When my students returned from Christmas vacation, many of
them told me about how they had gone sledding in the mountains. As an American,
the only sledding I had ever done was on little neighborhood hills, where the
whole trip took about 30 seconds before you would have to walk back up to the
top to go again. When I started asking about this mountain sledding, my
students looked at me quite bewildered that I not heard about this before, like
I had just discovered the bicycle for the first time in my life and was asking
them how it worked and whether it was safe and how you turn and stop.
Evidently, mountain sledding is as common to German, Swiss, and Austrian kids
(or those that spend a lot of time here) as bike riding and American-style
sledding are to American kids. Since Ben and I had wanted to visit Grindelwald
in the Swiss Alps for awhile and this was apparently one of the best places to
go sledding, we knew we had to take a trip.
Unlike American sledding, mountain sledding (or “sledging”
or "tobogganing" as the Swiss call it when they are speaking in English) is done using those
old-fashioned wooden sleds with metal runners, not the plastic saucers or snow
tubes American kids use. Ours, which we rented at the ski shop, were actually
aluminum with a canvas seat, but close enough.
Ben with his sled(ge)
The sledding track is typically a few kilometers long (!) on
a wide pathway that has been packed down a bit so you know where you are
supposed to sled (like in the photo above). There is no steering or breaking besides what you do with you
body. We found the best way to steer and stop was to stick our feet straight
out the front of the sled and touch our left foot down if we wanted to go left,
right to go right, and both to stop (more or less forcefully, depending on how
fast we were going). There are reigns to hold onto, but those provided more of
a sense of comfort rather than any control with steering. We saw some people
using their hands next to and a bit behind the sled to help steer, sort of like
a speed skater does, but we didn’t try that method. We also saw a few people
going down head-first, but we read that you’re not supposed to do that because
it can be really dangerous. In addition to sledding, there are also sled bikes
(called a "Velogemel") that are unique to Grindelwald. We met a nice Russian girl who was there for
the day with a Velogemel and she let Ben try it out. Here’s a video:
We only had time (and money!) for a weekend trip, so we
arrived on Saturday late morning, after taking the train from Zürich. We
decided to stay at a little B&B in Interlaken, a neighboring town, because
Grindelwald, being a beautiful and famous ski resort, is extremely expensive.
The B&B, Gasthof Schönegg, was very Swiss and cute:
Gasthoff Schönegg
Our room was on the top floor, which we had to reach by
going up these stairs:
Good thing our suitcase wasn’t heavy! The room was evidently
built for Swiss elves because Ben’s head touched the ceiling when he was
standing up and mine nearly did. We felt like giants, but that added to the
charm :)
Big Ben
Behind our hotel, we got our first view of the Alps:
View of Interlaken and the Alps
Even gumball machines need to keep warm!
We took the train 30 minutes up to Grindelwald after we had
changed into our ski clothes, but by the time we got there, they told us it was
too late in the day to start sledding unless we wanted to do nighttime sledding
in a couple hours. Since it was our first time, we decided that might be a
little too scary as a first experience! If you go to Grindelwald to sled, make
sure you get there in the morning because it takes awhile to get up the
mountain to start and even longer to sled down. We decided instead to walk
around the town and take lots of pictures. Everything was covered with more
snow than I had ever seen. Most rooftops had a foot or two of snow on them.
Lots of snow!
The mountains were amazing and beautiful and everywhere you
looked. It reminded me of being in the Rockies in Colorado, but more majestic
and awe-inspiring. Jungfrau, the highest point in Europe, was very close to
where we were, but it is over 7 hours round trip to take a train to the top and
around 100 CHF per person, even with the half-fare cards Ben and I both have.
So, we didn’t go up to Jungfrau this time, but the mountains were still
incredible. Here are a bunch of pictures:
Grindelwald Train Station
View of the mountains from the train station
Downtown Grindelwald
More downtown Grindelwald
Buses to take you sledding!
