Our Trip to Europe

Day 33 – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Jennifer had planned to start early this morning and take the gondola up to the top of the Shilthorn. We had our breakfast, packed our jackets and boarded the bus to go to the lift station. Our gondola was the first of the day and we had to change at three different stops. When we finally got to the top, the clouds had moved in and we couldn’t see down into the valley nor could we see the other mountain peaks. We were very disappointed but decided to wait around on top to see if the happened to get a break in the clouds. We were rewarded in a short time as the clouds parted and we were given views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountaintops. It also cleared up enough at one time to get some views down into the valley. We all went into the rotating restaurant on top of the Shilthorn and had hot cocoa and then headed back down the mountain by gondola until we reached the Murren stop. From Murren, we hiked the trail down the mountain to Grotschalp. It was a fairly flat path, an easy walk with beautiful views. Lower down the mountain, the clouds were gone and we could see for miles.

Our group walked until we came across a restaurant out in the middle of nowhere and we stopped to have a bite of lunch. They had an outside terrace where we ate with views of the mountaintops. Next door to the restaurant was a little shop where they made cheese and a display of the cow bells that they use in competitions. They try to have the largest and most elaborate cow bells in this area and some of the bells were HUGE!!]

When we reached Grotschalp, we took another gondola down the remainder of the mountain and ended up very close to our hotel. We took a quick break and then headed down the main street of Lauterbrunnen to catch the bus over to Trummelbach Falls. You take an elevator up to the top part of the falls and then stairs into the mountain to actually see the falls as they shoot through the inside of the mountain. The water is the glacier runoff from the three main mountain peaks in the area. The force of the water is unbelievable and that is how it managed to carve out paths through the mountain. There are numerous views of the falls and they have placed lighting inside the mountain to give you better views. You get fairly wet seeing these falls just from the mist that is generated as the water crashes into the sides of the mountain and sprays outward and upward.

Paul and I had reservations to eat at the restaurant in our hotel and we also wanted to head over to the laundromat to try and get some clothes washed. We got a load going, took a quick rest in our room and then headed down for dinner. During the afternoon, thunderstorms had moved in but we were able to eat outside on the porch as they had awnings up.

We leave for Beaune, France in the morning. We loved Switzerland and the scenery. There were numerous other trails that I would have loved to explore. This is a place that I would definitely want to come back to.