visiting the monastary of the hermit.

In 835, this monk dude named St. Mienrad decided that he wanted to get away from it all. So, he went to the most isolated place that he could find, a place where no one had lived since the stone age, and built himself a little hut. This was on the side of a mountain now known as Mt. Etzel.

Now, St. Mienrad really wasn't all alone in his little hut way up there on Mt. Etzel. Oh no, he had with him this really cool, miracle-working statue of a black Virgin Mary. Of course, he had to pay the statue the proper respect, so he set up a small shrine and ensconced his Madonna there. Big Mistake. Of course, word got out about the miraculous Madonna, and his little shrine became a magnet for pilgrims bearing gifts. Well, some low-class hoods heard about the treasures left at the shrine by pilgrims, so they decided to make a heist. They killed the monk, but didn't get too far with the loot, because they were followed by two ravens into the next town, who called attention to the thugs with their loud squawking. Thus, the reason for the two ravens on the Einsiedeln village flag.

After St. Mienrad's untimely death, other monk dudes decided that they wanted to be hermits, too, so they came up to Mt. Etzel and lived in his hut. Then this monk named Eberhard became tired of life in a hut, so he built a monastary and church in 934. Over the years, Einsiedeln village built up around the monastary and thus Eberhard ended up ruling over his own little fiefdom.

In 1746, the humungous church that is presently there was completed. There were a lot of rich benefactors, because there is more gold decor in that church than you can shake a stick at. I mean, there is so much gold that they had enough left over to completely cover some of the statues outside the church!

So, of course, I had to see all this magnificence for myself, so we made a little road trip up the mountain from Zurich. It took about an hour to get there by car, which allowed us to see some of the local countryside.

This is Sihlsee, which is a reservoir near Einsiedeln. Lots of recreation available here, including camping and boating. The dam prevents flooding downriver in Zurich.

Nice little chalet and barn by the lake.

This is the front of the church, and only part of the monastary. I couldn't obtain a good vantage point to get a decent photo of the whole thing.

This is a view of a portion of Einsiedeln village from the church steps.

Remember all that gold that I was telling you about? Well this is only a small portion of the vast church interior. I could have just sat in a pew all day and gawked at the frescoes and ornamentation. Of course, they wouldn't allow photography in there, so I nabbed this photo from another website.

This is the famous black Madonna that was brought here by St. Meinard in 835. She appears to be about four to five feet tall. Yes, that is real gold behind her. She has her own elaborate shrine within the church.

The gold decor is continued out in front of the church, where this large statue guards the fountains.

Catholics making pilgrimages to Einsiedeln are supposed to drink from each of the spouts in this fountain. No, I did not attempt to drink. I was afraid that I'd be like the kid in "A Christmas Story" and have my lips freeze to the spout. Now, that would have been embarrassing.

This is the upper story of the town hall. I guess their renovation strategy means no more upgrades until 2133 or so.

This demonstrates true Swiss enterprising ingenuity. A tourist can obtain a horse drawn sleigh ride no matter what the season or the weather. And, the Swiss entrepreneuer can make a buck (or franc) no matter what the season or the weather. It's a win-win situation for all involved.

Of course, I had to make my own little contribution to the Einseideln economy by purchasing a new Trollbead for my bracelet. I selected this one because it reminded me of the snow and ice of the Swiss Alps. The other bead is from the beach in North Carolina, and is reminiscent of ocean water.

We also stopped in at a local cafe, where Kurt treated us to a little afternoon tea. Well, Lisa had tea, but I had an apple-cinnamon crepe and Andre had the largest doughnut I have ever seen.

The Einsiedeln area is also known for its ski slopes. On the way out of town, we spotted a Rega Rescue helicopter. (Kurt does the avionics for Rega.) He said it was probably on it's way to pick up an injured skier.

See? There it is.... It almost got away before I could snap the picture.

I sooo wanted to do this, but we didn't have time. I can't ski worth a hoot, but sledding is no problem! And what a hill!

Sunny one minute, and almost night-time the next. We hit the fog going down the mountain, and it was like entering another world. This explains why it is overcast and cloudy through the winter months in Zurich and Kloten - there is almost always a high cover of fog obscuring the sun.