Molly and Ben in Grindelwald
We had an early dinner that night (at an excellent Thai
restaurant in Interlaken called Little Thai – cheap, fast, and really good
food. Highly recommended!) and went to bed early so we could have as much time
as possible to sled the next day.
We got up to Grindelwald as quickly as we could the next
morning and rented our sleds, helmets, and boots. They recommend wearing
snowboarding boots or something similar to keep your feet warm and dry and to
help you stop. Also highly recommended are ski goggles, both to help with the
sun and to keep the snow out of your eyes that flies back into your face when
you go really fast or stop. There are many places to sled, all of which have
different rates and are in different areas. We had been told that Bussalp was
the best place to go as beginners because they had many different tracks,
several of which weren’t too hard. When we had started looking into sledding in
Grindelwald, we had read about a 15km sledding track, the longest in Europe.
This was one of the Bussalp runs, but unfortunately once you got to the top in
the bus, you then had to hike for 2.5 hours (!) with your sled in the snow to
get to the start of the run. We decided we would stick to the shorter runs, at
least this time!
The bus takes about 30 minutes or so to get to the top, up winding
mountain roads. These are the same roads you then sled down, so you have to
listen for the bus horn and get out of the way when the bus comes through since
the road is only exactly wide enough for the bus. The bus only leaves once an
hour and only takes cash for the tickets, so if you go, make sure you have
cash! We didn’t and missed the first bus we could’ve taken. Also, the only
place to store anything is in a locker at the Grindelwald station (where you
won’t be coming back to until you’re done for the day), so take a small
backpack with you that you can wear while you’re sledding for anything (like
money, snacks, etc.) you might want to take with you.
Between renting our stuff, missing the first bus, and the
long ride to the top, we were starving by the time we got there. Fortunately,
there is a very nice Swiss restaurant at the top of Bussalp where we had lunch.
It’s quick and not too expensive, and very Swiss. I had Bratwurst mit Rösti
(shredded potatoes) and Ben had Apfel Maccaroni (mac and cheese with apple sauce), two very
Swiss dishes.
Molly at the top
Ben at the top
View from lunch
Wurst mit Rösti - a very Swiss lunch!
The view from the top is absolutely incredible and we took lots
and lots of pictures before we even started sledding!
I thought down in Grindelwald I had never seen so much snow,
but once we got to the top, there were huge expanses of completely untouched
snow that nobody had walked or skied or sledded on. Amazing…
We decided to start with the “Family Run” because it said it
was the easiest. Here are a couple videos Ben took of me on the course. The first one is on the little hill that leads down to the start of the family run. The other is in the middle of the run somewhere. I recommend watching these in full screen (click on the little box on the lower right corner of the window).
Our biggest concern with sledding was whether it was safe or
not. Ben and I went skiing last year in Switzerland and Ben found it pretty
scary (it was his first time) because it was difficult for him to turn and stop
(as any adult beginner will tell you!). With the sleds, it was much easier to
do both and also to control your speed. We were concerned sledding might be
more scary than fun, but it was definitely much more fun than scary! Ben liked
it a lot better than skiing (I find both really fun), so if you’re a non-skiier
wanting to try some winter sports, sledding might be perfect!
You had to watch out for other sledders and we encountered
many going really (too!) fast. One guy wiped out in a snow bank, but his sled
kept going down the hill for quite awhile before it, too, stopped in a snow
bank. There are signs telling you to slow down in some areas and even trees
with mattresses roped around them!
The track we went on was about 8km, but it’s hard to say how
long it takes to get down (maybe an hour?) because we kept stopping to take
pictures of the amazing scenery! Here are some of my favorite pictures that Ben took:
Some parts of the track are out in the open with stunning
views, while others are in the woods, where
everywhere was very quiet and peaceful. Unless there are other sledders around
whooping and hollering at each other, while you’re sledding, all you can hear
is the hiss of the rudders on the snow and the mountain air blowing past your
ears. Some parts have barriers of various sorts (metal, wood, canvas) on the
side of the track to prevent you from going over the edge of the mountain, but
others just have little snow banks. At no time, though, was I worried I might
fall over the edge. You can control the speed and direction of the sled easily
enough with your feet that, unless you’re being reckless, you’re not in danger
of flying off course.
