SWITZERLAND TRAVELOGUE Country: Switzerland Capital: Bern Main Languages Spoken: German (Swiss German), Italian, French Currency: Swiss franc (CHF) Lake Bachalpsee Switzerland is renowned globally for watches, cheese, chocolate, fondue, precision, engineering, cows, milk, etc., but its primary attraction are its skiing slopes. Though tourists flock to Switzerland in winter, in summertime the slopes of the Alps transform into some of the most beautiful hikes ever. As I am about to leave for Germany, I felt that it would only be befitting to reminisce about this gorgeous country I have enjoyed for 4 years. Switzerland has many beautiful villages, snuggled in valleys or tucked away high up in the mountains, each of them offering its own characteristics, but my top destinations are the Jungfrau region and Zermatt.: The villages of Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren in the Jungfrau region …..— Grindelwald is surrounded by lush, green meadows and famous for its outstanding views of Mount Eiger. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are the famous trio of mountain peaks in the Jungfrau region and have attracted many tourists and mountaineers for years. To conquer the northern face of the Eiger, with its vertical drop of more than 1600 metres, has always been a dream for mountaineers across the world. Just outside the village is the Glacier Canyon (Gletscherschlucht), a deep gorge with the roaring Lutschine river flowing through it. The walkway made through the gorge, though seemingly treacherous, is an experience. The gorge was once a glacier. Over the decades all the ice has melted and has left behind this gorge and the river. Here are some great hikes that you can take from Grindelwald: Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg is a fantastic hike — As the gondola drops you off at Männlichen, an incredibly beautiful panorama unfolds, the Grindelwald valley on one side and the snow peaks at eye level on the other side. After playing in the most unique play area we started our picturesque hike to Kleine Scheidegg. The route is called Panoramaweg. We completed the hike in about two hours and throughout this time we could see the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau right in front of us. First to Lake Bachalpsee — also accessible by a gondola from Grindelwald, this is also a great hike. All the way up you can see cows grazing at high altitudes and one can hear the cowbells throughout. First has loads of adventure activities, a kids play area and of course hiking options. The initial part of the hike is a bit steep and it takes about 1 hour to hike one way to the lake but is totally worth it. The glacial water lake hypnotises you with its beautiful setting amidst the snow clad Alps. While sitting in this heavenly place and enjoying picnic we heard the soothing music of an Alp(en)horn. Wengen and Murren, two pedestrian villages can be accessed from Lauterbrunnen. These villages are at a high altitude and offer fantastic eye-level views of the snow caps. Wengen has a population of 1300 year round residents which swells to 5,000 in summer and 10,000 in winter! Wengen hosts the Lauterbrunnen ski races of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and is a very popular ski resort. Easily reached by a train ride from Lauterbrunnen, the best views are from the Wengen town church and the station. The pedestrian village of Murren is accessed by a gondola from Lauterbrunnen and then a short train ride. This 15-20 minute train ride has unparalleled views to any other train journey I have undertaken and passes through forests and snow peaks. One can also hike to Murren from Grutschalp instead of taking the train. The hike takes you through Alpine forests, a walk with the cows grazing right next to you, and a fabulous view the whole way through. Another great destination in a different part of Switzerland is the pedestrian village of Zermatt. This village is famous for its views of the famed Matterhorn peak, which is the inspiration for the shape of the Toblerone chocolate. The Matterhorn, on the border of Switzerland and Italy, is a stand-alone and a perfect pyramid shaped mountain making it a spectacle. From Zermatt, the Gornergrat railway runs up to the Gorner glacier which offers panoramic view of the glacier and the surrounding mountains. On the way it stops at a small lake, which on a sunny day offers fantastic views of the Matterhorn, which is perfectly reflected in the lake. While in Switzerland during the summer months, one must not miss the High Alpine Drive that passes through the Grimsel Pass and Furka Pass. Also a famous motorbiking route, it is only open in the summer months. The drive takes you through lakes, lush greenery, snow-capped peaks and glaciers on the way with ample opportunities to stop for picnics and photo shoots. Here are some interesting records Switzerland holds, which corroborate the fact that Swiss engineering, when it comes to mountain transport is unbeatable. Jungfraujoch — Highest railway station in Europe Pilatusbahn — The steepest cogwheel train in the world. Stoosbahn — The steepest funicular in the world. Gotthard Tunnel — The longest (16 Km) and most expensive tunnel in the world. For kids who love nature, Switzerland boasts a wide variety of unique things for kids do. Interlaken, a bustling, noisy town is outstanding if you want to paraglide and literally be ‘on top of the world’. You can paraglide here from the age of 5! Paragliding here is one of my most treasured experiences. From that height in the air you can see the two lakes Interlaken is flanked by— Brienz and Thun. Another fun experience is the Brunni Tickle Path. Here, you go barefoot around a small lake walking over different surfaces which include grass, wood, leaves, stones, cold water and even cow dung! You would want to do this loop again and again with your feet sensing different surfaces every one minute. Near the Tickle Path there is also a toboggan,
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Weekly Creativity #122: Write about the Concept of Heaviness
Spend 15 minutes thinking about HEAVINESS, and write down every word you associate with it–different nouns, verbs and adjectives; colors, sounds, weather, moods, places, people–as many as you can. Read through your word list, and use the images and ideas that most appeal to you to write a one-page story or 10-line poem that really conveys the feeling of heaviness to your readers.
