Yesterday we toured the Lautterbrunen valley and the Trummelbach Falls. At the falls we rode an elevator and climbed up and down numerous staircases that led in and out of several misty caves to view cascading waterfalls. These are from the melt from at the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains and are sending water through the falls at a rate of approximately 5,000 gallons a second. There were 10 points of view and many of them were lit to make viewing easier.
We then walked about two and 1/2 miles through the glorious Lauterbrunnen Valley, which is somewhat similar to Yosemite without any traffic and lots more waterfalls. We even saw several people paragliding off the cliffs.
When we arrived in the small town, several of the ladies visited the local Swiss watch store in Lauterbrunnen where we bought Swiss made watches. A quick check of Internet later in the day showed we all got a fair deal AND we have the memory of purchasing watches in Switzerland.
After our shopping excursion we took a short cable car ride back up the mountain and Bob took the narrow gage railroad back to Murren and I hiked the three to four miles back with four others through the scenic hillside that parallel the train route.
We saw lots of cows WITH bells grazing in the hills and we stopped and made friends with them.
Three people in our group made the leap and BASE jumped off the cliffs in Murren but even though they had room for one more, Bob and I decided to stay earthbound and just took a few pictures of these crazy people instead.
Last note - we ended our evening with surprise entertainment provided by the Rick Steves tour company. We sat on the porch of the hotel and were entertained by these fine gentleman. It was very moving to listen to the music while looking at the surrounding Alps and all of our new friends. It was almost too much to soak in - so unbelievable that we were are so lucky to really be here right now. Wow!
3 comments:
Awesome!!!
I'm really enjoying seeing your pictures and reading about your adventures! Glad you got in a walk through the Lauterbrunnen Valley, it was one of the most memorable parts of our trip 2 years ago. Thank, Gail, for taking the time to put together these posts so we can all share a little in your travels!
Gail: I just got a link to your blog from Jim H. It is wonderful. You do a great job of narrating the photos. Thank you for sharing your adventure. Terry
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