Trip update Switzerland with an accident
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I wanted to write a quick review of our trip to Switzerland. I appreciated all the advice and loved reading everyones answers to everyones questions.
We traveled to Switzerland in October of 2018. We arrived in Zurich and took the train to Lucerne. We rented an AirBnB that wasn’t that far from the train station. We refreshed ourselves from the overnight flight and headed out to dinner and walked around Lucerne. Next day we took the boat to Mount Pilatus. The weather was lovely and we really enjoyed being on the water.
Next day we took the train to Interlaken and then to Wengen. We rented a chalet there that looked down over Lauterbrunnen. Truly amazing. We ordered a pizza and sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view.
We went out to Murren, Schilthorn and then walked around Gimmelwald. We enjoyed Gimmelwald for its authentic charm. We made our way down to Lauterbrunnen and had dinner.
The next day we wanted to go to Grindelwald First and my husband wanted to do the activities such as the mountain carts and the trottibikes. We took the gondola to Mannlichen and the lift to Grindelwald. The ride was gorgeous and we loved First. But then we got on the trottibikes.
I am clumsy so I took my time learning the bike and then we took off down the mountain. I am not a daredevil and I don’t take risk. We were stopping along the way and taking pictures just enjoying the view. Then my husband hit a divot in the road and wrecked. I was in front of him and I heard him wreck. I tried to stop quickly and I either got too close to the grass or I tried to turn around and look at him, but whatever happened, I jumped off and rolled a few times down the road. My husband hurried over to me and I told him that I had hurt my knees. He said I tried to stand up and I couldn’t so he picked me up and took me to the bench. People stopped to help and I told them I thought I was ok but they called the ambulance which at this point was a John Deer golf cart type car. It took us forever to get down the mountain due to the cows being in the street. They got me to the doctors office in town and by then I was in really bad pain. I knew something was wrong. They x-rayed my legs and I had broken both knees. I was taken by ambulance to Interlaken and admitted to the hospital. The next day I had a four hour surgery and stayed in the hospital for the rest of our vacation. My husband had two cracked ribs and a broken elbow. It was a nightmare. I was 50 years old when this happened and I’ve never broken anything but a toe. I received excellent care in the hospital and my husband worked on the logistics of getting me home. THAT was a nightmare. But 24 hours later, we made it home. Our son. who lived in Texas, had to move back home with us (in Florida) to help because I couldn’t walk for two months. It was a really hard and challenging time but we have made it to the other side. I now have 4 pins in each knee and a toe that will probably have to have something done to it, but we are alive. We have travelled internationally a lot and now I know how quickly something can happen. Just in a split second. I advise everyone to take out special insurance to cover for things like this. We had to pay 20K for the hospital, emergency room, the ambulance, and the surgery. We also had to buy a first class ticket for 2,300 dollars bc I had braces on my legs and they couldn’t bend. Our insurance reimbursed us 14k. So it was a very expensive vacation. Just a word of advice to everyone that reads this story.
We are now headed back to Switzerland in May. We are staying in one place and taking the train to different areas that we want to see. I will say that I get a little anxious when I see pictures of Grindelwald but we will visit there again and we will not be doing anything that isn’t walking.
Hopefully I can post a good trip report when I return. I will be reading the message boards for ideas and I just want to thank everyone that gives advice because it really helps.
Melanie
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