July 16th, Saturday
Today we say goodbye to the sunflower fields of France and spend a good chunk of the day traveling to Switzerland.
This is one of two longer "bus" days. I wondered about the bus time on this trip and whether it would be better to do a tour that was all in one country so that my time would be more focused on seeing sites and less on traveling between cities. But, the bus time passes easily. Firstly, the bus is luxurious. We all have a row to ourselves, good air conditioning, cold beverages that we can purchase, USB ports in every seat for charging electronics, and comfortable seats.
Secondly, it’s a great time for everyone to catch up on sleep and to just relax. It’s our only real downtime in the 13 days on the trip so it’s not unwelcome. We all spend time on social media, looking at the gorgeous scenery, and listening to our guide, Bea, give history lessons about Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Riding cross-country is such a great way to really see a country and get a feel for the area and, with the exception of the day between Switzerland and the Cinque Terre, which is a whole day on the bus, the bus time isn't all that overwhelming.
Secondly, it’s a great time for everyone to catch up on sleep and to just relax. It’s our only real downtime in the 13 days on the trip so it’s not unwelcome. We all spend time on social media, looking at the gorgeous scenery, and listening to our guide, Bea, give history lessons about Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Riding cross-country is such a great way to really see a country and get a feel for the area and, with the exception of the day between Switzerland and the Cinque Terre, which is a whole day on the bus, the bus time isn't all that overwhelming.
The laws governing bus drivers are very strict and they mean that all of us get to stop every few hours - either at a rest stop (like the one pictured above) or for lunch (which is where Dan tried the local Swiss cheese specialty burger- with hashbrowns... and an egg...)
And, since we’re heading into Switzerland today, the guides buy everyone Swiss chocolate for the bus ride. Delicious! Obviously, we will be purchasing more, and lots of it.
We have arrived in Lauterbrunnen to the Hotel Oberland!
And, since we’re heading into Switzerland today, the guides buy everyone Swiss chocolate for the bus ride. Delicious! Obviously, we will be purchasing more, and lots of it.
We have arrived in Lauterbrunnen to the Hotel Oberland!
Dan and Grace have the hugest ever balcony - it's like an entire floor.
Abby and I have a waterfall right outside our window!! LOOK AT THESE MOUNTAINS!!! |
Here we are in our hotel room, one flight up (one flight of hilariously uneven stairs up). We love the hotel and the location and the view. I loved the chateau in Burgundy and it’s hard to compare (and no one asked me to anyway) but I think this is my favorite hotel room of any on the whole trip. It's not even the nicest room, but the location and scenery are just awesome. There’s a tiny yellow train that travels up and down the Swiss hillside on the mountain across from us. There’s no air conditioning here but it's a little cooler in the mountains and our green shutters let in air, cooling off the room at night, and they’re adorable. We can look right out over the balcony below to the restaurant and to the peaceful, picturesque streets of this one-road town. We have a spectacular view of a waterfall- right outside our window (it’s Staubbach Falls: the longest free-falling waterfall in Europe). We are surrounded by some of the most spectacular vistas on the whole planet. There are 72 waterfalls cascading off of the surrounding mountains. And the mountains are just these majestic monoliths- this entire place from top to bottom is so lovely it almost seems fake.
Abby is my roommate for Switzerland. |
Out on our balcony I notice a little creature. It’s sucking nectar from the flowers and looks like a baby hummingbird. I’ve never seen anything like this before and this little guy is SO cute. We watch him as long as possible until he finally flies away and then I looked it up. It’s a hummingbird moth.
We get settled and since we have a little time before dinner we shop around town. The pictures below are
1) Swiss chocolate
2&3) our group dinner at the hotel with a little fondue course and
4) hiking in the hills after dinner with Saso, who has brought along some of the local alcohol.
It’s absolutely the nastiest garbage but (I might be biased because I hate it so much 🤣). Dan enjoys it and quite a few others either like it or appreciate trying a sip (they are all wrong and gross but, so be it). It’s called Appenzeller Alpenbitter and is described as Jäegermeister, but with a whole lot more herbs/spices- 42 to be exact.
1) Swiss chocolate
2&3) our group dinner at the hotel with a little fondue course and
4) hiking in the hills after dinner with Saso, who has brought along some of the local alcohol.
