Delectations

SWISS NOTES

Appenzell. Some parts of Switzerland are Swisser than others. This one, in the eastern part of the country, is certainly among the Swissest of them all, untainted by transatlantic tourism. The landscape is ravishingly neat and playful, a profusion of single steep hills backed by the massive grey Santis mountain group, from which you get a superlative view over all the Swiss Alps. The Appenzell meadows are pure emerald, set off by occasional tall pine forests. The farmhouses lie on the meadows as if scattered from a giant toy box onto a green tray. The houses (windows to the sun and barns attached—the winters are cold) look stark since they don’t have the flower gardens and trees you find around the Bernese Oberland farms. Up and down the hills, the plots are carefully fenced in.

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Nika Hazelton

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SWISS NOTES

Appenzell. Some parts of Switzerland are Swisser than others. This one, in the eastern part of the country, is certainly among the Swissest of them all, untainted by transatlantic tourism. The landscape is ravishingly neat and playful, a profusion of single steep hills backed by the massive grey Santis mountain group, from which you get a superlative view over all the Swiss Alps. The Appenzell meadows are pure emerald, set off by occasional tall pine forests. The farmhouses lie on the meadows as if scattered from a giant toy box onto a green tray. The houses (windows to the sun and barns attached—the winters are cold) look stark since they don’t have the flower gardens and trees you find around the Bernese Oberland farms. Up and down the hills, the plots are carefully fenced in.