I’m running out of words to describe “stunning views”, and today’s blog entry is going to test it even further!

We ate breakfast overlooking Walensee, with incredibly helpful waitresses, who were mortified when I just wanted hot water instead of coffee (I’ve brought my own tea bags with me!) and desperate to get us a parasol, even though we were just happy to be sitting in the sun.

By shortly after 10, we were on the motorway.  Tom had accidentally dropped his camera last night while watching a beautiful sunset, and it had died a death.  He’d done some research online and found a place just west of Zurich where they had the new model in stock at a good price.  The drive today wasn’t long, and the shop wasn’t too far out of our way, so we made a detour.  I think we were both slightly concerned when we pulled up, as it just seemed to be a big warehouse on an industrial estate, but it turned out to be a bit like an Argos, and Tom was soon back in the car, with a brand new camera putting a smile on his face.  It made life easier for me too, as taking photos out of the car window with my SLR is a bit cumbersome!

We headed back south, deciding to have lunch once we arrived in Lauterbrunnen.  The landscape around Zurich was much more rolling hills than the towering mountains we’d become accustomed to, but beautiful, green and luscious all the same.  The drive was then a lot of motorway, so I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep while I had the chance; the bells at the local church in Walensee were ridiculously loud and rang every 15 minutes from 6am (including continuous ringing for about 5 minutes when they first began!), so I was a bit tired.

It didn’t take long for the motorways to revert back into typically smooth Swiss A-roads, winding their way past unbelievably turquoise lakes and over rocky mountains.  Eventually, we turned down the Lauterbrunnen valley and the views of Jungfrau wowed us right from the beginning.  The view down the valley is dominated by this rocky monster of a mountain, as well as the famous Eiger.

We parked up in Lauterbrunnen and headed first for the impressive waterfall that was flinging itself off the cliff.  We found a route that promised to take us up to the waterfall itself, and climbed the steep path, scary steps and rocky tunnels with excitement (despite my fear of heights).  Unfortunately, when we reached the end, the falls were nowhere to be found!  We presume that in the spring, autumn and winter months, the water tumbles in front of the viewing spot, which must be quite some sight, but with the warm summer, there was just not enough water for it to come close enough.  Luckily, the views back down into the valley were worth the hike and it was nice to stretch our legs after a morning in the car.

Next we wandered up into the town in search of ice cream, forgetting the place is more famous and busy as a ski village than a summer holiday destination (some of the cafes had animal fur drapes over their seats – most amusing in temperatures close to 30^o!).  We did find a lovely wine and cheese shop though, where we bought Swiss wine and cheese, and even a couple of almond Magnums 🙂

Walking back to the car, we enjoyed the atmosphere of the town, which was especially buoyant today due to a half marathon that was running through it.  More about this later.

With the MR2 safely parked up in the multi-storey at the railway station, we gathered our newly packed bags (we knew we’d need to be selective about what to take to tonight’s hotel, which will make sense shortly) and headed for the cable car that would take us some of the way to Mürren!

Neither Tom nor I are particularly good with heights, but apart from the odd moment when the cable car swayed quite violently, the journey up the mountain was really rather spectacular, if over all too quickly.  Typical Swiss accuracy meant that the train to Mürren met us at the top, and we set off on the most thrilling train ride of our lives, climbing along the edge of the mountain and affording amazing views both up and down the mountains across the valley.

Our hotel was just a short walk from the station in Mürren and was just as astounding as we’d hoped.  It was a bit of a find and a bargain, as the hotel administrator had accidentally missed a one off the beginning of the price when he submitted it to booking.com, meaning that we are paying 100 CHF less than we should be!  I suspect that we were lucky enough to be the first people of book it as this price, and that the mistake was then corrected, as our luck was mentioned to us both in an email and yet again when we checked in!  The hotel has rooms both facing out across the valley and into the town, so we’d had our fingers crossed for one with a view.  As soon as we opened the door to our bedroom, we knew we’d been lucky again!  The balcony offers the most unbelievably stunning, jaw-dropping, astounding, beautiful views of anywhere either of us have ever stayed.  We just cannot believe how epic this holiday is and feel so fortunate to be experiencing it.

We treated ourselves to a beer on the terrace of the hotel (we did consider buying dinner here too, until we saw the prices – 16 CHF for spaghetti and tomato sauce!), before a potter round town.  It was at this point that we realised that we’d been too busy gawping to remember to eat lunch!  Ah well, we’d just have to make up for it at dinner time.

We were amazed to see the runners we’d seen down in the valley finishing their half marathon up here!  Now that’s a run!  There was plenty of encouragement from the people on the streets, with many of them clanging cowbells like they do at the ski races.  It all made for another lovely atmosphere.  Tom also wandered down a path to watch crazy base jumpers fling themselves off the side of the mountain and down into the valley – apparently they get 10 – 15 seconds of free fall before they have to release their parachutes.  I think they’re mad.

We’ve just finished dinner on the balcony outside our room.  Leaving the peaceful town and the views behind tomorrow is going to be hard, but I’m looking forward to introducing Tom to the joys of Alsace next.  Mmmm – Gewürztraminer 🙂

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