Day 16
I stalked many a scrapbooks prior to our trip and would oooh and aahh over the beauty in each Lauterbrunnen Valley photograph, this was the picturesque location that I could not wait to photograph. Our trip to Switzerland was realtively overcast, and we stopped at an autogrill for lunch. Autogrills are super-sized gas stations, with restaurants that have good food, and often a small market. Daniela had warned us that the prices in Switzerland were high, but talk about sticker shock! Luckily, both of our dinners were included as part of the tour, so we were only on our own for two meals.
I was out the door to explore almost faster than I could drop off my bags in our room. We wandered to a nearby bridge that crossed the river and just soaked up the scenery. In one direction, the snowy peaks and waterfalls, in the other direction, luscious green fields interspersed with small farms, topped off with a serene silence that was only interrupted by the sound of the rushing water from the nearby river.
I stalked many a scrapbooks prior to our trip and would oooh and aahh over the beauty in each Lauterbrunnen Valley photograph, this was the picturesque location that I could not wait to photograph. Our trip to Switzerland was realtively overcast, and we stopped at an autogrill for lunch. Autogrills are super-sized gas stations, with restaurants that have good food, and often a small market. Daniela had warned us that the prices in Switzerland were high, but talk about sticker shock! Luckily, both of our dinners were included as part of the tour, so we were only on our own for two meals.
I was out the door to explore almost faster than I could drop off my bags in our room. We wandered to a nearby bridge that crossed the river and just soaked up the scenery. In one direction, the snowy peaks and waterfalls, in the other direction, luscious green fields interspersed with small farms, topped off with a serene silence that was only interrupted by the sound of the rushing water from the nearby river.
Day 17
Today was a free day in terms of the tour. Daniela organized a gondola ride up to the Schiltehorne for anyone who was interested. Die hard 007 fans know that Her Majesty's Secret Service was filmed a top these exact snow covered mountains (we are not die hard fans, but learned all about it), and there sits a 007 museum and rotating restaurant at the top of the mountain. David and I chose to take a walk through Lauterbunnen Valley instead, with a stop at Trummelbach Falls on our way into town. Trummelbach Falls are a series of 10 waterfalls that are inside a mountain. At each one, the rush of water is deafening and relentless. Also, because it's in a mountain, the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler.
As we made our way through the valley, we stumbled upon two farmers and their cattle. The farmers motioned to us to move to the side to allow their herd of cows to pass. I'm not sure if the string barrier they used was to keep us or the cows in line! We had seen some cows crossing when we first arrived, but it was neat to see it up close. We stopped in Lauterbrunnen for lunch at a cute little cafe called Alpine, which we had chosen based on recommendations in the Rick Steves book.
The barista at the cafe was one of the friendliest people I have ever met. She helped us decide what to eat and when we asked what form of currency we should use for payment, she said they accepted anything, and should we need to go to the ATM, we could do it after we ate and just come back to pay, as though it was no big deal.
After lunch we made our way back towards the hotel...except it had become much warmer and our jeans and long sleeves were overkill. We also had vastly underestimated how much water we needed to make it back. We stopped at every bench along the way, to get out of the sun, which definitely prolonged our walk back, but was a beautiful sight nonetheless. Before dinner, everyone was hanging around outside the hotel, and this was a perfect time for a group photo (see the Switzerland page)!
Today was a free day in terms of the tour. Daniela organized a gondola ride up to the Schiltehorne for anyone who was interested. Die hard 007 fans know that Her Majesty's Secret Service was filmed a top these exact snow covered mountains (we are not die hard fans, but learned all about it), and there sits a 007 museum and rotating restaurant at the top of the mountain. David and I chose to take a walk through Lauterbunnen Valley instead, with a stop at Trummelbach Falls on our way into town. Trummelbach Falls are a series of 10 waterfalls that are inside a mountain. At each one, the rush of water is deafening and relentless. Also, because it's in a mountain, the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler.
As we made our way through the valley, we stumbled upon two farmers and their cattle. The farmers motioned to us to move to the side to allow their herd of cows to pass. I'm not sure if the string barrier they used was to keep us or the cows in line! We had seen some cows crossing when we first arrived, but it was neat to see it up close. We stopped in Lauterbrunnen for lunch at a cute little cafe called Alpine, which we had chosen based on recommendations in the Rick Steves book.
The barista at the cafe was one of the friendliest people I have ever met. She helped us decide what to eat and when we asked what form of currency we should use for payment, she said they accepted anything, and should we need to go to the ATM, we could do it after we ate and just come back to pay, as though it was no big deal.
After lunch we made our way back towards the hotel...except it had become much warmer and our jeans and long sleeves were overkill. We also had vastly underestimated how much water we needed to make it back. We stopped at every bench along the way, to get out of the sun, which definitely prolonged our walk back, but was a beautiful sight nonetheless. Before dinner, everyone was hanging around outside the hotel, and this was a perfect time for a group photo (see the Switzerland page)!