It’s absolutely the nastiest garbage but (I might be biased because I hate it so much 🤣). Dan enjoys it and quite a few others either like it or appreciate trying a sip (they are all wrong and gross but, so be it). It’s called Appenzeller Alpenbitter and is described as Jäegermeister, but with a whole lot more herbs/spices- 42 to be exact.
Goodnight from Lauterbrunnen!
July 17th, Sunday
We have the whole day off to do whatever we want in Lauterbrunnen. Saso has offered to take any one who wants to on the little cog train up the mountain to Wengen (Vengen) a car-less town on the top of the cliff with panoramic views of Lauterbrunnen. Once there, the group can hike back down the hill to town. A lot of people choose this option. There's also a swimming pool in town if anyone wanted to stay close.
We go with Bea, the McVickers and Monica and Grant (two other awesome tour members) up the mountain to Murren, on a 12-mile loop. We’ll end up at the back of the valley and hike back to Lauterbrunnen. On the map below it’s basically the thick black line that creates a circle around the bottom third of the map, around the cliffs.
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We take a cable car up and then hike to Murren, another car-less town above Lauterbrunnen which we love. Love, love. ❤️ It’s the most beautiful, picturesque town. Monica said when she did this tour before, with another one of her older children, the Rick Steves group stayed in Murren. I’ve also read about tour groups that stayed in Wengen- so the Rick Steve’s tours mix it up a little here.
The views are so impressive they’re actually a bit disorienting. The valley floor is SO, SO far down and the mountain peaks are all so high above us. When I try to focus on the valley below it’s dizzying. We explore the town and go to the store to pick out items for a group picnic. They have one of the largest cheese selections I’ve ever seen. We get bread and fruit and this frilly cheese (which, I’m going to have to return to Switzerland for), it was SO good.
We then all hike back to Murren through cow pastures and along a winding trail where we say goodbye to Monica and Grant. They’re going up the Piz Gloria for the views, the glass walk, and the James Bond experience. We’re all super tempted to join them but it’s $100/each for the tickets and we’re already having the best.day.ever. So, we let them go and travel with Bea along the mountain to the cable car that will take us to the back of the valley and along the trail to Lauterbrunnen.
It’s while we’re hiking to the cable car that Saso comes flying by on an electric bike he rented for the afternoon. His group got back from their hike to Wengen, and he wanted to try something new. He went speeding off and we got on the cable car.
As we swung out over the edge, we got the most ridiculous jaw dropping, just WAY too high up views of the valley. (The height may have caused a number of people by the window to clutch their chests and swear - repeatedly. We were at an unbelievable height when we started). We took a crazy high cable car up the other side too, but it was different. This one went right off a cliff - dangling over nothing and the other one kind of followed the mountain up a little more. Both cable cars were just a whole experience on their own.
As we swung out over the edge, we got the most ridiculous jaw dropping, just WAY too high up views of the valley. (The height may have caused a number of people by the window to clutch their chests and swear - repeatedly. We were at an unbelievable height when we started). We took a crazy high cable car up the other side too, but it was different. This one went right off a cliff - dangling over nothing and the other one kind of followed the mountain up a little more. Both cable cars were just a whole experience on their own.
Hiking back through the shade in the valley was glorious. We followed a river and saw baby cows and ... unexpectedly... A cheese vending machine. You know, for all of your cheese and wine needs. This is a first for me.
And then we came across the most gorgeous cemetery I've ever seen. All of the graves are flower gardens and there were people tending to them. |
Yay for dinner!! We're all super hungry. Fondu!!
Later that night the kids met up out on Dan and Grace’s huge balcony (you can see Dan and his dad in the restaurant below)- the kids stayed up late playing games and enjoying the cooler weather (please note that “cooler” doesn’t mean cold. It’s night and no one even has a cover up on).
They can sleep on the bus tomorrow- it’s our long-bus day to Italy.
What a gorgeous hike and an amazing day in the Swiss Alps. Per usual, I wish we had another week here. I think I left a little piece of my heart behind in this valley, it was that incredible.
They can sleep on the bus tomorrow- it’s our long-bus day to Italy.
What a gorgeous hike and an amazing day in the Swiss Alps. Per usual, I wish we had another week here. I think I left a little piece of my heart behind in this valley, it was that incredible.