There are various places to stop along the way, like this
little café:
Cafe at the bottom of the hill to stop and have a drink or a bite to eat
At the bus stop at the end of the Family Run
There are also bus stops that you can end at and either take
the bus back up (you have to pay again if you want to go back up) or down when
you’re finished for the day. When we got to the bus stop where the family
course ended, we decided to go a little further down to the next stop because
the bus driver had said that was a better place to get the bus. The family
course track is not shared with the bus, so the snow is much less packed down.
When we got onto the road that the bus takes, the snow was much, much more
slippery and packed down and it was a lot harder to control the sleds. We also
saw many more people going too fast on this part of the course than on the
family course, so we just took it slowly and carefully. :)
Sledding is surprisingly tiring for your legs (although not
nearly as much as skiing), since they are your breaks, so we decided to take
only one more run and call it a day. Even though we only did two runs, we were
sledding for 3-4 hours! We could’ve done more if we hadn’t stopped to take so
many pictures, but, as beginners, it was probably better to stop and rest
pretty often. On the second run, I took a bunch of videos while I was sledding.
When we were researching sledding on the internet before our trip, it was
really hard to know exactly what it would be like when we were sledding (how
fast, what is the track like, how long, etc.) since we could only find really
short, poor quality videos. Here is a compilation my
sled-cam videos for your enjoyment:
After we came back, I found this video on YouTube (below). I think the guy who took it must've had his camera mounted on his helmet (I just had mine in my hand), so he was able to go much faster than we could! Definite worth a watch:
We were completely exhausted by the time we got back down to
Grindelwald, so we had a quick dinner in town: more Wurst and Rösti for me, G'schnatzletz mit Rösti for Ben, another very Swiss dish (it’s bite-sized pieces
of veal in a creamy mushroom sauce). We ate at Rendez-vous, which was cheap
(for Grindelwald), quick, and very good. We wished we could’ve stayed in Grindelwald longer,
so hopefully we’ll get to come back someday. If you’re in Europe in the
wintertime, definitely try to go sledding. It’s some of the most fun you’ll
ever have!
Here are some miscellaneous pictures of a wonderful weekend
to leave you with:
Half-buried house we saw next to the sledding track!
Merry Christmas (a little late) and Happy New Year! One of my favorite things about being in Europe at Christmas time is the wonderful Christmas markets. Last year, I visited all the ones in Paris and Zurich, so I was excited to see what Stuttgart had to offer this year. Germany has some of the best Christmas markets in Europe and Stuttgart definitely did not disappoint.
Ornament ferris wheel ride
The biggest one is downtown at Schlossplatz, the main square in the city. It was absolutely enormous - by the time I had gone through the entire market (which has about 280 vendors!), I had no idea where in the city I was. It took me about 4 hours to go through the whole thing! Besides all of the food and gifts you could buy, there was also ice skating and rides for kids.
Christmas Market at Schlossplatz
In addition to the traditional Glühwein (mulled wine), heiße Maroni (roasted chestnuts), and Bratwurst, there was also one place selling whole fish! They had a big fire pit with whole mackerel on sticks roasting over top:
Roasting mackerel
I wasn't sure what I would get if I ordered one, so I asked for one small fish. They whipped a stick out from the rack, slid off the fish, and wrapped it up (whole!) in a big piece of paper, all in about 10 seconds. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but I noticed a big counter where other people were standing and eating. I unwrapped my fish and found it was slit down the belly and deboned. They had little wooden forks in a cup near by, so I grabbed one and set to work. It was delicious - nice and hot with crispy skin. Highly recommended!
Every other stall, it seemed, was selling the famous German Lebkuchenherzen (gingerbread hearts), which can be found at any German celebration or fair:
Lebkuchenherzen
They all say things like "I love you" and "I think only of you" (although one of the ones in this picture says "Diva") and have a ribbon attached so you can wear it around your neck. I saw many, many teenage girls wearing these big hearts! Here is a recipe to make your own. :)
There were also several stalls distributed around the market selling Erzgebirge wooden ornaments and figurines. They're probably most famous for their nutcrackers and wooden candle holders, but they make all sorts of classic German wooden Christmas gifts.
