(Although this blog entry is decidedly late, I urge you to submit yourselves to the convenient fiction that it is written while having just arrived at Appenzell, after we spent 2 days of driving though the Alps.) The long-established unity of Switzerland is an amazing accomplishment, particularly in the face of its geography. Using today's technology, getting from place to place over the massive mountains is relatively eas. But pre-industrial journeys, whether on foot, astride horses, aboard wagons, or in Hannibal's case, perched atop elephants, would have been a challenge where a travelers' survival was open to question. We departed Wengen on Thursday, admittedly a bit wistful about leaving the valley where the landscape had entertained us so lavishly for 4 days. By noon, the trains had brought us to Interlaken where we expected to picked up two rental cars. As luck would have it, they were fresh out of the cars we had signed up for. So in one of the best bargains of the trip, we ditched the smaller car, and for the same price as a smaller van, we squeezed ourselves and our luggage quite easily into one large (7-passenger) van. This enabled us to enjoy the upcoming scenery together. With Toby behind the wheel and me navigating, the five of us decided to take the route that winds past Lake Brienz and then climbs over the Sustenpass, a 7,400-foot-high alpine pass that lies far above the tree-line. The vistas along the way were spectacular, and I have provided more than the average number of photos and videos with this blog to give you a few examples. The road carried us around a series of switchbacks and through various tunnels as we ascended to the pass. Waterfalls along the way were so numerous that we lost count. Near the top of the pass, we stopped to gawk at the Stein Glacier. When we looked back, we saw a group of climbers rappelling down a cliff alongside one of the waterfalls. We stopped again briefly at the very top, where plow trailings left evidence of an overnight snow, but the clouds were a bit heavy, and the scenery was more closed in. After we reached the eastern side of the pass, we turned north toward Lake Luzern (Lucerne). We had decided to hold off booking a hotel for the night, and rather than stopping in Brunnen, which looked overly urban, we proceeded along the shore of the lake to find lodging in Vitznau. The construction underway in this small lakeside village suggests that expanded tourism is just around the corner. The Lake Luzern steamer, which takes about 3 hours to circumnavigate the dog-legged lake, stopped at the town dock as we were headed out for dinner. As I have noted before, transport in Switzerland is kaleidoscopically diverse. The next morning we set out for Appenzell, this time mapping our route across the 6,400-foot Klausenpass. The topography around the Klausen is more pastoral. The roadway twisted its way alongside jagged cliffs and meadows filled with cows and sheep. Each time we stopped, we heard the unmistakable sounds of cowbells echoing lightly through the canyons. This scenery, more than any we saw elsewhere, perfectly fit Swiss stereotype. And it did not hurt that this day was particularly sunny and the sky nearly cloudless. Again we wove our way around switchbacks, ever watchful for motorcycles that seemed to lay claim to the Klausen roadway. (We marveled to see a few hyper-fit pedalers biking over the pass.) I hope the pictures and videos partially show the grandeur of the scenery, After descending from the alpine heights the trip to Appenzell seemed relatively easy. And this region represents one of the most farm-focused areas of the country. But more on that in the next installment.