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Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

The alarm signalled us to lift our heads off our feather pillows and peel back the soft duvet. I drew the curtains with anticipation and took in the view of white snowy mountains and the misty waterfall against a perfectly clear blue sky. Vern turned on the live cam channel and it looked just as perfect up the top. Down in the valley you cannot see the ” big” mountains as they are behind the ones that tower over Lauterbrunnen – even though we are around 2,612 ft up.

Awesome! We rushed our clothes on and had a very good complimentary (LOL) breakfast with delicious bircher muesli, fresh pineapple and rockmelon, fresh light brown seeded bread (which was crusty outside and soft inside), a selection of 3 hams, salami and mortadella, and 4 delicious cheeses including a Comte, gruyere, raclette, and soft herb goat or sheep. NOM, NOM. Of course there were cereals, jams and spreads, scrambled eggs (I just can’t eat hotel eggs they stink bad and make me seriously nauseous if they even get near my nose) bacon, little sausages, juice and very nice self serve coffee machine (Franke brand) which had the beans on top so it was fresh, hot and strong enough 😉

Fortified for a day in the mountains we got the cable car to Murren (5361ft) walked 15 minutes to the Schiltorn cable stop, went up another 1500 odd feet, transferred again at a little hut in the snow to a chair lift (looked the same as a cable car) and made the final ascent to the very top of the Schilthorn at 9748 ft .

On top of Schilthorn is a revolving restaurant and viewing platform called Piz Gloria which was in part funded by the making of the James Bond movie in 1968 “Her Majesty’s Service” . This tips the mountain at a dizzying height of 10,000ft.

For any new comers to the blog, I am not the best at heights. When we were on holiday in the USA last year I felt somewhat pressured and fatigued at higher altitude at about 8400ft. Living at sea level most of my life makes me most at home on a beach. Accordingly I was a little anxious at being up on a round platform atop a pointy mountain in the thin mountain air. Fortunately I have a very patient and encouraging husband who has me exploring all sorts of places above ground to under water, so safely attached to his big hand we climbed a couple of levels to the platform.

On the way up in the cable cars they play a bit of James Bond music which sets the atmosphere and I am relieved and proud to report that we had fun up there staying a bit over an hour. It was really warm, so the thermals we packed were not needed. It was lovely and clear and just magical to feel on top of the world. There was free wifi and we managed to Skype Lili but not enough speed for video so I took some with the ipad and loaded it on Facebook just standing on the perch! How cool for technology to be so instant that you can share experiences immediately across the globe from mountain tops.

We timed it well, as half way through our time up there some thin cloud hid the Jungfrau, which is the tallest mountain and viewable across the valley. We chose to go up the Schiltorn has it has the best views of the other mountains and the ascent is all external. For the Jungfrau you travel up inside the mountain a bit which sounds great and it has an ice cave up top. If you were a real alpine bunny and had a lot of money both would be great on such a perfect day as we had.

When we had been up there an hour we all got asked to move back off the outside platform as a helicopter was landing to perform an emergency rescue. How thrilling and chilling at the same time. It landed and some rescue crew hopped out and unravelled wires and attached themselves to the end along with emergency gear, and then the chopper lifted them up on the end of the 100ft cable and deposited them fairly nearby on the side of the mountain to where the para glider who needed assistance was.

We didn’t stay much longer, but saw another chopper come in to get the transferred patient who had been hoisted back up to the platform by the first helicopter and staff. Crazy all the extreme mountain sports here when you see where they go for thrills.

Our next stop on the way down was the incredibly quaint and picturesque mountain village of Gimmelwald (4593ft) which is Rick Steves favourite. Here I plonked myself in the first field of flowers for a photo stop. It is a very small traditional village with cows and goats and farmers that still cut hay by hand. Animals are housed in winter and their milk is used to make delicious alpine cheeses. There is a type called Appenzeller which is really nice. Its a semi firm yellow and a cross between a tasty cheddar, a nutty swiss, and a hint of mature raclette.

