Part Three of Kristy Flannery's Switzerland Travel Diary

Tuesday, August 8 Itinerary (Brig & Saas-Fee)

7:30 A.M.: Individual breakfast.

8:00 A.M.: Check out of the hotel.

9:00 A.M.: Meeting at the church in Naters to start the day and walk to Brig.

10:00 A.M.: Transfer by car from Brig to Visp to Lonza-Arena, ice rink of EHC Visp.

11:15 A.M.: Departure Visp to Saas-Fee.

12:00 P.M.: Arrival in Saas-Fee and transfer to Saas-Fee guides office.

12:45 P.M.: Take cableway from Saas-Fee to Laengfluh for lunch and glacier hike.

3:30 P.M.: Transfer back from Laengfluh to Saas-Fee.

4:15 P.M.: Raclette dinner in Saas-Fee village center.

6:00 P.M.: Check-in at Walliserhof Grand-Hotel & Spa in Saas-Fee.

Thoughts on the Day

"The benefit of observation to journalists is that it allows them to see events and persons in their natural context, thereby giving credence and authenticity to a story."

The best part of the day and everything that accompanied it was observing Nico in this unique environment. At this moment, he was not the captain of an NHL team with the weight of their success on his shoulders. He was a happy-go-lucky 24-year-old reminiscing about his childhood in Valais. 

Our day began in the village of Naters. According to the Devils' official website, Hischier's hometown is Brig, but other sites list his hometown as Naters. The latter is a municipality in the district of the former in the canton of Valais. One can easily walk from Naters to Brig by crossing a bridge over the Rhone River. His family resides in Naters, but the hospital he was born in is in Brig.

The group met Nico and the camera/film crew at the church in Naters. Accompanying the young New Jersey Devils' captain for the first half of the day was his manager, not to be confused with his agent, Patrick Fischer.

Related: Switzerland Travel Diaries: Glaciers, Mountain Carts, and Villa Cassel

Over the past few seasons, I have seen Nico interact dozens, if not hundreds, of times with the media. What I have yet to see is his interactions with fans, and that was something that intrigued me.

Unsurprisingly, he greeted them with his signature smile and almost immediately made the two 22-year-olds feel comfortable with him and the camera and film crew who captured the day's events. While the three walked ahead, I interviewed Fischer and learned more about the idyllic region from our Switzerland Tourism representative.

When it came time to hike the glacier, Nico checked in to see how the contest winners and I were doing. He understood this was outside our comfort zone, and as someone who considers seeing a movie at Pier A Park in Hoboken "outdoorsy," I appreciated the follow-up.

Before reaching the glacier, we had to carefully make our way down a (steep) hill covered with rocks. Some of those rocks were loose, making this the scariest thing I did in Switzerland.

I went through my phone to see if I took a photo of said hill, and unfortunately, the below is the best I got, but you get the general idea.

As I slowly and carefully made my way down the hill, I stopped to take a breath because, as previously established, I was out of shape by Switzerland standards and looked back for Nico. This kid casually strolled down the hill like he was walking on Washington Street in Hoboken. 

I recall pointing and shouting at Nico, "What the (heck)?!" which was met by him laughing and asking if I was okay. With a grin, he added, "Hey, it's my hometown."

It was then that I concluded that the Swiss are built differently. 

Throughout the day, I found myself impressed with Nico. He seemed enthralled by his conversation with the winners and was not only answering questions but asking them to learn more about them. He did whatever the camera and film crew asked of him and was courteous when answering my list of questions at dinner.

Plenty of more stories will be coming out from this day, including an interview with the two contest winners to get their perspectives. Stay tuned for that and the next part of my Switzerland travel diary.

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