where others come for vacation ...
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The Ladies of SportUnion Beckenried are meeting up for a game night @ the restaurant Rössli. I wonder how the evening will turn out as I park my car & make my way to Panoramasaal: a cozy room with views of the lake from every window. I find about 30 women from teenagers to graceful seniors sitting across tables laid out along the windows.
I check-in with the organisers & they ask me what I'd like to play: DOG or Jass? "Ich habe einmal DOG gespielt" (I have played DOG once before, I answer in Deutsch) so i choose Dog. The organisers smile a sympathetic smile.. with a language handicap & without the necessary experience, i stand no chance in this boardgame of Strategy. "Well, I'm here to have fun & get to know some women, winning is not my Goal": i tell myself as i sit at a table. The DOG board is laid out at the centre. At first glance, it's reminiscent of Ludo, but with a couple of twists: The token movement is based on cards instead of Dice and it's a partnership game. On the other side of the room are women in groups of four, playing Jass: a favourite Swiss card game.
Soon three other women join me at the table. After a quick round of introductions: I know Marlene and Marissa from Fasnacht and Monika works at the local Postoffice; we order drinks, and it's time to get the ball rolling.... Monika helps me out in the beginning.
There's quite a bit to grasp: the best use of each card, the exchange of a card with your partner.. All this is moot if Lady Luck doesn't deal you with the right cards. You can watch the others play from the sidelines. Boy.. oh boy.. some of these women are professionals, and i soon have all my tokens locked back home.
But slowly & surely, as the evening goes by, i get a hang of using the Jacks, the 4 & the 7 to not only further our team's tokens, but more importantly to thwart the opposing team's chances! Talk about Viciousness.. A generous blessing of these cards in your hands is the easiest way to wipe off the smile from your opponent's face.
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Well it's that time of year when the warm weather pushes through and the snow starts to melt off the mountain slopes. One of the prettiest signs of the approaching Spring is the tiny blossoms peeping their way miraculously through the dry blades of grass, letting everyone know that it's time to store away those snow jackets and ski equipment.
Today is the last day of the Ski Season @ Klewenalp. The KlewenBahn closes tomorrow for a month for Semi-annual maintenance. We go up one last time to say Goodbye to the Snowy Slopes. As the Gondola begins its journey upwards, i reflect on this winter season.. Yes i didn't get to Ski lessons yet, but had more than my share of fun with Sledging, Full Moon Snowshoeing and Winterhiking.
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Tipi Stube is a cozy alpine hut located amidst the Ski Slopes of Klewenalp. Skiers stop by here for a respite and Coffee with or without Schnapps and a slice of Käsekuchen to recharge their batteries. Every so often, Silbi invites a guest to cook their speciality at his Bar/Restaurant. For the Easter-Saturday party, he's invited me to cook Indian homestyle food... He estimates, we can cook for about 50 people. Instead of an exotic meal, we plan on a simple menu with easily available ingredients. It's the first time i will be cooking for such a large group & that too in a makeshift kitchen, so the butterflies end up making their way to my stomach.
It's a rainy Friday afternoon as we make our way to the Klewenalp Gondola. It's snowing, windy & Brrr Cold when we arrive up at Klewenalp. Just the perfect ingredients to dampen my spirit, nevertheless my excitement gets the better of me. As we climb up Silbi's Ski-Doo, he advises me to keep my eyes closed. The sharp pieces of snow are known to cause swollen eyes. We stop at a restaurant for Karfreitag (Good Friday) Stubete (local musicians performing Ländlermusik). By 7PM, the restaurant is crowded, with hardly any elbow space at the tables and many more standing outside in the cold. These musicians must be really popular! Edelweiss swiss shirts in shades of Blue & Red are ubiquitous as are the drinks and meat on the tables. I can hear different Swiss-German dialects.. not that i can understand them yet. This is as Swiss as it gets. Will they have something veggie, I wonder as i open the menu.. Yippee Rösti .. I shall not starve tonight!!
I wake up to light streaming in from the windows and some blue skies.. Armed with my morning cuppa & a jacket, i step outside to breathe in some fresh alpine air. Today is a sharp contrast from yesterday's grey skies. Silbi is already up & about setting up the benches. It's going to be a warm, sunny day & he's expecting a lot of visitors.
Read more: Indian cooking in Alpine Hut @ 1700 m.a.s.l : March 26
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Today we're finally going to meet Sister Theresia at Felsentor. She lives, according to the ideas of St. Francis of Assisi, amidst the Silence and Beauty of Nature and Animals.
Felsentor is located in central Switzerland on Lake Lucerne on Mt. Rigi at an altitude of 1,130 meters (3,707 feet) above sea level. Far from the hustle-bustle of everyday life, Felsentor is a 15-minute walk on a mountain path from the RigiBahn Romiti-Felsentor Station.
We drive up to "Obersäntiberg" (860m) and begin the 1.6Km hike upto Felsentor (1130m) on a steep trail that leads through a pasture into a forest. The rocky trail continues past the tiny peaceful Holy-Cross Chapel "Heiligkreuzkapelle", a couple of waterfalls. Soon we have snow & icy patches on the trail.. I'm glad my feet are clad in the hiking shoes & not just sneakers. Just as we arrive at Felsentor, we see Sister Theresia and her dog "Sarina" coming towards us from Romiti Felsentor train station. She had been to Vitznau to run some errands.
The word "Felsentor" means stone gate and it comes from a monk who lived on the mountain a few hundred years ago. When the hunters came in search of animals, the monk called the animals into the protection of the stones and away from the hunters. Legend has it that the stone developed into the shape of a monk. Indeed, it does looks like a monk!
Read more: Meditative Moments with Sister Theresia on Mt Rigi: March 19
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