The Not So Famous Rocky Mountain Audrey Hepburn Film Festival

I once read that a cure for illness is to watch happy movies...to that end I've been watching my very own Audrey Hepburn Film Festival. She was so pretty and funny, well dressed, and she embodied all that was chic when I was a teenager. (I know you can't go back in time, but you can look at "time capsules" of the past.)

There's a pretty good AH collection "out there" in ether-land. I started with Roman Holiday. I've seen this movie many times, and I still marvel at it. The location is Rome 60 years ago...and it's surprising how "tourist Rome" has not changed in that amount of time. The traffic is worse today, but the Forum, Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, Soanish Steps, Mouth of Truth, Pantheon, among others, all look the same. Congrats to Rome for preserving its heritage. If you are going to Rome for the first time, see Roman Holiday to get an idea about what to see and do while you are there. 

Next I saw Sabrina (along with the Julia Ormand remake) with Humphrey Bogart. They were both delightful romances, but the Hepburn movie was just better. Then Funny Face with Fred Astaire who plays a photographer in Paris. Breakfast at Tiffany's was next which is probably my least favorite of the bunch...too much talking. Charade has AH and Cary Grant runing around the streets of Paris looking for a lost quarter of a million dollars. Last film on the list was How to Steal a Million with Peter O'Toole, with both of them trying to steal a million dollar work of art. AH plays the same character...the pretty girl with a plan. 

The stories are all madcap and whimsical and without many socially redeeming qualities. On the other hand there's no violence, foul language or explicit sex scenes (no sex scenes as a matter of fact). They are pure escapism and just what the doctor ordered to keep me in a positive frame of mind. All are available on streaming Netflix or YouTube in case you want to have your own AHFF. 

PS. I'm feeling better too. My 'cure' just might be working!

PSS. I don't think these movies would work nowadays, they are in a class by themselves. There's not an aura of "reality" among the bunch; they are not gritty; they don't have a message. Go figure!

Finally, Sizzling Seventeen

It took just about forever to finish this blanket! I started it on the 18th of July and I finished it today. Definitely not my usual 11 day average. A trip to Switzerland and the hospital got in the way. The colors are HOT: red, orange and gold. It's big enough for a teenager. I know it will go to a special kid.

Update

It's now a week later. I'm out of the hospital. I'm feeling pretty good too...but I need a bit more time to be fully recovered. I was in the hospital for 3 days. They did their magic and sent me home with a full time oxygen tank and orders for strict bed rest. It was not hard to follow the strict bed rest orders as I had no energy. I saw my doctor yesterday and the news was pretty good. My lungs are clear! I'm now allowed to do some exercise too. Exercise in this case means walking to the back deck a couple of times a day then resting for awhile. I'm supposed to increase my exercise slowly for the next 2 weeks. I'm still on oxygen. I'm making slow steady progress. 

I have a brand new respect for folks walking around with a small oxygen tank. I know what it feels like to need the oxygen. I know how the canula irritates the nose causing it to bleed. I know how the tubing grates against the ears causing pain and rawness. Then there's the irritation the tubing makes as it rubs back and forth under the chin. In addition, it's impossible to have a good hair day with a plastic tube hanging around ears, neck and chin. Then there's the hassle of bringing the oxygen along. At my house we have a recirculating oxygen machine that derives oxygen out of the air. Connected to the machine are yards and yards of tubing that tethers me to a pathway from the bedroom to the kitchen to the living room to the deck. That's as far as I can go. The tubing is everywhere and it's a really good tripper! If I get the energy to go outside, I have to roll around a 20+ pound tank of oxygen (I do not have a smaller more portable tank as I'm not going to be oxygen forever!). While this expands my horizons, it seems to take hours to get anywhere what with rolling the oxygen to the car, getting into the car, having someone hoist the tank into my lap ... then reversing the process... you get the idea. My doctor told me about cushions you can get for your ears and chin; a friend told me about narrow canula that are less irritating. The bottom line...when you see someone with oxygen give them a bit of slack. They have a rough row to hoe. 

Thank you all for your cards and notes and flowers and thoughts and prayers. I know they are working as I'm getting better. 

Sorry for the Delay

There's lots of reasons not to post, all of them are good...but mine is one of the better "goods." I'm in the hospital with pneumonia and kidney failure. I caught a Swiss version of pneumonia that apparently is not covered in the "shot cocktail" called a pneumonia shot.  I'm down for the count and making steady improvement. There are few silver linings with the condition, but it's made gettung over jet lag easier. The hospital is treating me very well. The food is even kind of decent. The service is excellent. I'm here for 3-4 days. Not exactly how I wanted to spend the time, but the alternative is worse. The ER doc said he gave me 2 days before I bought it! I was a sick puppy. 

More Pictures

This is part of an urban garden to Bern. The shopping carts are moved to the best location. They also had veggies planted in old plastic milk crates. An old bus was used as a greenhouse. 

The Bern riding club on a Saturday morning. These horses are calm critters as our steam engine was making a racket, and they just trotted on by without a second glance 

Sunflowers in the urban garden. 

This is the famous wooden bridge in Lucerne. It's a good way for pedestrians to cross the lake. 

