Tuesday … had a fantastic adventure in my second homeland. I met my friend 
Stephan at the Thun Bahnhof at 7:30 (yeah, I was up at 5:30) and we hopped on the train to Bern where we met 
our pal Michel.
Now there is history between the three of us. We have been friends since our 2017 success with the Swiss Junior National team in Amsterdam. Michel was the head coach of the team and Stephan coached with the offense. I just served 
as a visiting coach. It was a blast and we had a lot of fun together. (More of the history later … let’s get to the story!
Like I said we met Michel in Bern and then took to the rails again and traveled to the beautiful city of Luzern 
(or Lucern). From there we took the train for the short trip to Stans.
Now, Stephan and Michel had planned this trip without telling me where we were going. (Although I know that Michel was going to do something to tease me … he 
knows that although I am not afraid of heights … I am not going to get near the edge of anything too steep. Yeah, I know this is Switzerland … I get it – the Alps …. some majestic mountain peaks! Still – I am not crazy about staring down from really high places!)
We wander around for a few minutes in Stanns and then board a train which is a “fornicular railway system.” Yeah, I know … thank God (hope I don’t get canceled for mentioning God) for Wikepedia to find out these things. From 
what I gather as one car goes up it is balanced by another going down??? Well maybe not – no one said I was smart.
From the “Train” we get on a cable car … I thought of it as more of a gondola … however technicalities abound. Cable car, gondola – tomato – tomatoe – who cares.
Anyway we got on this funky little train going up a steep grade (VERY steep grade) – eventually got off and boarded this pretty cool enclosed car (with an open observation deck above). We cabled up to a large lodge with a revolving restaurant.
Pretty damn cool!
Sat around had breakfast … well also a beer.
The three of us hiked around the Stanserhorn for 45 minutes or so. Just 
wandering and shooting the breeze. I stayed well to the inside of the fenced in paths – Stephan and Michel were much more adventurous looking out over the fencing. They were trying to see the sights through the clouds while I was checking to see if my parachute was packed properly.
Too bad we were enclosed by clouds because I am sure the views of the surrounding peaks are amazing.
We hiked to the top of the peak which is nearly 1900 meters as per the plaque at the top. Now – we did make it to the highest point and I assure you this was a pretty reasonable hike – but it was not mountain climbing.
We three walked back down to the “lodge” sat around and had another beer. We plotted our strategy for the remaining part of the afternoon. Pretty simple.
Back down the mountainside in reverse order of the climb then train back to 
Luzern (Lucerne) where we would grab a beer and then take the train around Lake Luzern to Interlaken. Stephan suggested this route for our way back home because of its beauty.
***You see we football coaches have a sensitive side too!***
Although we dropped the “having a beer idea in Luzern” pretty quickly when we sat down at a table along the river and discovered the beer cost almost 9 swiss francs. We did the next best thing … went back to the train station and
grabbed a hot pretzel and a six pack of Quollfrisch.
Stephan was right about the train around the lake. Absolutely fantastic views as we made our way to Interlaken.