourist status and go to any Greatest Show with folk music and/or belly dancing in any country. I’m not quite sure why, but along with local talent, there is usually a belly dancer. What a skill! Anyway, these shows are always entertaining with very talented dancers and singers.

If I remember correctly, the Gundolf family’s show had no belly dancers, just shoe-slapping good fun. The yodeling was exquisite. Spectators were treated to a beginning lesson. Nate suggested that if a guy would marry a woman who yodeled, he could never be unhappy. Yodel-ay-ee-ooh?

The Gundolf Family Show

Next: If it is Christmas Eve Day, you might challenge your group to join the crowd in the Christkindlmarkt, buying each other one gift for late night festivities.

It takes perseverance and judgment to choose just the right one that will become a memory for stateside Christmases to come. I still have my tablecloth with Alpine maids and decorated cows. Fondue goes well with it for a Christmas Eve Tradition.

Scenes from Kindlmart in Innsbruck

Heiligabendessen: Ater shopping, choose one of the nearby restaurants for Christmas Eve Dinner. They will be serving a roast goose. I always admire a person who can roast a goose in the States, primarily because you have to find one first.

Carp may also be on the menu, as well as dumplings, cabbage and the omnipresent fondue and raclette. Then there are the desserts…strudels, cookies, tortes etc.

Austrian tortes

But don’t ask for the aforementioned Sacher Torte. It is only served at cafés like the famous Café Sacher or its counterpart, Strudel-Cafe Kröll. At least, that’s what we were told, inspiring us to try the Café Sacher the next day. Definitely worth the stroll.

Finally :After dinner, Midnight Mass at the Innsbruck Cathedral is a must, no matter what your religious affiliation. Chances are a full orchestra will play a Mozart Mass or a Bruckner Symphony.

The church will be packed despite the cold. The night we attended, there was no heat in the cathedral, but no one seemed to notice. The music created a sacred warmth that melted the icy world outside.

Innsbruck Cathedral

After Mass, it was much too late for a taxi, so our only recourse was to walk the two miles back to the hotel where a glass of wine and presents awaited. To keep warm, we sang every Christmas carol we could remember, starting with my dad’s favorite O Holy Night. It was good to bring him along too.

What to do on Christmas Day in Innsbruck? We needed some inspiration after a very late night, so we headed to the Olympiaworld with its training centers. The Sliding Center provided a bobsled track that was fortuitously open to visitors the day after the night before.

The Olympic Ice Track at Innsbruck

Most of us know Innsbruck as an Olympic venue. It hosted the winter sports in both 1964 and in 1976 when Denver backed out of sponsoring it. The town has capitalized on its fame and fortune from the exposure the games have given them—Alpine skiing at its best.

But Wonders of the World, not only can you ski there, you can also hurtle down the bobsled track, which was appealing to all of our group, except me. I was content to take their photo—if they survived.

As the inspired participants had to take a truck up the mountain to access the run, I had plenty of time to witness the arrival of other groups. To a man or woman, people from all over the world staggered out of the bobsled laughing, even though they were also on the verge of losing their sacher torte. Still they climbed up on the winners’ platform and claimed victory for their country.

When my group finally arrived, it was pretty much a repetition, although I did get an English description that included-- really loud noises, no seatbelts, being thrown around and banging into the sides of the car, something about 80 miles an hour, and g forces which only they understood.

Still, it was thrilling. I took their photo on the winners’ podium and quietly thanked the snow monster they were spared.

The next day we took an unforgettable train ride through the Alps to Paris, the perfect city to reset before going home. We had our own compartment with a basket if cheeses, sausages, bread and wine. I must say it could have been the Orient Express.

I would highly recommend a train ride through the Alps in winter to those of you considering a snowy sojourn. For those of you intent on driving through the mountains at that time of year, well, good luck.

Final suggestion: If you are in Paris, never miss a stroll down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées on New Years Eve. It is the perfect moment for a Ferris wheel ride.

Roue de Paris, Place de la Concorde

This spring we are looking forward to returning to Paris to see the renovated Notre Dame. Another Wonder of the World. If you have been there already, I would love to feature you on this substack. Just let me know.

Peace and good health for the holidays to all our readers. Thank you for traveling with us this past year.

Giorgio and Michelle

Photo by a kind passerby