My cousin used the word 'funicular' today while we were discussing her recent trip to nine different counties throughout Europe. Funicular. Like that was just something everyone should know. I glanced to my older sister who had previously started cracking up with she saw a photo of Laura on the high-way in Germany with a sign in the background that said "ausfahrt" (which translates to "exit")...Yet, I got no response that she thought funicular was funny. I'm not sure exactly what it was about funicular that made it seem hilarious, or at least dirty in some way, but apparently I was the only one feeling this way. I held my tounge for a few minutes until I had to ask. What Laura had been describing as a 'funicular' I would have described as 'a train going up a mountain'. Since I couldn't actually SEE the transportation method she was describing I had originally assumed she was mistaking 'gondola' with 'funicular' ... easy mix up. I now understand that a funicular train is a cable railway that moves up and down steep slopes. They happened to be going up a hill in Interlaken, Switzerland to revisit this little restaurant that she had gone to with my dad and brother and cousin Corey when we went to Switzerland in 2000 as part of Michigan State University's alumni-abroad program. So the only way to get to this special little restaurant in Switzerland called Harder Kulm is to hike the mountain...or take a funicular. Now I know.
- Lizzie