McWaMo welcome letter & important info
Hello future Swiss Blissers!
If you are reading this, you were formally invited and accepted the invite to the second annual Swiss Bliss. As most of you know, The McPhilemy/Wade/Mojibi (McWaMo) contingent purchased a hotel in one of the most beautiful places in the world a few years ago. On behalf of Cyrus and Stephen, I’m pleased to announce the dates of this year’s Swiss Bliss – arriving Friday August 26th and departing Tuesday, August 30th, 2022. We have reserved the hotel for friends and family and hope to see many of you there. Last year’s inaugural Swiss Bliss was a smashing success, and I am confident we can provide a similar experience again.
Among many other things, we will bike the Lauterbrunnen Valley, swim in Interlaken, go on breathtaking hikes, see a glacial waterfall, eat some amazing food, and enjoy each other’s company. If you are brave enough, you can even do the famous via Ferrata (MURREN VIA FERRATA ON 'CLIFF EDGE' IN SWITZERLAND - Bing video).
Because availability is limited, we will hold your spot once we receive confirmation of the purchase of your airline tickets. Rooms will be held on a first come, first served basis. Details about costs and how to efficiently navigate the expensive nature of Switzerland will follow for those of you who confirm. Stephen, Patrick, and I have fallen in love with this valley and would like nothing more than to share its glory with many of you.
Information on Hotel Oberland is here – www.hoteloberland.ch and you can find more information on the Lauterbrunnen valley here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauterbrunnen.
Please follow up with Cyrus or myself if you have any questions or would like to confirm your spot.
Grüezi und Prost,
Patrick, on behalf of Cyrus and Stephen
ps We have lots of activities planned for the trip that are going to be the sorts of things that you'll remember for your whole life.
After doing the Dingle Dangle for so many years, I can safely say that this group doing the second annual Swiss Bliss is as good as any we've put together in the past. We'll have a schedule of activities available for you when you arrive, but for the time being here are some tips about what to expect:
1) I have found that it's worth it to arrange an international phone plan. The one I have with AT&T charges me $10/day, and I use my phone exactly as I would at home at no additional charge.
2) Most of you are flying into Zurich. The Swiss train system is remarkable, as you'll see when you board a train at the airport that, after a couple changes, goes directly to the village of Lauterbrunnen. After you go through immigration in Zurich, follow the signs to ground transportation and the train station. From there you can walk to a kiosk for a person to help or go to an automated station, which all have an English option at the bottom of the screen. Your ticket should say Zurich Flughaven (Airport) to Lauterbrunnen, and you can usually do it in one or two transfers. The transfer stations are usually Bern (always this one), Thun, Spiez, and Interlaken; there are multiple ways to get there. I find Google Maps helps to understand it a lot. You can put in the time you want to depart and where you want to go and it tells you the fastest way there and from which track it departs from.
Here is an example I created: https://goo.gl/maps/tpRUMyXGC39C7LNk6
If you have any problems, you can call
Patrick (0016613195325)
Cyrus (0016613402186).
Hotel Oberland (+41 33 855 1241) reception open 07:30 - 23:00. info@hoteloberland.ch
3) I know most of you are experienced European travelers, so this will seem like I'm stating the obvious, but DON'T GO TO SLEEP WHEN YOU ARRIVE! Do your best to stay up until at least 10pm, or at the most take a 30 min nap mid-day. This is a quick trip, and the faster you adjust to the time the better. I find that melatonin is pure magic in helping with this.
4) We will have daily activities that include hikes, bike rides, train trips, possibly walking on the sides of cliffs (https://youtu.be/OPY3alCHv-8 go to the 2:30 mark), eating at great restaurants, or possibly just lounging around the hotel patio drinking Swiss beer, wine, and Alpenbitters. At any point you can drop off and do your own thing, just please let us know ahead of time so that we can make adjustments. If anyone is deathly afraid of heights, please let us know.
5) The activities will be acceptable for all people, whether you're in good shape or not. Please be prepared for lots of walking. One of the essential things to do will be the hiking day. There will be two options: a hike for the dedicated hikers that will be 8 miles and 3,000ft of elevation gain, and the one for casual hikers that will be 3 miles and 650ft of elevation gain. These groups will meet and finish the hike together. The terrain will be amongst the most beautiful you've even seen.
6) Please anticipate things being pricey, particularly the little things like train rides, meals, or drinks; that's just Switzerland and there's no way around it.
7) The Swiss weather can be very unpredictable (think Tahoe or Mammoth.) We will likely have gorgeous days, and some rainy days. It rains a tremendous amount during the summer in that part of Switzerland.
8) Introduce yourself to the others on the trip. We're all in this together, and every single one of you is cool and interesting.
9) Stephen put some time into building a website for this trip! It's not done yet, but you can check out where it's going. In the future, you'll be able to get info about the itinerary and other essential information. (www.theswissbliss.com)
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to Cyrus, Stephen, or myself.
Gesundheit, Prost, and Slainte,
McWaMo AG
Stephen McPhilemy, Patrick Wade & Cyrus Mojibi
