How to Fall Down a Mountain in the Swiss Alps

During spring break 1988, I went with other students and parents and my German teacher to four German-speaking countries: Austria, West Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The following is part of a series of travel journal excerpts. Keep in mind: a teenager wrote this.

The waterfall behind the inn (and behind this house)

The tour bus arrived in Switzerland, where some of my ancestors had lived. That’s the origin of my last name, Wiget (pronounced WIGG-it or if you’re Swiss VEE-git). If you can pronounce the English words “wig” and “it,” you can pronounce “Wiget.”

We stopped at an inn, the Bergfluss, in picturesque surroundings, and I was not the only one who was surprised. We’re staying there, instead of in a large hotel. As it turned out, we filled the whole inn, and there are six girls from the other school, who are staying at another inn, as the “exiles.”

Here’s a parting photo I took of the inn at which we stayed in the Swiss Alps.

[I forget the details but think the original plan involved everyone staying at the same large hotel, but something happened — maybe it was closed for renovations or maybe it was fully booked for a conference.]

We arrived at about 5:00 pm, so there was plenty of free time before our 7:00 supper. Everyone went out to…