Direkt zum Hauptbereich

A hike in the Appenzell region - or: A post full of clichés

Bild
Von
Let me tell you about a wonderful hike I did with my family last week. It was the birthday of my mother, so we had decided to do a weekend trip to the Appenzell region in Switzerland -a region that you probably know because of its liquor,  its cheese or its cows. I guess this region is what many people think is the "real Switzerland", the "cliché-one". Well… They’re propably right! ;-) 

We stayed in the hotel “Frohe Aussicht” in Schwende (-->Link), just some minutes away from the village of Appenzell – a wonderful hotel in the middle of green hills, cows and traditional houses. Mr. and Mrs. Inauen are very hospitable hosts and we immediately felt welcome there. The food was great, the rooms very clean and nice. Translated, the name of the hotel means “happy view” – no lie I would say, right?  

The little village of Schwende

Schwende

When you're in the Appenzell region, make sure you try a typical beer or an "Appenzeller" liquor! 

The village of Schwende. Don't you agree that this grass is greener than elsewhere? :-) 


The next day, we started our hike. We started from the hotel in Schwende and hiked all the way up to Ebenalp (approx. 2h). It was quite a steep ascent, but it was really worth it – the green landscape (I swear the grass is greener in this region than anywhere else in Switzerland!), the cows, the mountains… We even got in contact with a farmer who was "checking his cows", explained to us quite a lot of things about these animals and invited us to his house. Aren't these encounters what make travelling and exploring valuable? 

On the way to Ebenalp





Once up at Ebenalp, we did a little stop at the restaurant and then continued our hike to the most famous attraction in this region: The Äscher Wildkirchli (-->Link), a little guesthouse built next to a rock face. It became famous after it was voted as “guesthouse of the year 2012” and after the Huffington Post called it “the most interesting restaurant  in the world”. Well… I can say we noted this popularity – we had to wait quite a few minutes to be able to catch a picture without too many (selfie-taking) people on it! :-) 

The Äscher-Wildkirchli guesthouse - probably one of the nicest spots in Switzerland. Impressive, isn't it?

The first glimpse of the Seealpsee 


We then started to continue our hike - all the way down to the Seealpsee (lake). On the way, we met all kinds of other hikers (two- and four-legged ones)... 
Philosophical question: Who is wrong here?
After approx. 1.5 h we reached the picturesque Seealpsee. You probably know it because of the picture on the Quöllfrisch-beer, if not: Here it is: 
Does this view look familiar to you? Maybe you've already seen it on a beer? If not, you should definitely buy a "Quöllfrisch" soon! :-) 

Off course, we were hungry after the hike - and inspired by the wonderful panorama! So we had a delicious, improvised fondue next to the lake (yes, I already warned you that this blog is full of clichés! :-) ).
I admit, clichés are great! :-) An improvised fondue at the shore of Seealpsee
After the hike, we also visited the wonderful city of Appenzell. I was fascinated by this picturesque town with all the old, colourful houses! 

Besides the nice houses, Appenzell is also quite nice to go shopping! If you're there, make sure you visit the "Flauderei" (-->Link) , a very nice designed shop with all kinds of little things that you just have to buy... 





And because I couldn't get enough of those nice, colourful houses in Appenzell... 







Got inspired? Here are my tips if you want to do a trip like this: 

 How to get there: 

- You'll reach the Ebenalp ant the Wildkirchli with an aerial cableway that takes you from Wasserauen to Ebenalp.
- For a visit in Appenzell you can take the train from Gossau which brings you directly to Appenzell  

Where to stay:

 - If you plan to stay overnight, I can recomment the hotel "Frohe Aussicht" in Schwende (--> Link). A wonderful, little hotel in the middle of green hills. From there, you reach the cableway to Ebenalp and Appenzell in a few minutes. 

What to do: 

 - Hike from Wasserauen to Ebenalp (or take the aerial cableway) and visit the Aescher Wildkirchli. You won't regret it! Then hike down to Seealpsee, take a swim in the cold lake or do a little boat trip on it. Plan at least half a day for this hike.

- there are also Wildkirchli guided tours (1-1.5 h), for more information contact the Appenzellerland Tourismus agency (-->Link). 

