The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: August tenth, rambling in Rosenlaui.

The Bernese Oberland, heart of the Swiss Alps, is a breathtaking destination year round, a realm of majestic, storied peaks, yawning gorges, glacial torrents and plunging waterfalls. In winter, the high peaks are a snowsport paradise. April into October, the green slopes are dappled with hikers, cyclists sweat the steep inclines and gliders grace the clouds. A superb network of trains, funiculars and gondolas provide access to storybook resorts like Zermatt and Grindelwald. Yet, though undeniably wonderful, the Oberland can also get quite busy. Here's one place to escape the crowds.

The Reichenbach Valley, a high pass between Grindelwald and Meiringen, tumbles down from the towering Wetterhorn Peaks into the River Aare. Two centuries ago, a herdsman living in the upper valley happened across a mineral spring, and discovered that its sulfurous waters cured his wife's arthritis. The news spread and a spa was built, which drew visitors from afar. In the late 19th century, Bad Rosenlaui, as the spa was known, was a stop on the Swiss itineraries of well-heeled visitors. Intellectuals, from Mark Twain and Conan Doyle to Friedreich Nietzsche, spent weeks in the Art Nouveau hotel and from its terrace, watched climbers scale nearby peaks. Then 80 years ago, an avalanche buried the spring, and the spa drifted into obscurity.

Spared the development of other areas, Rosenlaui was lovingly and authentically preserved. Today, the old Hotel Rosenlaui provides a quaint, quiet, inexpensive base from which to explore the pristine mountains and glacial gorges of old Switzerland.

FMI For information on the area, www.alpenregion.ch

For information on Hotel Rosenlaui (open June through September). The address is CH 3860 Rosenlaui, Berner Oberland.

From the U.S, the telephone and fax number is 011-41-033- 971-29-12. E-mail contact info@meiringenhasliberg.ch

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