Looking for Lehmen - Monday July 5, 2010
We were uncertain what to do today since it was raining lightly at first so we went into Appenzell, parked at the Migros grocery store and waited a while. It only got worse and poured like crazy for 30 min. or more so there we sat. Across from us was a little Kiosk selling only bread - she was so busy we saw her on the phone and soon a car arrived with more bread. We decided that most grocery stores sell pre-packaged bread only but apparently folks here and in much of Europe want fresh bread - unwrapped on the shelf - just grab a loaf and wrap it in a paper bag. After the rain let up we headed for the Information again to try to find the Biblioteque AKA Libray. We gave up and just walked around town under the umbrella - pretty much covered the whole town. In a way it was good since we got better oriented with the layout and the pedestrian only areas as well as the one way streets. We got a few groceries for the day when the rain subsided and by then it was almost noon.
After shopping we headed to Wasserauen, ate lunch in the parking lot there and decided that if the weather cleared we would take the cable car lift up to Ebenalp which is basically a one house stop on the high trail. Reportedly it is built into the rock on a narrow ledge - will see for sure on another day when the weather clears.
No clearing of the weather so decided to try to find the Village of Lehmen which as some of you may not know is Jean's maiden name - well almost - it is Lehman actually. We had been almost there in '02 when it was a walk-in only town but on the maps now it appeared to be driveable. We got to the same point as we did in '02 and now we see the only hotel there has been renamed Gastehaus Lehmen but the sign still pointed the Lehmen being 35 min. walk beyond. We started off in one direction but got to a Y in the trail and the sign to the right pointed to Lehmen so we took it but soon it ended at a shack/cabin with no sign of life except there was fresh wood cut for the winter. So guess we found it!! Back down the trail and into town, we drove around looking for a place for afternoon coffee, found a cafe and relaxed a bit.
Then it was into the car again looking for a fairly level terrain to ride bicycles. Just out of town along the river and beside the railway track, we rode for an hour or so before returning to our Zimmer for the day.