Enjoooy it! Yours, Valentina
Labels:

Beliebte Posts

Uganda in a nutshell - my one week roadtrip

Von
  I never thought that my long-cherished dream would actually come true - especially during this difficult time and after postponing the trip once and later almost cancelling once. That I would actually fly to Uganda in the midst of disputed elections, travel warnings and the Covid crisis. How grateful I am that for once I ignored the doubts and fears of my friends and family and dared to go . It could have gone totally wrong. It didn't. It worked out so perfectly that I am still a bit afraid that something bad will happen now (but after one week at home now I guess I will be ok!). I made a lot of new friends, treasure so many beautiful memories and am full of inspiration. I excuse myself in advance just in case my enthusiasm will be to big. But be sure that in reality it is even much bigger! There would be so much more to share! I would like to start with the 2nd part of my journey. After an incredibly educational and inspiring week on Ngamba Island, a sanctuary for orphaned chimp
Letzte Posts

My Patagonian Dream - Part 1: Hola, Buenos Aires!

Von
The love story between Patagonia and me is quite strange. I had never planned to go there. I didn't even know where it is until I dreamed of it one night. I dreamed I was there. And it was nice. Reeeally nice. The next day I woke up confused and asked google where Patagonia was (all I had seen of it before was the logo of an American outdoor clothing brand with the same name). Checked the pictures. Fell in love. That was it. The start of a long-held dream that finally came true this November.  Because this trip was so varied, I will write about it in several posts. Time-hopping is exhausting, so let's start at the beginning.  I'm Swiss. And I like it organized. That's why my preparations started early. My bag was packed weeks before (itchy feet, itchy feet!) and the whole range of Argentinian Malbec-wine was drunk (acclimatisation, you know - but don't worry. the range in Switzerland isn't that big...) when I finally took the plane to Buenos Aires v
Letzte Posts

Welcome to Hel... (sinki)! Or: How I fell in love with a bus stop

Von
Finland... Already when I think about it, I get quite nostalgic and strangely also a bit homesick. Two years ago, I did an exchange semester in Mikkeli, in the south of Finland, and fell in love with this country. I don't know what it is, but Finland has something that just makes me happy. That's why from time to time I get the feeling that I just have to go back.  So I did last week. Read about my 4 day-trip to Mikkeli and Helsinki here.  Warning: If you don't like nostalgic posts then you better just look at the pictures! :-)  Day 1: Arrival in Helsinki and bus ride to Mikkeli One of the few good reasons to get up at 4 o clock in the morning is travelling. I took the plane at 7 in the morning and after a short stop in Amsterdam,  I landed in Helsinki with a big smile on my face. It already felt like home when I came out of the small airport, when I saw the finnish and swedish signs at the bus stop and when the bus driver said "Terve!" to me  (I haven'
Letzte Posts

Acqua alta for beginners - a weekend in Venice, Italy

Von
" "All cities are the same, except Venice, it's a bit different" had written Friedrich Torberg in his book "Die Tante Jolesch". He was right! Venice is different. And that's why I love this city more than any other! Venice is unique. Romantic. Wonderful. A dream! A city that you have to see!! Discovered in December 2011 with the family" (Me in my travel diary, 2011) My opinion about Venice hasn't changed much in 6 years (except that I find it a bit less romantic nowadays... :-) ). Since a long time, Venice is one of my favourite cities. So I decided to go back.  Everyone asked me if it was a good idea to do this in December, and all I can say is: YES! It is!! There are much less tourists (still too much though), it is less smelly (at least that's what I've been told) and the atmosphere is very special - can you believe that I was more in christmas mood that at home, even if all the christmas markets and the snow were missi
Letzte Posts

The End of the world (and my Patagonia trip) - Meet the penguins!

Von
Do you remember that I had written about our guide asking the group the first day about our motivation to come to Patagonia in one of my previous posts? The landscape, the hikes, the food... And the penguins? To be honest... The penguin-answer came from me. Since a long time, I love those little animals. Especially their clumsy way to walk (maybe there are some similarities??) make me laugh all the time. That's why the last day in Ushuaia was a real highlight for me!  I really liked Ushuaia - not only because of our luxury hotel! This city has a very special atmosphere! With its fascinating history (from great and important explorations to the sad history of the native Yamana) I had the feeling that there is still something in the air. And even if there is a Hard Rock Café nowadays, Ushuaia seems to keep its old, adventurous spirit.  I wasn't the only penguin fan in my group. The plan was to visit the penguins by boat, but some of us wanted to see them from very near. Th
Letzte Posts