Team Sullivan's Adventures in Warsaw: 3/18/12

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Engelberg, Switzerland

We were off again this past weekend to beautiful Engelberg, Switzerland. Engelberg is an adorable ski village on the edge of the Titlis Mountain, about an hour outside of Zurich. We were fortunate to go on this adventure with our neghbors here in Warsaw. We had a great weekend with them and are going to be sad to see them go back to the states this summer. Having never been to Switzerland before I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. But, Engelberg was postcard perfect! Every view was literally breathtaking. We stayed in an adorable apartment up over the town therefore had views of the village and the mountain from every angle. We were also blessed with beautiful weather. It was 60 degrees out during the day but there was still plenty of snow for skiing.

We spent our first day riding the lifts all the way to the top of the mountain for some incredible views and of course, we had to indulge in a drink at "Europe's Highest Bar" while up there. On our way back down the mountain we stopped for some snow tubing. It was a total blast! We were largely outnumbered by little kids, but we didn't really care. We finished our day with a traditional Swiss dinner in an old chalet in the village.

Sunday was our big skiiing day so we were up and off to the slopes! Now this was only my second time EVER skiiing so I was a bit nervous to "get my groove back" (i.e. remember an ounce of anything I learned in my first ski lesson). And, Engelberg is a much larger ski resort than the one that we had gone to in Austria. We headed off to the blue (beginner) slopes and hoped for the best! These slopes looked a bit more advanced to me, but I guess this is what you get when you are skiing in the Alps! I surprised myself and did pretty well. We had a great time spending the day skiing. Tom did really well and has a new found love for the sport. I see many more ski vacations in our future. : ) After a long day of skiing we were ready to head back to the apartment and relax. So, we decided to spend the night in and cook a traditional swiss dinner...fondue! Fondue is one of my favorite things so I was super excited. And, when we went to buy the groceries the ladies at the store were very eager to explain the proper process to us to ensure that we had the tastiest fondue. Did you know that you are supposed to put a small amount of cornstartch into your cheese fondue to prevent it from sticking and browning?

Monday we checked out of our loveley apartment in the morning and were off to do some sightseeing. Unfortunately, the beautiful snow up in the mountain meant lots of nonstop rain below the mountain. But, we were determined to see the sights. So, we headed over to the city of Lucerne and walked around the charming city for awhile stopping into a cafe to dry off and stay warm. After Lucerne we checked out Zurich for a bit before heading to the airport.

Switzerland is a gorgeous place and we hope to head back sometime in our travels! Another wonderful trip and even better that we got to share it with great friends!