Read the name of the store. It was a toy store...and basically says "God Bless You"

A pretty doorway in Bern

Look carefully at this statue in Bern. It's called thr "Kindlifresser" or "Child Eater of Bern." It's a goblin, or some say an ogre, or some say a giant, snacking on bad children. It dates from 1546 and is the oldest fountain in Bern. No one in modern times truly knows the true meaning of the statue or why it's there...look it up online for more information if you are interested. It's said that parents take their children to this statue to show them what happens to them if they are naughty. 

That's the goblin or giant or ogre up close and personal. He's definitely a nasty piece of work. 

The Eurostar

We are now entering the track that will take us to the Channel Tunnel, and I'm looking for the "Jungle" where there are a bunch of folks trying to get into England. We've seen reports in Switzerland about the size of the Jungle and the conditions...the size is large and growing, and the conditions are poor and getting worse. So far, all I am seeing is dirty track and no "Jungle." But then, I don't know if I want to see the "Jungle." 

As we are leaving Paris there are two major observations that need to be written about. 1) Paris is dirty. Switzerland was clean and the contrast between the two countries is dramatic. I wrote that Italy was "relaxed" and not quite as tidy as Switzerland. Paris is way beyond relaxed. It's all the way to dirty and someone needs to clean it up. 2) Beggars! For the last two weeks we have not seen a person sitting on the street asking for a handout. As we were leaving Gare du Lyon there were a couple of beggars, and as we were entering the Gare du Nord, there was a gauntlet of beggars. In fact they were pushy beggars; as I dodged one, I was assaulted by another who needed to be dodged only to be attacked by a third...and on and on it went! Earlier this year, we were in Norway, where beggars are not allowed for more than 90 days. I'm not sure who keeps track of the 90 day limit, but our guide said the beggars do not stay around too long. I fear the beggars outside of Gare du Nord are more or less permanent fixtures. Such a shame!

Trains in Switzerland

The train trip around Switzerland has come to an end as of this morning. We are now training our way back to London by way of Zurich and Paris. The connections are pretty tight and while we don't have the luxury of our wonderful guide leading us to the right station and platform we do have his wife, which is a pretty good substitute. We also have 2 weeks experience reading train schedules. Between the 3 of us, we will arrive in London without too many hassles. Our next hurdle will be in Paris where we have to change trains AND we have to change stations. The Gare du Lyon (where we will "land") is across town from the Gare du Nord, so we will need to find a taxi to take us from A to B. We did this in the opposite direction 2 weeks ago, and while it was hectic, it was doable.

The trip has been great! We saw some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. I fell in love with Alpine Switzerland. Switzerland on the flat is not as wonderful as it seems to be just one big city after another. I'm not a city person at home, and I'm definitely not a city person overseas. Our tour was set up very well. We stayed in an area for several days before moving somewhere else. Our hotels were all good to very good and Geoff, our leader (I called him "the boss") had everything planned well. I know from teaching...without planning there is no instruction. Without planning when you travel, there is not a good trip. The planning had been done well and it showed by the results of the trip!

One of the hard parts of travel is to come out "even" money-wise. The trick is to leave a country with no money left of that currency. Sounds easier than it is. We had 27 Swiss Francs (CHF) this morning. We had a 35 CHF bill at the hotel, which we paid off in cash and credit card. We now have zero CHF. We'll do the same thing in London. However, we will not spend down our Euros in Paris as we will come back to the Eurozone and it's always wise to have a bit of the currency when we step foot on the ground. 

I need to count how many different trains on which we traveled. I know the number is large as we were on 12 trains the first day alone. Since then we've been on at least 3 trains every day, some days more. We went on a few trains that were really special: The Furka Steam Train, the Mt. Pilatus Cog Railway, and the Steam Tram in Bern are highlights. These trains were old, special, and just plane cute. We also sailed on 2 steam paddleboats. Their engines were mechanical marvels. I'm still in awe of the fact that the trains are on time. Having traveled by train in the US, where the trains are seldom on time, it was a luxury to know that the train would come at 12:34 sharp and leave at 12:42 sharp. I do wish there were more ramps and fewer stairs. Pulling a suitcase up or down 2 or 3 flights of stairs is not any fun. There are few escalators, few elevators, but there are ramps now and then...and in one station there was a ramp, an escalator and an elevator! What a treat!

There are few more pictures to post...that will be next.

Steam Tram in Bern, part 2

The sign on the side of the tram

Another ad on the tram. Go the website and see what it has to say! In case you did not know, the country code for Switzerland is "CH."

1894 must have been a very good year because this tram is still going strong.

Westinghouse made some of the fittings for the tram.

The engine and a carriage, getting ready for a roll thru Bern. The tram is in operation one Sunday a month, and by special reservation. The "Boss" had a special reservation.

The tram uses the modern track, with the old equipment

Inside the carriage there is nice woodwork, newly minted leather straps, and side curtains. We had 18 in our group and the carriage was full. Trouble is, no one sat in the carriage after we got moving. Everyone wanted to see the engine at work.

