Brig

Got in pretty late; bratwurst + spaghetti - expensive, but portions were huge (at least by Italian standards)

Next day: walked around town. Very clean, very quiet, no people. Had various pastries: croissant thing, a birnen strudel (what is a birnen?), and a ham strudel. Went to castle (Stockalperpalast) - pretty garden. Missed train due to confusion over location of platform 11 (it's actually across the street from the train station, and in the opposite direction of platform 9).

Went to see river. Interesting color. Saw some cool beetles. Also a weird swing. Bike path to Morel and Visp; probably rideable (in terms of distance). Would be cool to bike along the Rhone (downhill, ideally). Got some bread (weissbrot, 1/2 kg) and a birnen (turns out it's a pear). Interesting checkout method, which we've learned is standard around here: weigh it yourself and get a ticket.

Train to Morel, cable car up to Riederalp (33 CHF/person). Saw an awesome waterfall on the way up, and a mountain goat. Actually quite surprised to see it full of snow, despite all the people we saw with skis on the way up. Should've picked up on that hint. Riederalp is a giant ski resort (quite different from U.S. ski resorts).

Our shoes aren't great for the snow. It looks like skis are the primary form of transportation. I turned down a ski rental, though, because we weren't there for the skiing. We took a ski lift up (everybody had skis), and at the top (Moosfluh) there wasn't really a great view...just like the top of a ski lift. I didn't see the glacier, and there was a sign that indicated the panoramic view was down this ski trail. I began really regretting not taking the chance with the skis. Felt really bad about ruining our chance to go skiing in the Swiss Alps, and felt lied to by the Internet and the ticket counter (both of which said it was walkable).

But it turned out okay. We found the view point (saw the glacier), then found the hiking path. We didn't have the right shoes (they got thoroughly soaked), but it was still awesome. We ate our weissbrot and the salami from Florence. The walking path is pretty packed down, but if you stray off it, the snow collapses under you and you go down to your knees in snow. We hiked from Moosfluh to Hohfluh, then went back to the station.

Hiked up a giant hill to check in, found out that we got a free upgrade, said hi to a cat, and everything was great! Had a Swiss supermarket adventure (coop). Awesome dinner, and we had leftovers. Got nail clippers, which had been irking me greatly.