Day 3
The cowbell country awaits...
"We had the absolutely best hot chocolate we had ever tasted"
"Fortress Fürigen stood before us in mysterious gravitas, hidden away in the mountains."
The exquisite Lucerne was left in our wake as we ventured forth on the first leg of our adventure. Our luxurious balcony with calming river and ever watchful Mt. Pilatus will be missed, but never forgotten. Our first stop was at an incredible piece of history albeit a reminder of the perils of war. The Swiss Army bunker from WWII, Fortress Fürigen, stood before us in mysterious gravitas, hidden away in the mountains. We walked inside the damp, eerie tunnels to the entrance of the military complex. There we were met with a solemn awe at the ingenuity of swiss engineering. To construct such an intricate and deliberate system of rooms and passageways inside a mountain, all to appear as invisible to the naked eye…incredible! It was all there for us to see - their lives, their jobs, their history. As our tour guide Mirjam mentioned, the Swiss mountains are like their cheese - full of holes.
We passed on through winding mountain roads towards our next destination Appenzell; not before stopping at a wonderfully quaint little village first, St. Gallen, for an afternoon respite where we had a transformative experience at a local cafe near the town square. We had the absolutely best hot chocolate we had ever tasted along with a delightful Arneis wine for the first time. The sun was comfortably hot that day accompanied by a slight breeze which made our shady spot quite relaxing. Our culinary adventures continued as we, much to our surprise, discovered that küchen here is interpreted as pie rather than the cake we expected. Not to worry, it was still delicious. Add gelato to that, and we had the perfect afternoon!
We next entered a local library whose entire display had been preserved for centuries, the Stiftsbibliothek. We even had to remove our shoes and don special slippers so as not to damage the floors in any way. The floors…the most impressive hardwood floors we’d ever seen, with their intricate designs and imaginative use of the space.
We met the rolling hills with our bus driver Marian and continued on to our destination, Appenzell. Cowbell country! What an enchanting cozy town it was. All the big city stresses seemed to wash away here. We dropped off our bags at a local B&B and joined our troupe of explorers for an ice breaker session, and then we walked over to a charming restaurant for dinner. Cheese, sausage cased in bacon, followed by a chocolaty cake. If only we could pick from that menu every night! We then enjoyed an evening stroll through town where we happened upon a friendly “jingling cow friend” in the front yard of a house. Safe to say Appenzell is aptly named! With a full day’s adventure behind us, we looked forward to what the next day had in store.
