The Roof Of Europe: Finally one I can't hit my head on

mmmm, I could really really get used to lazily waking up after 8 hours of sleep.. it's pretty wunderbar. Free breakfast too? Niiiiicee... and all the while having a splendid view of a nice swiss yard, and many alpine peaks.

Mountains are splendiferous. I quite enjoyed the Rocky Mountains in Alaska, and I wasn't about to let the Swiss Alps cajole me to let them out of my grasp. And so, like any true self proclaimed mountaineer, we decided to reach for the stars, or maybe just settle for some clouds.

For those who may be thinking we burst out into the back yard, picks in one hand, ropes in the other.. you'll be sadly mistaken. Instead, we took a series of trains, to the city of Sulwald. From there, we played leapfrog up the mountains on a series of lifts, until arriving in the Alpine town of Mürren.

ho hum... just a view in Mürren

This city really is a literal translation of a town in the Alps. Resting on the mountainside, we were greeted by torrents snow along with a throng of downhill Skiiers from all over the place. Fortunately, the sun was on our side this day (sort of, we were warned of intense sunburn, but once again our wonderful landlady at the B&B pulled through, and gave us a bottle for free to borrow) and we quickly threw our jackets into the backpack, for it was too hot! We made our way slowly through, enjoying all sorts of views in this car-less village.

Now, if anyone wants to be appreciated as an amateur photographer, just take a bunch of pictures in the Alps and show them to your friends. Practically every shot on this trip was desktop worthy, or perfect on a facebook/blog especially if you somewhat enjoy writing about your exploits and wanting them to be seen.... *cough*.



Eventually we made our way to another tram which lead us to be packed into another slew of skiers, making us feel yet again out of place. I felt a little bit of regret not trying out any skiing during my time here, but my visions of myself hurdling down the mountain and dashing my brains on some rocks slammed those feelings back down. Still wish I tried it though.

altitude...rising... skiers... everywhere..

Finally, we made it. It was more through our credit cards than our blood sweat and tears, but it was still a good feeling. Schilthorn, part of the highest area in europe (not the highest, but there it was cloudy there all day... pass). Even at the peak, the weather was warm, or in Minnesotan: an inferno (8 degrees celsius)! We lucked out! After taking a photo album of pictures, we decided some delicious fare would be a good option, as we hadn't even eaten since breaking fast, and it was already the afternoon.

kickin it back at the top..nothing like harassing randoms to take your pictures for you

Where can one eat on the top of the mountain? Why, the rotating restaurant on top of course! But, why oh why are there 007 pictures everywhere? Apparently, this was a filming spot for one of the latest James Bond movies, so the restaurant, and the gift shop below was packed with secret agent periphonelia. The soup I had was great though, and of course, I consumed beer. I asked for some water as well, but once again I foolishly didn't mention tap water, and was given another bottle. So, I continuously have to pay for my water, thus I can no longer gloat about my free drinks due to my distaste for soda.

goulash und bier

Eventually, we took the lift back down to Mürren, and then decided to go on a bit of a hike through the mountainous paths. They were coated in snow, but since I'm such a badass, I trekked through in my well aired running shoes regardless of the consequences (cold + smelly feet). It was about an hour long ordeal, that ended in another small town, called Grütschalp. From there, since it was already late, we then went all the way back to Interlaken.

woefully unprepared

I thought I came to escape this stuff...


A spiffy alpine waterfall

I was craving something spicy, so we ended up feating on a bunch of korean/japanese food after searching around for a place to eat. We also decided to have desert at another swiss restaurant... which wasn't really a swiss restaurant. The owner was boisterous, and continuously rang a gigantic bell whilst merrily prancing about in his cow polka-dotted pants. It was there we ate the most swiss food of all, chocolate fondu! Ok ok.. it's not really swiss, but it was pretty good with swiss chocolate...

Despite doing things throughout the entire day, I was given a few hours respite at the end to catch up with blogging, and catch a bit more sleep to finally snuff my constant jet lag induced lethargy. Fin.

No pics yet, but tonight hopefully! XD
Edit: hot pix are up xoxoxo