Gimmelwald is very steep and registered as an avalanche risk place so this has prohibited tourism ruining it, which apparently was slightly orchestrated by the locals to keep it that way. You can stay in a little lodge, pension or homestay though. It is basically a car free zone, except a few local ones which adds to the traditional feel. I even saw Santa Claus in his spring cabin………

We were pretty hungry after our adventure on the roof top of Europe so we stopped for lunch at a little Pension which was run by Aussies and Poms strangely enough. Had a really good lunch without too obscene prices, one of fleich kase, Rosti and berry sauce and the other a steak sandwich. We had to have dessert as the neighbouring table were in gastronomic rapture over the chocolate fondant and told us to have it. Ok. We also shared an apple strudel which I interrogated the waiter to the point he got the chef to bring me a piece to approve first. Strudel is a sticking point for me as Mum makes such a delicious one, and has taught me well on the making of it. So much so that when I see the stodgy poor excuses everywhere else around the world I refuse to buy them and Vern is not allowed them either – poor man. The chocolate pudding was very good, not the best like Vernazza but certainly worth the calories and the strudel was certainly acceptable but not as fine as Mums or mine:-)

The visit to Gimmelwald was so memorable you wanted to bottle the feeling. The sun was a warm 24 degrees inviting the scents of the alpine flowers and sweet pungent farm smells from barns being cleared for summer. The sky was an intensified blue, the green fields contrasting it idyllically together with colourful flowers and gleaming snow.

We had to drag ourselves away from this enchanting village to the next experience. We took another efficient Swiss steep cable car decent into the Lauterbrunnen valley to Stechleberg. It was an amazing view and a bit of a thrill as it was very steep. Our walk from there would take us through the valley full of more flower meadows, woodland areas, alpine fed river and many waterfalls – up to 72 in full flow.

We learnt that JR Tolkein hiked this valley from Interlaken in 1911 when he was a young adult. Many believe it was his inspiration for Rivendell in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books for a number of reasons, even though this was never confirmed by him. If you google it the key points are; his sketch of Rivendell and a photo of the valley – very very similar, he referred to his travel in 1911 being the inspiration (he didn’t state where specifically though), and the elfen name of Rivendell means ‘loud water’ which is the Swiss translation of the valley’s name.

It was a very pleasant but long walk – just as well we ate all that lunch! With a risk of repeating myself it was very scenic in the valley – steep mountains on either side, flowers everywhere in abundance, a beautiful clear river winding through the middle, happy livestock, small farm-lets and patches of natural woods. It took us 3 hours to walk back home including a stop at Trummelbach falls.

Trummelbach falls is a waterfall of thunderous proportions that has cut a winding path down inside a mountain range. You access it by getting a lift up part of the way inside the actual mountain and then you can climb a
further few levels (also inside the mountain). Along the way there are viewing stations where you see different aspects of the roaring and powerful waterfall. It is fed by the big mountains – Jungfrau, Eiger, Munch etc. It was interesting, cold and wet! A great experience but not for the claustrophobic, or vertigo affected. You also need an average level of fitness as there is a bit of climbing up steps and slopes. I took photos and video with my little waterproof camera, but it was a bit hard to get a good or impressive shot.

After we exited the waterfall and mountain we saw that the weather had changed quite a bit since the morning. We heard thunder echoing against the valley cliffs and there was a light shower, and then a bit more than a shower. We had to take shelter under a little wooden swiss shed for a while but then we moved on considering that if we stopped too long we didn’t think we could get going again on our tired legs and feet!

For dinner in the interests of budget we just got a soup and a pie – mince and cheese apparently – it was more like jellymeat …. for 13 frank at a cafe before settling in for the evening at home to load photos and recover. As I was having a little writing juice (new name for wine) I saw the lovely sunset pictured. Magic!

It was a big and rewarding day, there is so much to do here. Trails, sports activities, biking, skiing, and more. Even simply sight seeing and relaxing is worthwhile. Vern reckons hiring a mountain bike would be a great way to cover some of the distances – they are readily available for hourly or daily hire at a reasonable rate. Would most definitely recommend a visit here – whether you are a snow bunny or not. Our memories and thoughts of the day are that it was so much better than we imagined and we are so thankful for good weather for the mountain part.

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