Switzerland - Brienz

After our morning exploring Grindelwald, we drove back to Interlaken and along Brienzersee (Lake Brienz) to the lakeside town of Brienz.

Lunch by the water was the first order of business.

mystical blue

A post-meal walk along the lake afforded more turquoise-blue views, as well as a few playful diversions along the way, including another oversized chess board, small playground equipment, and even an interactive water feature.

We also stumbled across a few woodcarving shops along the way.

This shop's work area was open to the public.  Daphne spoke to a young woman in German about practicing the carvings in clay

As we continued through the oldest part of town, we amused ourselves with many a tiny wooden door.

And we finally made it to the church at the edge of town before we headed back along the lake.

the end of Brienz

Brienz was quite the family-friendly stop.  We even had some amazing ice cream on the way back to the car (not pictured, too busy devouring it).

One more Swiss post to come...

Switzerland - Grindelwald

perfect weather in Grindelwald

(First Switzerland post here.)

On our second morning in Switzerland we drove to Grindelwald.

Once there we realized that the town itself wasn't much, but that there were three main jaw-dropping mountain-bits to see.  We spent the morning walking (hiking) around the hilly town to get better views of these three bits.

And here they are.

View/Mountain #1:

View/Mountain #2:

View/Mountain #3:

with goat

with Swiss house

with Ts

But the highlight of this particular outing was that we stumbled upon a man at a mountain cafe with an alphorn sitting next to his table.  Pete got Daphne to ask him in German to play it, and Pete got it on video. Unfortunately I'm too lazy to track it down on Pete's phone and upload it here.  Here is an Instagram screenshot instead:

Our Swiss experience just got Swiss-er.  

So, we can't top that, but more Switzerland posts to come.

Switzerland - Mürren & Allmendhubel

The company Pete's dad works for has an office in Zurich, so his mom suggested we join them both in Switzerland for a couple of days before his dad checked in with Swiss office. The two of them were actually hiking in Lucerne just before visiting us in Luxembourg.  She arranged for us to stay in Interlaken and explore the surrounding alpine region known as the Bernese Oberland. 

Interlaken, as you might deduce from the name, is situated between two lakes

It's no secret that Switzerland is extremely expensive, but we found that you do get what you pay for.  The views are stunning and you're basically stuck saying "Wow" on repeat.  Another advantage: Luxembourg suddenly seems quite reasonably priced.

Most of the best spots in the Swiss alps can only be reached by a series of chairlifts, gondola lifts, cable cars, rack railways, funiculars and the like - each with its own hefty price tag.

all those red and black lines are aerial lifts and train tracks

Quickly ruling out venturing to the very-expensive-tippy-top of anything, and armed with the advice of Rick Steves as well as friends who've visited this the area before, we set out on a relatively inexpensive outing to Mürren.  One small gondola ride + one small cog train ride put us in this picturesque town with views of Jungfrau peak and the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

We see so many photos of snowcapped mountains in our lifetimes that they tend to wash over us without much impact.  Being in the Swiss alps is much, much different that seeing a photo, mostly because you are suddenly faced with the majesty and shear size of it all, and your puny self in comparison.  Photos won't do the experience justice, as the old cliché says.

But this is a blog, so here come lots.

As we headed off the main road away from the other tourists, we stumbled upon a recreation center. The guys checked out ping pong paddles and a ball for a quick outdoor match, while the kids played giant alpine chess.

I wandered afield and found a chapel...

chapel views

We eventually made our way back down to the village in search of food.

We stopped at cafe for lunch, whereupon we immediately met someone from Portland, Oregon.  We saw/heard many Americans up here, in fact. It's always a bit disconcerting rather than comforting when this happens, in part because it forces us to acknowledge that we're part of the problem!  Ah well. I still blame Rick Steves.

American taking the photo. American in the red jacket. Americans everywhere.

We decided on one last splurge for the day - a funicular to Allmendhubel above Mürren.

funicular track in the background

up we go

We saw a few helicopters moving cargo from mountaintop to mountaintop

Allmendhubel boasts a panoramic restaurant, a fantastic playground, and definitely some wow-on-repeat views.

We then followed the signs back to Mürren via the "Children's Adventure Trail." It was unclear from the guidebook what exactly this was, but we have children and are not against adventure so why not.

always more photo ops

The children's adventure part turned out to be a hidden playground in the woods (we almost walked right past the slide before we even noticed it)

Further down the trail was another small playground and picnic spot...

And here we finally got our first real up-close encounter with Swiss cows and their chiming-rather-than-clanging cowbells.

Now we're REALLY in Switzerland.  Video/audio on my Instagram :)

Another Switzerland post or two coming soon...