Swiss Alps Adventure

     It's Monday morning and we are back in Bruchsal after an . . . interesting, thrilling, tiring, wonderful, stressful, amazing trip to the Berner Oberland in Switzerland.
     Friday night I packed up our things for the trip. The internet had said the weather was going to be warm in the valley but quite chilly in the mountains. So I basically had to pack for both conditions. I had read about a town up in the mountains where, after the cows had moved out of the barn for the summer, the people cleaned out the barn, filled it with new straw and let people sleep in the straw. Sounds fun, right? (Most of us thought so too - Piper was not impressed.) So, I also packed some sheets to sleep on if we happened to be able to do that. (Like I said in my last post, it was really hard to get information on hotels and such in these little towns. So I was trying to prepare for several different lodging options.)
     Saturday morning we rolled out of Bruchsal at 8:00 in the morning heading for Lauterbrunn, Switzerland. We were low on gas so as soon as we hit the freeway, we started looking for a gas station. Turns out finding a gas station was harder than we thought it would be. Andrew's car has a handy feature that tells us just how many more kilometers we can go before we really are out of gas. We were hoping to not test its reliability too much. We started with enough gas to go a little farther than 100 kilometers. When we hit 70 kilometers of gas left, and no gas station in sight, we started to get a little worried. So we asked the GPS to take us to the nearest gas station. This gas station was in a little village about 2 kilometers off the highway - but it looked like to us that the GPS was just taking us off into the middle of nowhere. Would we have enough gas to follow the GPS and then get to another gas station if it turned out to be wrong? Thankfully, it was not wrong. We filled up with gas, found our way back to the highway, and continued on our way.
    We got to the Swiss border about 11:00. We knew that we needed to buy a "vignette" sticker - sort of a toll to drive on Swiss roads. All cars driving in Switzerland have to have one. They are good for a year so they aren't expensive (40 Swiss francs) if you are going to be there a while - a bit steep if you're only in Switzerland for 2 days. So we followed the line of cars going in to the border crossing thinking the border guard will help us get the vignette. But there are no border guards. Or rather, they weren't stopping cars - they weren't even standing near where the cars were just driving through. So we continued to follow the other cars thinking there must be somewhere else up ahead where we're suppose to stop. Nope. Just open Swiss roads. We didn't want to get pulled over by the Swiss police and not have the vignette so we looped around, went back into Germany (again, crossing the border was just driving through), then back to the Swiss border. The border guard was up at the road this time but she tried to wave us through! Andrew explained that we needed a vignette and she was able to hook us up with one.
     Now we were in Switzerland. Our first stop was at a travel center sort of place. (I was in need of a washroom or WC, as they call it here.) The travel center had a gas station and a large building with stores, restaurants, and the much needed WC. This was the first time this trip that we encountered pay toilets. It was 1 Swiss franc for each of us to use the WC - that's about $1 each. On the bright side, the washrooms were very nice and clean. (We've used some free ones in Germany which were not.) Also, we could use the ticket that the machine gave us when we paid for the WC as cash to spend at any of the stores or restaurants in the travel center. So we bought some Swiss chocolate - what better thing to buy in Switzerland, the chocolate eating capital of the world?
     Back on the road. We passed through many little Swiss towns, almost getting lost in a few - thank you, God, for the GPS! The landscape started getting hillier. We spotted several castles (mostly ruins) along the way. Then we saw them - the Alps. At first, they were just a hazy outline in the far horizon but they got clearer and more impressive as we got closer.

Cool castle on the hill

First glimpse of the Alps - can you see them in the distance?

Another cool castle

Getting closer . . . 

     We drove along the southern shore of Lake Thun, the lake on the west side of Interlaken. What a gorgeous lake. The lake was such a beautiful shade of blue and then the mountains rose up on either side of it. Awe inspiring!

Okay, not a great picture but I was on the wrong side of the car.
You'll have to take my word for it - it was gorgeous!

     Just before Interlaken, we left the main freeway and headed into the mountains. We saw so many amazing waterfalls along the way.

