Day Nine: Freiburg

We started today in Engelberg, and some of us started earlier than others. Despite the weather forecast for rain starting at 4:00 am, some of us headed out from the hotel early this morning and there was not rain, although it was overcast. The goal was to take one of the hiking trails up part of the mountain and view the sunset over the ridge.  Failing that, we would at least get a great view of Engelberg and the valley.

We were not disappointed! We wound up at a plateau above the village where a small farm restaurant was located and were provided with a great view of the valley and mountains as the light increased. We were able to watch as the clouds came over one ridge and enveloped some of the peaks, and then cleared past them again.

We had a tour of the cheese manufacturer Schukaserei, a former monastery that produces authentic Swiss cheese. The unique feature of this tour is that one of our students was involved in the process of  making a small quantity of cheese in front of our eyes. This gave a great appreciation of the cheese making process! Thank you Sandra for the great explanation and product sampling!

After some free time in the village, we boarded our bus on our way to Freiburg. Martin served as our driver and performed an excellent job in giving us details along the trip. Thank you Martin! We did drive into some rainy weather about halfway into the drive, but made good time on a comfortable ride with a great driver.

In Freiburg, we checked into our rooms and then took a tour of Victoria Hotel, the world's most environmentally friendly hotel. This is a hotel that was started in 1847 and has been in the same family for four generations. In the late 1980's the hotel owners took it upon themselves to make the hotel environmentally sustainable, even though at the time no one else would want to do so. 

After the tour, we headed to a local restaurant and brewery to sample some local fare and hold some great conversation. Tomorrow, we will have our last formal tour and then head out to Paris via the TGV!