Day 12 – Appenzell, Switzerland

We evaluated no fewer than a dozen schedules as we put together the final outline for this trip, each of them including some form of a stopover in Switzerland. We ultimately decided to give the country a night on our itinerary, staying in the Appenzell District as a sort of stopover between France and Austria.

To enter Switzerland’s motorways, drivers are required to purchase a vignette to be placed on their car’s windshield. While the vignette is good for a year, we paid 40 CHF for the privilege of driving on the country’s four-lane roads for two days.

We purchased the vignette at the time we crossed the Switzerland border, to which Emmie was momentarily distraught. She sobbed in the backseat, “I don’t want to go to Switzerland.” Noah speculated this was because she didn’t want to leave the “pink” hotel in France. Topics shifted to tunnels after crossing the border, as we drove through more than a handful of tunnels in northern Switzerland, including two over 3km in length. Noah wasn’t a fan of the tunnels as he wasn’t able to see his prized stickers, given to him for free at a German grocery store.

We snapped a few pictures outside the Appenzeller Cheese Demonstration Dairy before heading inside for lunch. We decided to start with a sampler of Appenzeller Cheese and Salami while Amana and I ordered variations of the Swiss potato dish rösti for our main course. (The kids picked fish sticks and french fries for their meal.)

Everyone seemed to enjoy our meals, so we headed back to the information desk at the facility to purchase the guided dairy iPad tour. Amanda, Noah, and I were given dedicated iPads, which provided English information about the cheese-making process from start to finish. From start-to-finish, the iPad-driven tour took around 30 minutes; we could see aspects of the cheese-making through the glass, while others were only shown on the screen.

Noah abandoned his iPad mostly through the tour and turned to watching the cheese being made through the glass. Emmie joined him and kept relatively entertained as Amanda and I finished the 21 parts of the iPad tour. The tour included another sampling of Appenzeller Cheese. Amanda and the kids each had a piece or two, while I completed the remaining pieces on the plate.

The kids played a bit on some of the outside playground before we jumped into the car and drove toward the lift to Ebenalp, where we were spending the night in a picturesque hostel, accessible only via hike or cable car (our chosen mode of transportation.)

We enjoyed a private ride up the cable car (no one else at the time) to find a fairly-hopping Berggasthaus Ebenalp, with a mix of hikers and diners taking in the Swiss mountain views. We dropped our belongings in our small room before taking a small hike to visit a small mountain cave church and picturesque guesthouse built into the side of the mountain.

I insisted on taking the hike, which turned out to be fairly strenuous, and with kids, far longer than the 25 minute round-trip advertised on the signs. Hills were pretty steep at times and the leg of the hike through the cave was wet and slippery; but we took thing slow, stopping several times for pictures and wildflowers.

On our return to the guesthouse, fellow hikers were concerned we had missed the last return cable car; we noted we were staying the night, so no worries. Turns out, we may be the only people spending the night, as we returned to a nearly-abandoned Berggasthaus Ebenalp. We went into the dining area and were given menus for suppers, made and served by the guest house owners.

The kids colored on their placemats as we awaited our dinner; between the four of us, we split the recommended chicken cordon bleu, an order of Appenzeller mac and cheese, a local sausage link, and a plate of french fries. We referred to the sausage as a “hot dog,” and the kids loved it; they nibbled on the mac and cheese and we finished every last french fry.

We ended our meal with some ice cream treats before spending some time on the property taking in the wonderful views and documenting with photos. The kids had a fair amount of flat space to run around, and we took a short hike up the hill for a final look at the surrounding mountains and communities before retreating to our room for the evening.