About half way thru our little trip, we needed to stop for water, a dab of oil and a dab of water conditioner. Seems that Bern has extremely hard water. Without the water conditioner, the tank gets a scale build-up making it impossible to clean, and according to the engineer, the tram is less efficient when the tank is dirty.

The engine with her "skirts" up...here you can see the leaf springs, and the rolling mechanism. Everything is very mechanical...nothing digital or electronic here.

The engineer doing his job. Notice the pile of coal? By the end of the 1 hour journey, the coal pile was just about gone. In addition, the train stopped twice for a top off of water.

The big gauge telling the engineer the pressure in the tank. 

The four men who ran our train: a conductor, an engineer, a fireman, and a look out. BTW, all of them had a specific task and they were busy all the time. There was no featherbedding.

I'll finish with the tail light at the end of the carriage. It was originally a gas light, that was replaced by an electric one somewhere along the way. The fittings are brass, but none of them are spit-spot shiny, but all of them are clean. 

Steam Tram in Bern

EThe best was saved till last. We rode s privately chartered steam tram in Bern today! It was the best. 

We took a train from Lucerne to Bern this morning...walked a couple of blocks from the station when we heard a distinctive sound...that of a steam engine.  We turned the corner and saw this 1894 vintage tram. This train is alive! She breathes steam and rumbles and shakes. There's absolutely nothing that compares to the sheer awe a steamer inspires.

I

The engineers fiddled with gears and "stuff" and soon "All Aboard' was called and we clambered into our car. We made an hour circuit around Bern, and everywhere we went folks were lined up to take pictures of our green monster. Everyone was smiling. It was a kick!

 

It was too cool!

   

Some More

A seagull, a duck and a swan...as soon as people get into the boat, the panhandlers come around hoping for a handout. 

Notice anything wrong with this sailboat? The sail is up and the "captain" is paddling....that's just embarrassing!

The Pilatus Cogwheel Railway is 125 years old. It reminded the other DrC of Angel's Flight that used to be in LA...and it reminded me of the Duquense Incline in Pittsburgh PA only the seats were padded and very comfy.

From the top of Pilatus you can see a little church. I have no idea how to get to this church, but there must be a way. When we were on the first gondola we could see it clearly. 

What a place! A church with a fantastic view. 

I love to take pictures of kids...this little girl was having a grand time on top of the mountain. 

Lock your love...not a big thing right now, but like the bridge in Paris, it might catch on!

A sturdy Swiss cow clinging to the mountain side. Of course she has a bell on.

A purple harebell eking a living on the rock. 

Zip-liner 1/3 of the way down the mountain. I did not try it this time.

It's all about location, location, location. That's some view!

A good day on Mt. Pilatus.

A Boat, a Rack Railroad, Two Trams and a Bus

We had a loop trip today. We got on the lake boat and sailed to Alpnauchstad. There we caught the steepest rack railway in the world and went up Mt. Pilatus. Then we took 2 trams to Kriens, and in Kriens we caught a local bus that took us back to Lucerne. It was a great day...and the train was the BEST!

A steam paddlewheel boat that plies Lake Lucerne. Today we went on an ordinary lake boat. It was still good. 

The Mt.Pilatus rack railway is built on a 45° angle. It snakes it way up the mountain, around curves and thru rocky tunnels until it comes out at the top, about 7000 ft elevation. 

It's a fuzzy picture, but you can see this little workhorse climb the mountain. 

That's the gradient.. It ranges between 22% and 48%. It's a regular climbing machine. 

At the top there are two hotels, in case you want to stay over. The views are spectacular (like they are everywhere in Switzerland). We felt like we were on top of the world. According to the literature on the mountain, 73 Apline peaks can be viewed from Pilatus. 

We had our first cloudy, semi-rainy day, so we saw tall peaks poking thru the clouds. 

The view was prettier than the one at the Matterhorn because the valley was green. Of course the elevation is different...7000 vs 9000 ft. The cloud cover added drama to the mountains too. It was perfect!

Soon it was time to descend, so we looked at the tram we were going to take. It was perched 

on the mountain, and of course it was steep.

We boarded the first of 2 gondola cars and slowly came down the mountain. 

About 1/3 of the way down we transferred to a smaller gondola car.

In the US there would have been someone helping you in and out of the car. In Switzerland, they make an assumption that you can do this task all by yourself. Guess what? We can and did! There was no reason to post a zillion warnings that this was a dangerous operation. It's pretty obvious that you need to be careful, so people are careful. BTW, this is the prevailing attitude for every mode of transportation we have been on. I find it refreshing!

We descended thru the cloud cover to the next switching station. If you wanted to get off the 

tram here, you could, or you could stay on for the rest of the ride down the mountain. 

Along the way we passed over chalets and playgrounds and very tall trees.

(Notice the tidy wood "piles"--no one has messy stacks of fire wood. I've been joking that there is a firewood inspector to make sure every stack Is perfect!)

All too soon rooftops from the city below came into focus and we were getting ready to land. We got out of our gondola car, walked about 3 blocks downhill to the bus stop. We took the #1 bus to the train station in Lucerne, then walked to our hotel. 

You know you are at the train station when you see a million bikes parked outside, patiently waiting for their riders to return.