There are jaw dropping waterfalls everywhere, in fact the scenery in the Swiss Alps is very like the Southern Alps in New Zealand, stunning and brooding.
We drove to the Lauterbrunnen Valley and walked alongside the river passing fields of bell-ringing cows. It was another very hot day, 28 degrees and we had a little paddle in the icy river.
We were heading for the Trummelbach Falls, ten glacier waterfalls which corkscrew down the inside of the mountain. You go up the inside of the mountain in a lift and emerge at the top, walking down hundreds of steps, admiring the waterfalls as you go, until you reach the bottom. It was freezing inside and we got very wet but it was pretty spectacular and incredibly loud!
Anyway we dried off quickly and carried on to Stechelberg to the cable car station. We got on the first of four cable cars which took us on a very steep route over the valley's west wall to a tiny hamlet called Gimmelwald. We transferred to the next cable car which took us to the car-free (obviously) village of Murren from where the valley floor is 800m - straight down. The next cable car took us right into the snowy peaks to Birg at 2677m. Our last transfer was incredible, an almost vertical ride up to Schilthorn, at 2970m high it overlooks the much higher peaks of the Eiger, Jungfrau, etc. There is a viewing platform, from where you can see as far as the black forest in Germany, and a revolving restaurant, the whole thing appears in the Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service which we will obviously have to watch when we get home!
The temperature went from 28 degrees to 8!
On the return journey we left the cable car at Murren, walked through the village and got a cliff top train to Grutschalp. As you get off the train the cable car is just ready to leave which took us back down to Lauterbrunnen. The Swiss efficiency and punctuality is pretty amazing, there's none of the disorganisation and chaos that we experienced in Italy. It's all so calm and ordered and amazingly friendly.
The weather turned on Saturday and the day was cold and rainy. We decided to have a look at Lucerne which is so pretty but the weather didn't do it justice. Or should I say we got so wet and uncomfortable that we didn't do it justice.
Sunday was still cold but dry and we explored Interlaken which again, is very lovely but very touristy, coaches full of Japanese and American tourists. We spent a pleasant hour watching the paragliders. Jim had his hair cut, or shaved.....
It was Mothers Day so I was given a beautiful pink rose in a shop. Nice touch!
Monday, 14th May. Day 249 of our trip.
Bratwurst for tea - yumm! The lovely lady who owns the apartment building, and speaks German, but very little English, has just been to collect her local taxes - 3.60 Swiss Francs per person per night.
Whilst we were out walking, in bright sunlight and thick snow, I remembered that SATs started today, how lucky am I that I'm here and not at work!! I know that Angela and Lynsey will have done an amazing job preparing the kids. Good luck Year 6 at Mill Hill CP School - you'll be brilliant!
Good luck to Alex too, his first exam was today. We thought about him, can't believe he can concentrate for 3 and a quarter hours! We're just on our way out, to a bar where there is wi-fi, so we can plot the next few days, and have a little drink of course.
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