Part 3: Beautiful Village | SUMMER IN HERISAU

Turning off the major thoroughfare of Route 8 in Herisau, there is a nondescript road called Rechbergstrasse. This narrow pathway leaves behind the shops, restaurants, grocery stores, car dealerships, gas stations and bus stops that rest along Route 8 and leads the traveler into an escape to the Swiss countryside.

Rechbergstrasse twists and turns, winding on a gradual incline cutting through plush green and perfectly manicured grass. The open fields are interrupted by the classic chalet homes with light orange or brown gabled roofs, wooden beams stack up vertically on the outer exterior and vivaciously colorful adorning flowers under the windows.

Broad trees stand proudly in clusters to provide the road with occasional shading from the shining sun. One portion of the road navigates against a wired fence with cows that have ventured close enough that a passerby could reach out and touch them. They stand unbothered while chewing on their feed. The road is only wide enough for one vehicle, though appears scarcely trafficked. As the altitude climbs, the shoulder of the road declines into nothing more than a steep cliff.

The road zigzags to a final crescendo atop the hill. That is the location of Restaurant Rechberg. This simple country inn has an outdoor seating area with a pristine panoramic view that features the Appenzell region – vibrant grass slopes undulate with high-rising dark trees cutting throughout as tiny homes are sprinkled around. In the distance the domineering Santis mountain range and the Alpstein mountains reach to the heavens. Above the mountain range are marshmallow white clouds that drift under illuminous blue skies.

Near the restaurant is a chicken coop, where all the eggs that are served originate. The chickens cluck at customers within their free-range cage. On the opposite side of the restaurant is a fenced off area that has a miniature house that a fluffle of bunnies call home. They occasionally poke out to wiggle their noses before returning to hiding. On the outdoor patio, patrons sit enjoying their meals. In a grassy lawn in front of the patio there is a children’s slide, swing set and a miniature electronic swing carousel. 

“We came here a lot when I was a kid,” says Timo Meier, sitting on a bench at a long table with a glass of water in his hand. “I used to swing on those swings and jump off as high as I could.”

As he says this, a young boy – maybe 5 or 6 years old – runs over to the play area, climbs the wooden ladder and rides down the slide. Meier looks on through black sunglasses.

“Want to try it again? I’ll push you,” quips a voice from Meier’s side. Fellow Swiss-born NHLer Philipp Kurashev has joined Meier for today’s lunch with a view.

“I don’t think I can even fit in the seat anymore,” laughs Meier.

After the little boy leaves, Meier walks over and settles, uncomfortably, into the red swing seat. After getting the motion started, Kurashev gives him a couple shoves. The swing chains squeak and scratch with friction. 

“This is going to break,” Kurashev says with a smile.

“I hope not,” Meier responds.

After a few swings, Meier releases his arms and jumps forward, the momentum carrying him into a light jog before stopping.

While Meier, Kurashev and select company enjoy their lunch adjacent to a row of corn stalks, the playset is active with kids at play. Even the host, a woman with short-cut hair and circle glasses named Heidi, walks over to push some kids on the swing. An unleashed dog roams about the property following its nose’s lead.

“There’s no place like home, right?” Meier says overlooking the landscape of Herisau and the Appenzell region. “It’s a beautiful place. You have the mountains, you have the city, and you have the lake as well. It kind of covers everything. In the summer, you don’t really have to go far. You have everything around here. I love it. It’s a special place for me.

“It's chill. It's quiet. It's nature. Just for me to recover physically and mentally, it's the ideal place.”

Herisau is a quaint countryside village. Over a quarter of the land is covered by forest and nearly 60 percent is used for agriculture. Only 15 percent of the village has buildings and streets. Many of its inhabitants are born, raised and remain in the area.

“I think where I'm from, people are very humble. They're hardworking. Obviously, it's a beautiful scene like you can tell here,” Meier says while looking toward the mountain and hills. “All the people here, all my friends here, they know me since I'm a little kid, and for them, I'm still little Timo. Still the same person that started playing hockey at 4 and lived through his childhood here. And so, it's awesome for me to come back and kind of balance out from all that business during the hockey season.”

In between the low hum of conversation, a peaceful silence fills the serene scene. Gentle winds whisper in the ear and nudge the grass and crops. The calming environment is a sharp differentiation to the fast-paced hustle and bustle of life in New Jersey.

“It’s a good contrast to living in Jersey and having that stress during the season,” Meier says. “It’s a stressful lifestyle, a lot of traveling, a lot of games. I think this is great for me to get away from everything and spend time with the family by the lake, in the mountains.

“I always say it's perfect for me to be nine months, eight months in the US in Jersey, where I'm very driven and we have goals as a hockey player, as a team, things that we want to achieve, but then come back here. So, this is ideal for me to have the privilege to be from such a great area, to be from such a beautiful country that, if you look around, it kind of looks like a painting. Looks fake sometimes, how clear the water is and the scenery with the mountains and everything.”

The following day, Meier pilots the steering wheel of his car as he traverses the streets of Herisau. Each turn unlocks a memory. Every block has left its imprint on him.

