In typical Louisa and Clark style, we set off early Sunday morning by train to discover the center of Switzerland. The idea was to bring together our ideas of what we want to build in our relationship and to write them down and share them with each other.
Organized Clark packed a picnic bag with plates and glasses and silverware, a notebook, pen, and markers. Chaotic Louisa, as usual, was a little bit late. She forgot her paper, and Clark reminded her it was no longer Fools Day! After a trip to Coop to pack our picnic, we were off on our Alpine adventure.
When we arrived in Sachseln, we walked to a bakery Clark used to go to as a little boy. After a black coffee and a look at the map, we headed off on our 4-hour hike. It was overcast and chilly. Clark was somewhere between overheating and freezing. The hike was mostly along a street, and we talked along the way, about movies and memories, and upcoming plans. We made up a word for the moment you think of the absolute worst thing you can imagine doing. We call it “Santa Down” like Santa going to the South Pole to his holiday Wohnung for vacation. We saw a beautiful waterfall and some snails along the way. We stopped along the hike to have snacks and take a break. Clark liked to imagine he was growing banana trees and citrus trees by throwing the fruit peels in the forest. We walked and walked until we walked up into the fog. It started to get mystical and colder. Finally, we got near the restaurant at the top.
We passed a couple of men from Germany. I asked them to take our picture. Clark was talking to them about how they couldn’t find the center of Switzerland. They even had their compasses but they couldn’t see a thing. Clark waited till they were out of earshot, and then he mentioned what he “really thought un-politically correct” about Germans looking around for the center of the Alps. (insert appropriate emoji) Then we came upon a motorcycle couple. They also said the same about finding the center and showed us some technical compass geography devices they had. They didn’t have any luck. Clark said he couldn’t understand why they all had just given up. I was starving.
As we wandered further into the fog, there was snow on the ground and signs pointing to the restaurant. We found a little corner with a picnic bench that somewhat blocked the wind and we made a HUGE FEAST (not a fancy feast) but a big picnic. Clark got to use his Picnic backpack for the first time. We drank white wine out of a box and had a spread of cheese, prosciutto, grapes, bread, and hummus. We were absolutely starving after that hike, we ate like we hadn’t eaten in days, inhaling the food. It started to get extremely cold and you couldn’t see a thing.
After eating, we packed up everything and Clark led the way into the fog. He was bound and determined to find the middle point. I wasn’t sure about the visibility and snow everywhere. Everything looked white and I had no idea where we were or where we were going. I got scared and said to Clark I wasn’t sure we should keep going. He said, “you think I’m turning around now without finding the middle? no way! I’m not giving up.” I was scared, but I trusted his sense of direction. We followed a fence post further and further into the complete whiteout.
There was a small hill that had a clear view, I scampered up the hill calling out to Clark to come quick! I waited until he was with me, and we found the Center together. No one had the courage or patience to discover the center of Switzerland that day, except the exploring team of Clark and Louisa. We sat down and told each other things that we want to hold onto, things that we will always treasure, we opened our hearts to each other. Clark said he could stay and talk all night. I got scared as the fog rolled in, and we had to find our way back to the path. Clark was brave and reassured me that everything would be fine. We headed back into the fog, and eventually found the path. On the way down, we hitchhiked from a couple from Stans. They were just out driving around to enjoy the scenery. They also hadn’t ventured to the center of Switzerland (too much snow) Only Crazy Us had found it! They saved us from 3 hours of hiking. What a beautiful way to make a memory and learn a lesson about not giving up and trusting each other before moving into the Castle.