Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A few steps farther, notice the cute cheese hut on the right. This is Erika's hut, and she
loves to sell her alpine cheese to visitors (an arrow points to her house). Its front is an alpine
art gallery with nail shoes for flower pots. Nail shoes grip the steep, wet fields—this is crit-
ical for safety, especially if you're carrying a sharp scythe. Even today, farmers buy metal
tacks and fasten them to boots. The hut is full of strong cheese—up to three years old.
Lookup.Inthesummer,afewgoatsarekepthere(ratherthaninthehighalp)toprovide
families with fresh milk (about a halfgallon per day per goat). The farmers fence off the
fields, letting the goats eat only the grass that's most difficult to harvest.
Ontheleft(atthe B&B sign)isOlleandMaria'shome.Mariarunsthe Lilliputshop (the
“smallest shop with the greatest gifts”—handmade delights from the town and region; just
ring the bell and meet Maria). She does a booming trade in sugar-coated almonds.
• Fifty yards farther along is the...
Alpenrose: At the old schoolhouse, you might see big ceremonial cowbells hanging un-
dertheuphilleave.Theseswingfromthenecksofcowsduringtheprocessionfromthetown
to the high Alps (mid-June) and back down (mid-Sept).
• At the end of town, pause where a lane branches off to the left, leading into the dramatic...
Sefinen Valley: All the old homes in town are made from wood cut from the left-hand
side of this valley (shady side, slow-growing, better timber) and milled at a water-powered
sawmill on the valley floor.
• A few steps ahead, the road switches back at the...
Gimmelwald Fire Station: The Föhnwacht Reglement sheet, posted on the fire-station
building, explains rules to keep the village from burning down during the fierce dry wind of
the Föhn season. During this time, there's a 24-hour fire watch, and even smoking cigarettes
outdoors is forbidden. Mürren was devastated by a Föhn-caused fire in the 1920s. Because
villagers in Gimmelwald—mindful of the quality of their volunteer fire department—are
particularly careful with fire, the town has not had a terrible fire in its history (a rare feat
among alpine villages).
Check out the other posted notices. This year's Swiss Army calendar tells reservists
when and where to go (in all four official Swiss languages). Every Swiss male does a
22-week stint in the military, then a few days a year in the reserves until about age 30. The
Schiessübungen poster details the shooting exercises required this year. In keeping with the
William Tell heritage, each Swiss man does shooting practice annually for the military (or
spends three days in jail).
• Take the...
High Road to Hotel Mittaghorn: The resort town of Mürren hovers in the distance.
And high on the left, notice the hay field with terraces. These are from WWII days, when
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