Saturday Newsletter: October 10, 2020
“Rocks at Pohoiko Beach” by Lila Raj, 11 (San Francisco, CA) Published in Stone Soup October 2020 A note from Emma Before you read this, scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter to read Daniel Shorten’s poem “Afterthought.” It is one of the best poems I have read all year. I can describe what happens in the poem very simply: in it, the narrator goes to see a play (or perhaps a movie); then he goes home. But there is so much more “happening” in it than that. The poem is titled “Afterthought.” To be an afterthought is to be secondary, peripheral, on the margins. This poem is about what it feels like to be an afterthought. It opens by situating the narrator in space: Just in front of the back wall Was my seat Full of salty popcorn He is in a theater. His seat is all the way at the back, and it hasn’t been cleaned—it’s filled with someone else’s spilled popcorn. Both of these things indicate the narrator’s marginal status: he is literally on the edge of the theater, about to occupy a seat that’s been neglected, or overlooked, by the theater’s cleaners. The status of the seat which the narrator occupies reinforces his own peripheral status. It continues: No curtain went up There was no curtain The fact that there is no curtain indicates that there wasn’t a clear separation between the audience and the actors, reality and the play. Everything occurring on stage seemed immediate, close. In the following lines, the narrator describes some of the action in the play; however, he doesn’t announce he will be doing this, which creates a sense of immediacy for the reader as well. It seems as if the things he describes are “actually” happening—in real life, not on stage: A poor man buried his children Who will bury me he wept A dog barked suddenly Then Michael stoned the rabbit And Peggy said the leg stinks Straight away, Michael said you stink There is grief, violence, and humor in these lines. The “poor man” who buried his children has become a peripheral figure, an afterthought himself. “Who will bury me he wept”—a question that carries other questions within it: Who will care for me? Who will love me? Who will call me every Sunday? As if to reinforce his now-marginal status, the focus shifts quickly away from the “poor man”—to the dog and then to Michael and Peggy, who are not definitely peripheral figures. They aren’t standing on the sidelines, weeping—they are out in the world, killing and eating a rabbit, and talking to each other. They are at the center of life. From there, the poem returns to the narrator’s experience, concluding like this: All I could smell was cola As we got back on the bus A man and a woman kissed Who will bury me? In these final lines, we see once again that the narrator feels marginal. The bus he returns to smells like cola—no one has bothered to clean it for them. Then a man and woman kiss—they are not peripheral; they have each other. While the narrator is alone, wondering, like the “poor man” from the play, Who will bury me? You will notice that throughout, Daniel does not use what you might normally think of as “poetic” language. Instead, he uses short, direct sentences and simple vocabulary—most words only have 1–2 syllables. This gives the poem an immediacy and directness as well as a deceptive plainness! I hope you enjoyed my academic reading of this poem! I know many of my students often wonder about “intention” when we read poems closely, as I have read this one. I had a teacher once tell me that, as a writer, I should always just answer yes when someone asked if I meant to do something in a poem. Because I did do it—my subconscious knew, even if I didn’t! And after a certain point, the author’s intention doesn’t matter: the author can’t ever fully know or see what she has created. They are too close to the work. That is why outside critics are so important. Your writing challenge for the weekend: using Daniel’s poem as a model, write a fifteen-line poem in simple, direct, non-poetic language about something you did or saw in the past week without explicitly saying what it was. So, if you write about going to a park, don’t title the poem “A Trip to the Park” or say, “I went to the park with my mom.” In short: don’t be afraid to confuse the reader! Often that confusion will create unexpected complexity. Until next week, Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! “Coronavirus if you’re reading this, / please stop doing this!” Patrycja, 13, writes in her poem about what it was like in the spring during the beginning of the pandemic. Read the entire poem here. Ava, 10, reviewed The Whale Child by Keith Egawa and Chenoa Egawa. Read about what why she hopes there’s a sequel and how the illustrations add to the story. Olivia wrote a review of The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Find out why she thinks it’s not a typical fantasy novel. Contest, partnership & project news This was the first full week of October, so this week is Flash Contest week! You have until midday PDT on Sunday (Oct. 11, 2020) to complete and submit your entries. Write a Poem That Can Be Read Up or Down We are looking for a poem that can be read both from top to bottom, and bottom to top. To read examples of the kind of poem we mean, see Love Hate Relationship by Morgan Lane (12) in the February 2018 issue of Stone Soup or 11-year-old Layla Linnard’s Lost Dog from September 2019. For full contest details, submission links, and previous winners, click here. Daniel Shorten, 9Mallow, Ireland From Stone Soup October
