Ostersonntag 2011

When I was growing up, my father occasionally would throw out a few words of German that he had learned from his childhood.  With both parents being of German descent, his primary language for thôse preschool years was German.  However, over the years he remembered just the important ones that came in handy around young listening ears.  He'd say, "mein Gott in himmel" when I was getting into some sort of mischief.  After the last few days here in Switzerland where German is the preferred language, I wish I had taken a few lessons from him or from our Austrian neighbors across the street.

We arrived in Brig, Switzerland via the train from Milan.  It was a relaxing ride, since we left the driving up to the Italian train engineers.  It was a magnificent 2 hour ride north along the western border of Lake Maggiore and on across the border into Switzerland.  The trains run just their world reknown time pieces.  The train station was just a short 10 minute walk up the streets of Brig, with the Alps as a back drop.  We scoped out the local Catholic church and the eateries, all before sundown. 

We found a quaint dinner spot where we had some traditional fare, the schnitzel with noodles.  We passed on the strudel, much to my dismay, but there would always be tomorrow, Ostersonntag.  The early service was the high mass for the Easter celebration, and it was not just your ordinary high mass, let me tell you.  They had a full choir and their own orchestra;  I felt as though I was at the symphony and not at an Easter Sunday service.  It was delightful and truly a highlight. 

After services, we boarded the train to Zermat for a day in the Alps.  The views were impressive and the skies were as blue as you could imagine, perfect for this outing.  The first glimpse of the Matterhorn left me awkstruck...much like another day in the mountains.  We walked about town and even made our way up the trail abit before sitting down for a cup of hot chocolate later on.  We visited the Catholic church in town, and the views leaving the church were breathtaking, a divine creation indeed.  We later dined on more traditional food of weiner schnitzel and sauerkraut all washed down with a little German ale.

Our day in the Alps fell on Easter Sunday, an unplanned coincidence to say the least.  Mein Gott in himmel reminded me that no human hand could have created all of what we saw.  It was truly divine.  Thanks Dad for helping me find the words to describe this glorious part of the world.  Al weidersehen!