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

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
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