Passing by the Sportzentrum: “I grew up close to the rink, just five minutes up the hill. We didn’t have a locker room where we could keep our gear, so we always had to carry the bag home after practice. So that was always a little workout to go up the hill. I eventually got one with rollers on it. It saved me a lot of energy for practice.”

A quarter mile from Sportzentrum car passes the Schulhaus Landhaus: “That was my first school. A lot of memories running around here. Lots of friends that I still have.”

A five-minute drive and the car passes Sitterstadion, the home of FC St. Gallen 1879: “I still remember, I was like 14 years old, I would go to the stadium, and I’d be chanting in the fan section in the middle of all the people. I loved it. The soccer games, the atmosphere in this arena is incredible. It always gives me goosebumps. The fans are unbelievable. I always like to go as a fan. It’s a big passion for me.”

A 10-minute drive leads Meier to Thurgau, a canton situated northeast of Herisau. The car veers its way through the urban streets into the municipality of Horn. The roads of this harbour town disappear into the waters of Lake Constance, a tongue-shaped pool whose shores touch Switzerland, Germany and Austria, a unifying and demarcating point for the three countries.

“This is the Swiss side, and then you have Germany on the other side,” Meier says with one hand on the steering wheel and the other pointing across the expansive lake. “You can take a boat and have dinner or lunch in Germany, or you can go to Austria.”

On foot, Meier leads the way to the shoreline. He leans casually against a railing that overlooks the lake.

“I have memories of swimming in the lake,” Meier says. “First time with my friends, we went to swim in the lake, and the wind picked up, and big waves came. I have small things like that I remember.”

Meier turns his gaze to the left, reliving the moments as he speaks.

“I look out here,” Meier points down toward the water’s edge. “There's the jumping boards where you dive into the water. We spent a lot of time on top of those, trying new tricks off the dive board and failing with them, smashing your face into the water.”

Meier smiles reliving the moment. “Backflip was kind of my signature, but there were all kinds of different flips. One was a banana, and then we did the ones where you tried to splash as much as possible. We did little competitions. Who can splash the highest? Just little things like that, that I enjoyed every second of.”

Lake Constance, also called the Bodensee in German, stretches 39 miles long and almost nine miles wide. This vast body of water, the third largest freshwater lake in Central and Western Europe, was once a frozen landscape, part of the Rhine Glacier. At the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago, the ice melted into the foothills of the Alps with water sinking into a concentration of what is today’s lake.

The clear waters allow the eye to perceive into the Constance’s depths, observing flowing seaweeds, rocky bottoms and sea life. Tinted shades of blue and green waves rise and fall against the rocky shoreline. A handful of boats drift lazily. Across the overwhelming stretch of lake, the faint outline of Germany can be deciphered.

“My mother grew up on this lake on the German side,” Meier says. “My grandparents lived on the German side. My mother always wanted to go back to the lake because that’s where she grew up.”

Meier’s parents – Charly and Claudia – eventually moved from his boyhood home to be closer to the lake while he was in his late teens. And when Meier bought a place of his own, he stayed close to family, and close to the lake.

“My parents live close to where I live,” he says. “Like a 10-minute walk.”

Lake Constance is as connected to Meier and his family as is the house in which they grew up in Herisau.

“I spend a lot of time on the lake,” he says. “It's a great way to recharge the batteries and just gives me a lot of life quality having this nice of a lake. Being able to go on the boat or just jump in. And it's a big lake, too. So, where I live, I can oversee the lake and just kind of sometimes you see the weather change over the lake. It's beautiful. It's very calming, calms your mind.”

Meier’s choice to remain in the area speaks to his nature. The 10-year NHL veteran has traveled the world and could live anywhere that he wished: New York, Miami, Barcelona, Paris, London, Berlin, even Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. Instead, he chooses to return every summer to Herisau, a municipality of roughly 16,000 people. Because this is where he feels connected. This is where he feels at home.

“All my friends and family, they live here, and that just kind of makes the place special to me, too,” says Meier, who currently lives just 20 minutes from the home in which he grew up. “It's a smaller city, but when you go to the city, there are so many people that you know. It’s the people and the vibe that I love. I loved growing up here.

“I love the people that I got to meet, and obviously you stay in contact with a lot of them. Some you don't see for a couple of years, but then every time you see them again, and you talk about the old times, it's great to catch up.”

And living in a small town also has its perks.

“You can actually find a parking spot here,” Meier laughs. “You don’t have to make reservations at every restaurant. You can be a little spontaneous.”

Everywhere Meier turns in Herisau and the surrounding areas, he is reminded of his youth, whether it’s the rink at which he learned to skate or the school where he began his education or every street that he rode down on his bike. As much as his family, this city raised him. It’s a part of who he is. It’s part of his nature. It’s where he is from and where he belongs.  

“I'm just lucky that I've had such a beautiful childhood with my family, with my sister (Larissa), my parents and all my friends,” he says, “there's so many memories that I love looking back to when I go back to Herrisau, it always comes back.

“Just so many moments that connect me with my hometown and this whole area that makes this place very special for me and I always like coming back here.”

Meier ponders for a momentum, finally breaking his silence with: “Yep. No place like home.”