Switzerland

SWITZERLAND

Welcome to Zurich, Switzerland! After a long flight from Arizona to London and a complete debacle trying to get from Heathrow Airport to Gatwick Airport and barely making our flight to Zurich, we arrived late at night.

We were very excited to have this be our first view as we checked out of our hotel and caught the train to Mürren, Switzerland.

Absolutely Beautiful!

Sometimes the journey to get to your destination can be long and boring. It seems to take forever to get there. This was anything but… It was lush and green everywhere you looked with the white snowy alps peaking out from behind with the sound of the train in the background.

WE MADE IT!

Mürren

Mürren – Is a small village in Switzerland, situated high above the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Bernese Oberland (highland). It is car-free and can be reached by train and cable car only. Mürren is 5374′ above sea level. Population is about 450. Tourism and farming is the main source of income today. You can take a cable car up to Mt. Schilthorn summit which is at 9744′. Piz Gloria is the panoramic revolving restaurant at the summit and was featured in the 1969 James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. (1)

The old architecture is wonderfully quaint. Plenty of little shops to browse around and pick up little souvenirs.

First stop, Hefeweizenbier to celebrate.

A drizzly day on our walk around town

Quiet little pathway through town

View out our back patio

Very beautiful but very steep drop off!

Ed Abegglen Sports shop – Ski, snowboard rental

Imagine with a view like this, having windows like these?

We are heading up higher in the mountains to Allmendhubel via the funicular to do some hiking.
I love how this picture puts into perspective how high we were by looking at the clouds way below us.

Mürren is great for hiking and biking in the summer, skiing in the winter, scouting out the waterfalls and beautiful wildflowers, not to mention those spectacular mountains.

We’re on a hike, heading straight for the clouds.

This was such an incredible hike, but, I can’t imagine there would be any spot in Switzerland that wouldn’t be truly amazing. It’s just lush and green wherever you look. Sometimes it’s very clear and you can see the rolling hills, huge snow covered alps and sometimes you can only see a very short distance with thick clouds all around and can’t even see the alps. But regardless of the weather, you can always hear the clinking of the cowbells which just confirms you’re in the alps.

While we were up there, we came to a spot looking down below at the clouds and we heard some faint music getting a little louder as the wind carried the sound up to us. It was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” song with the portion that Vincent Price speaks. Since it was totally unexpected, we didn’t see anyone around, just catching glimpses through the clouds, and because it was Vincent Price, it was a little creepy.

Gimmelwald

Gimmelwald is also a very small village which you can only access by cable car. It is halfway up the mountain between Stechelberg and Mürren. It’s population is even smaller than Mürren.

There are no shops or food stores. There is an “Honesty Shop” where you leave money for what you take. No one is manning the shop. They have little souvenirs and things.

It only takes about 1/2 hour or so to walk around the village.

This is pure heaven. Walking down this beautiful pathway (left picture), then resting in God’s perfect creation (above)!

The welcoming committee. It was freezing and very foggy. I bet they were wishing they were sheep so they could have extra wool on for warmth.

Even their woodsheds were charming

If we don’t look at you, you won’t see us.

Oh darn, you found us!

The clouds are now chasing us

Cow bells

With the contrast of the clouds down below, it feels like this church is close to heaven

Rustic old building

Stein am Rhein

Stein am Rhein, meaning ‘Rock on the Rhine’, is a well preserved Medieval town on the Rhein River. Though parts of the town were rebuilt (it was bombed in 1945 during the war), it retains much of the look and feel of medieval times. It is best-known for its colorful frescoes.(2)