SWITZERLAND Left: the 12 hour train ride from Amsterdam to Scuol - via Basel, Zurich and Lanquart. OK so everyone needs a vacation every now and then eh? I think just about everyone except for my boss will agree with me on that one. However, what one considers a "vacation" takes on its own meaning when my father comes into play. While most of us vacation to get away from their family I find myself using my weeks off to meet up with my folks who live half the world away. While my mother and bro Dusty visited me in for a relaxing week in San Francisco last summer, my father chose hiking in the alps of Switzerland his destination and I enthusiastically met up with him there. Now this is where a little problem becomes apparent. You see, my father is an adventuress, a great taker of risks. The problem is he doesn't always see eye to eye with my lazy, slacking on the beach vacation type ideals. Instead, grueling 12 hour train journeys and exhausting two day hikes into the alpine wilderness are his idea of fun. Nevertheless, he is my father so I resolved to lay down the gauntlet and join him on one of his lunatic excursions. There were other factors however that made me want to do this trip. We would be staying with Tommy Beck, an old friend from Oman whom I hadn't seen in some 5 years or so. Also this was a rather unique opportunity to see Switzerland, the land of Heidi and the Sound of Music. Also, unfortunately, one of the most expensive countries in the world to visit. Despite being such a tiny country, there are 4 languages spoken in Switzerland; French, Italian, German and Romansh. Switzerland has become a major banking and insurance center and has a history for its neutrality. Switzerland's ability to stay neutral during both of the World Wars, the Cold War and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe has attributed to their high standards of living. Above: the train ride, as long and tedious as it was did posses some excellent scenery Above: Johnny Marr (or at least the equivalent of...), Anika, Tommy, Laiq (the dog), Alice and a Japanese tourist outside the Back's house I met up with my dad at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport with no difficulty. I arrived on a plane from San Francisco while my dad was coming from Houston. We immediately caught the train into the city and then onto Basel, Switzerland. The long, wearisome 12 hour ride was torture for me. I will admit it that the German countryside we passed through was beautiful and picturesque but despite my father's constant reminder of this, I still complained incessantly that we hadn't opted for a plane instead. Sitting down in one place for hours is not something I find easy.... It's a bit like seeing Kate Winslett in Titanic. I love seeing Kate Winslett but weather or not I want to sit through 3 1/2 hours of her silly movie is another matter......  We had to take 3 more trains once arriving in Switzerland, switching trains in Basel, Zurich and Landquart. We finally strolled into Scuol close to midnight and were met by Tommy Back, his wife Alice and daughter Anika. It was also a pleasure to see their charismatic dog Laiq was still an essential part of the family. We stayed with the Back's in Scuol for a good 4 nights and they turned out to be paramount hosts; allowing my father and I to feel at home while Alice kept us well fed and Anika provided the entertainment. Scuol is a tiny, embellished, typical city in the Swiss Alps. It is located in the providence of Graubünden, in the south east of Switzerland bordering Italy. Graubünden is the largest yet least populous providence in Switzerland. Dominated by its mountainous landscape of the Swiss Alps, Graubünden lacks any major city to give its population a boost. St Moritz Mtn. and the Egandine Valley attract thousands of tourists each year as skiing and mountain climbing are of the finest quality here. Scuol is also one of the only places in the world where you'll find the arcane language of Romansch spoken. Romansch, a combination of roman Latin and the Rhaetian Tuscan dialect has eluded some of the greatest anthropologists as to how it came about to be spoken in this part of Switzerland. Nevertheless, only 1% of the whole Swiss population speaks Romansch yet it is quite widely spoken in this part Graubünden.   A Californian in Switzerland... ahhhh...... now this is what I call a vacation. After a nice sleep at Tommy's we awoke early the next morning and set off on our first hike. We chose to take it easy the first day, taking a gondola, used as a ski lift in the winter season, up to one of the nearby peaks, Motta Naluns. We walked an extra 200 meters up to reach about 2316 m (according to my father's GPS) in order to assess the two day journey we were going to make the next day. The walk down was a little tougher and a prelude of things to come the next day as we detoured down to the nearby village of Sent and then back to Scuol. Left: My dad gets a kick out of spitting down on rafters from bridgetops The next day we set out on a two day journey which would take us up the larger Alpine Mts. surrounding Scuol, over 3,000 m above sea level to Piz Lischana and close to the Italian border then down through the Engadine Valley and back via Uina Danaint and Sur En. We spent the first day walking up Mt Lischana. Close to the peak there lies a hut called Chammana Lischana. The hut is used as a guest hostel for backpackers and we spent the night in the dining room there (the beds were all taken). Spending the night here is ridiculously expensive (about $40/ person for a cramped bed) but then again this is Switzerland..... We awoke early the next morning, at around 7:15 am and made our way up to the peak of Piz Lischana. The view from there was spectacular as was the walk down through the Valley through snowy mountains, grass plains and a rather threatening gorge walk through the mountains onto Sur En. Oh yeah and did I mention the glacier lake I decided to take a little swim in. Taking a little dip into this glacier lake probably wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made. Nevertheless, after a slight stint with hypothermia, I managed to come out unscathed. Above: The fool on the hill ...... and then there's me on the right ...... the Swiss Alps in the near background and the Italian Alps in the far back. We spent our final day in Scuol in their wonderful outdoor spa at the Scuol recreational baths. Now these are very impressive. Indoor swimming facilities are quite common in Swiss villages however Scuol's outdoor Jacuzzi's are quite spectacular. We then thanked Tommy and his family for their hospitality and generosity before heading back to Amsterdam by train. Fortunately this time, the train was overnight so we slept most of the way. Switzerland certainly is one of the most peaceful, pleasant and scenic places on earth and strongly suggest a trip there - that's if you can afford it. I said good-bye to my dad in Amsterdam the next day after a nice night out in the city before heading back to San Francisco. to go back to travels page to go back to main page;