Mountains and valleys and all points in between

We woke this morning to another sunny and clear day so had to decide what mountain view we would visit. Jungfrau is the highest peak around here but since it would take 5 hours round trip to get there we decided to visit Schilthorn which was just above us. It is approximately 10,000 feet above sea level which is 5000 more than Murren.

It also gives a great view to the three mountain peaks in this area...Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

We are now approaching the top after two cable car rides to reach there. It has some newly fallen snow on it.

 

Again the views are awesome even more so as we are so much higher. The little speck in the middle of the picture was the first cable car station.

In the distance we could see Lake Thun.

The far away mountains are in France.

There was also an observatory on the point. The people in the front of the picture were young Japanese posing for the photo shoot.

Everyone was enjoying the views.

The observation Center is somewhat shaped like a space ship with reflecting glass all round. Can you see us in the reflections?

We are happy to be here!

For the James Bond fans, one of his movies was shot here in 1968-69 so they have a Bond exhibit.

Don was checking out the Bond girls while I was...

Bob sledding down the mountain.

Overall it was an interesting visit and again gave us an appreciation of the vastness of this region.

The view going back down.

In the afternoon we decided to walk down the mountain to the towns below...

The first part of the walk is on a paved path that connects Murren with the towns below. It is used to bring supplies in but other vehicles are not allowed on it.

 

Some of the sights along the way...

Many of the houses have these hunting trophies mounted on the walls.

Lots of wood piles for the winter, reminded us of home.

You can see the valley below.

Don stopping for a break.

Lots of rushing streams going down the mountain.

Around every corner another gorgeous view.

Lots of places to stop and rest.

Beautiful vegetable gardens by the side of the path

We are almost to the first village.

 

Another cable car to get us a little further into the valley.

Yes we went straight over this ledge!

In the valley there were lots of high waterfalls.

This was one of ten inside a mountain that drained the glacier water from the top. They are called the Trummelbach and there are 20,000 litres of water a second.

Here is another view. These falls are the only accessible falls inside a mountain in Europe and accessible by a tunnel lift.

We took the lift up but there were hundreds of stairs down.

We walked through the valley next to a beautiful river...

And were delighted to meet a cow parade!

When we asked about it we were told it was to celebrate the cows coming down from the mountains where they spent the summer grazing. They were being welcomed home! Neat heh??

We had been walking a long time so was glad to reach our final destination the Lauterbrunnen station where there was yet another cable car and train back to Murren.

 

Since this was our last night here we went in search of some local cuisine and did find a really nice restaurant, very typical Swiss.

To top off our visit Don had the venison tenderloin served with wild mushrooms, mashed potatoes and figs.

I had the chamois which the owner's husband had killed a couple of days ago. The chamois is a cross between an antelope and a mountain goat.

Mine was a stew done in red wine sauce served with spatzel, red cabbage,chestnuts and pears. It was by far the best meal we have both had since we have been in Switzerland.

We are both sorry to leave this magical place and hope that one day we could return again. It is definitely up there with the one of most beautiful places we have ever seen!!

 

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