In November, while visiting Steve in Switzerland, he booked a last minute trip for us to Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland, which left us broke but smiling.
When booking this trip we really weren't sure what to expect, but hoped for something pretty and relaxing. When we got there we were completely amazed as the little town of Lauterbrunnen in the Valley of 72 waterfalls was more beautiful than anything we could ever have imagined.
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| Steve taking a stroll along the main road in Lauterbrunnen |
We stayed at a little hotel called Hotel Jungfrau in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, which was really lovely and we had a breath taking view of Staubach falls from the window of our room. What made it even better was that the hostess was a South African lady, who was very excited to have some fellow South Africans staying with her.
Due to my obsession with waterfalls, I made sure we started our sightseeing early on Saturday morning at the Trummelbach Falls, which was about a 20 minute walk from the Hotel. It is a most enchanting series of 10 waterfalls inside a cave. The pictures really don't do it justice but it so unique and interesting to see how the water has worn away a path right through the mountain.
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| One of the waterfalls in the cave |
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| A lit up path has been constructed so the public can follow the waterfalls through the cave |
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| This is the final waterfall exiting the cave |
After that we took a stroll along the river and found a series of cable cars that lead up through the town of Murren and to the top of the Schilthorn Peak. The cable car trip was rather expensive, but fortunately Steve got a half price discount due to his 'half tax' card, which can bought by anyone with a permit to live and work in Switzerland. The cable cars were packed with more than 80 people in each one, and this resulted in the ride up to Schilthorn being somewhat petrifying but incredible all at the same time.
At the top of Schilthorn we went for lunch at Piz Gloria which is a revolving restaurant...A REVOLVING RESTAURANT (tick that off the bucket list). The view and the Goulash Soup at this restaurant were literally life changing!!!
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| The restaurant rotates 360 degrees in just under an hour |
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| The views of the surrounding Alps were out of this world |
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| Movie Poster from the 007 Film |
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| 007 themed Cappuccinos at Piz Gloria |
We had the most incredible view of the very famous Jungfrau, Monach and Eiger mountains from Schilthorn, but unfortuantely we never got a chance to travel to the top of the Jungfrau mountain as we had initially hoped to as it was just too expensive to do that as well as the trip up Schilthorn.
We will definitely be making a plan to go back to Lauterbrunnen at a later stage, so we can go to the top of Jungfrau mountain.
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| Steve staring at the breathtaking Eiger, Monach and Jungfrau mountains |
On the Sunday we took a trip up to Wengen, which is a small town that overlooks Lauterbrunnen. We had planned to either go for a bicycle ride, or catch a cable car up to Mannlichen and hike back down to Wengen. What we didn't know was that EVERYTHING is closed on a Sunday including the cable car and the store that rents bicycles.
So instead we got on the train to come back to Zug and stopped at Lake Brienz. The melting ice from the Alps runs through the little towns (Lauterbrunnen being one of them) and down into several lakes, including Lake Brienz. The colour of the water is an incredible turquoise colour and the scenery is too beautiful for words. We fed the ducks, drank cappuccinos and watch the rowers and paddle boarders go by. Unfortunately we weren't able to go on a cruise on the Lake as we had hoped, as it was Sunday and in Switzerland they really take their day of REST seriously.
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| Steve taking his day of rest seriously |
Lauterbrunnen we'll definitely be back :-)
Wish I was there! Lovely photos too.
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