Erzgebirge stall
Most of the stalls, unfortunately, have factory-made gifts that can be found at all the Christmas markets I've been to in Europe. But, because of the size of this one, there were many more vendors selling unique, handmade crafts like ornaments, little German houses, woolen hats, gloves, and socks, and many other things. One place had these interesting storage containers:
Miniature chest of drawers
Many of the larger stalls had animated figures on the top that were singing or ringing bells (you'll just have to imagine it in this picture):
A little bit out of the way of the main Christmas market was a smaller Finnish market, which I liked a lot. On the way over there, I got to pass the Old Castle courtyard, all decked out for Christmas:
Courtyard at the Old Castle
At the Finnish market, there were two huge tents with a fire inside and places to eat. In addition to Glühwein, you could also buy smoked salmon as a snack. There were several wooden smoking structures with huge pieces of salmon hanging inside to get smoked.
Tents for eating in at the Finnish market
Fresh salmon cooking outside!
There were only a few vendors selling gifts, but all of them were beautiful and handmade, and the little huts they were in were very cute!
Little gift huts at the Finnish Market
The other Christmas market everyone told me I had to go to was the Medieval Market in Esslingen, a little ways outside of Stuttgart. When I arrived in Esslingen, I felt like I had stepped back several hundreds of years in time, even though I wasn't even at the market yet. Here are some pictures from the walk to the market from the train station:
Don't worry, that's not a real person up there
I also saw Santa! But he was being pulled by little ponies, not reindeer.
Santa in Esslingen
The Christmas Market had two parts - a regular Christmas market like the one in Stuttgart and the Medieval Market, which featured food, gifts, and games from the Middle Ages, as well as costumed performers and vendors. Here is the entrance to the Medieval Market:
"Middle Age Market"
There was lots of interesting food here, including bread on a stick and a whole pig roasting on a spit! I got some roasted pulled pork and sauerkraut at the pig-on-a-spit place. It was a HUGE portion and delicious, for only 6€! Medieval prices?
Bread on a stick waiting to be baked
Whole roasted pig!
All of the vendors wore medieval garb and there were performers that traveled around the market. Every so often, a parade of sorts would come through with a woman on huge stilts dressed like a sorceress (or something), a man blowing a huge long horn that reminded me a little of a digeridoo, and other performers. There were SO many people at the market that it was nearly impossible to take a picture of anything, but especially the performers in this parade. I did get a good one of the sorceress when she passed not even 3 feet in front of where I was standing:
Medieval sorceress (or queen?)
They also had medieval games you could play and buy, like at this vendor:
Medieval games
They had games of chance, archery, and this game (below) where you had to throw a ball and try to break the eggs sitting in the logs. If you broke an egg, you got a prize.
Break an egg, win a prize!
You could also make medieval crafts, like dyeing your own candles:
Candle dyeing
Many vendors were selling medieval clothing and weapons:
Beautiful velvet cape
They also had a few rides for kids, like this hand-crank ferris wheel:
Here are a few more pictures to give you a sense of the market and how ridiculously crowded it was. Next time I won't go on a Saturday afternoon!
Medieval Market
Main Christmas Market at Esslingen
Medieval drumset!
There was a big board with what looked to me like a list of performances taking place at the market (there was a little stage with a medieval drum set!), but it was written in chalk and half-erased (and in German), so I couldn't read it very well. It looked like something was taking place an hour after I was ready to leave, but it was too cold and crowded for me to want to stick around for another hour, especially since I didn't know what I would be sticking around for. But if you're in the Stuttgart area at Christmas next year, be sure not to
miss the Medieval Market at Esslingen. It's truly unique and you won't
see anything like it anywhere else.
I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid al-Adha, or whatever you celebrate in December. Best wishes and much happiness for 2013!!