     Our destination was the town of Stechelberg, the last town on the road. When we got there, our first order of business was to find a place to sleep that night. The town with the "Sleep in the Straw" barn was located up the mountain - we would either have to buy a ticket on the cable car or drag our luggage up the mountain. If we knew we could stay there, it would be worth the trouble but not knowing we decided to forgo that option. There are only two lodging possibilities in Stechelberg - a fairly cheap option (nothing in Switzerland is cheap but by comparison, this one was cheap) and an expensive option. We, of course, tried the cheap one but no luck - they were booked up with a wedding party. So we decided to try the cheaper spots in Lauterbrunnen, the next town closer to Interlaken. There we found a little hostel that had been recommended in our handy guide book. They just so happened to have 4 beds available - 3 in one room that slept 8, and 1 in another 8 bed room. Hmmm. What to do? We could spend our precious time in Switzerland running around to different hotels trying to find something better. Probably everything else would be too expensive anyway and we might miss our chance to take these 4 available beds. So we decided to go for it - how bad could it be? It would be an adventure - never slept at a hostel before. So we checked in and the girl at the desk showed us our rooms. Piper, Taran, and I were in the downstairs room and Andrew was sleeping upstairs.

The gang in Lauterbrunnen - Valley Hostel (on the sign) is where we stayed,
just down the steep driveway on the left.

The front of the hostel

The view standing in front of the hostel

The room the kids and I slept in

    The rooms in the hostel were equipped with 4 sets of bunk beds. They also put a cot in our room in order to fit us in. They provided a sheet, blanket and pillow as well as covers for the pillow and blanket. We were responsible for making up the bed and stripping it in the morning. There was a bathroom down the hall from the our room (Andrew had to come all the way downstairs for the bathroom) that had showers (we had to provide the towels). There was also a kitchen that was open for use and a common room with tables and chairs. We were not allowed to wear shoes in the hostel. They had shelves to put our shoes on just inside the door and they provided slippers for the guests.

     Once our lodging issue was handled our next order of business was to have some fun! We decided to drive back to Stechelberg and ride the cable car up to Murren and then take the funicular train (a special train that moves up a steep incline - I didn't know what it was until I saw it.) to Allmendhubel and then hike down a lovely path that was through the mountain meadows full of wildflowers with gorgeous views of the mountains. I had done some research on the cable car prices and learned that if we asked for a Swiss Family Card at the station, the kids could ride with us for free. Good deal, right? Well, either my information was faulty or the lady selling the tickets was uninformed of the great deal. We did have the option of paying $30 each to get a Junior Card for the kids that would allow them to ride for free but since the tickets for the kids were already half price (coming to 10 Swiss francs) and we weren't sure we could afford to ride any more cable cars, we just got regular tickets.

In the cable car

Looking down from the cable car

A little higher up

The cliff we were heading to the top of

     The cable car stopped first in Gimmelwald and there we got into another cable car to get to Murren. We got out in Murren and headed through the town to the funicular train station. We went in to buy tickets and were informed that the last train of the day had just left. = (  I was ready to cry but Andrew was determined to do this hike so we found the tourist information center where a very unhelpful attendant gave us a somewhat helpful map of the hiking trails. We found the trail on the map that we thought was the one suggested in our handy guide book and then set out to try to find its location in town. We ending up finding the trail that lead to Allmendhubel (the place we were going to start the hike originally) and started up. The first part led us up along side a mountain stream.

Taran never fails to find things to climb

Quaint bridge over the mountain stream

We walked a bit farther, out of the woods and came to some great views of the mountains.

Just amazing

     Every so often we'd come to fences along the trail with gate or some kind of barrier across the path (you can see one in the picture). I suppose this was to keep any livestock that happened to be in there from getting out. We didn't come across any livestock, though. We did find patches of Swiss snow!! Taran was very pleased. He and Andrew had a little snow ball fight.

Taran slid almost all the way down sitting on his feet and pushing himself along with his hands.
He scolded me for not bringing gloves.

We hit the little "town" of Sonnenberg (meaning sun mountain) and found the trail that we had been heading for.

Taran and Sonnenberg

I use the term "town" loosely. It consisted of a few very small buildings that were all closed up except for one. It was the Sonnenberg Pension or guesthouse. There we saw a few people but other than that, no one. Andrew thought perhaps the other buildings where ski chalets that were only used in the winter. These were the dumpiest looking chalets I'd ever seen. Maybe they housed the herdsmen that came up the mountain in the summer - it had only gotten warm there about a week ago. Who knows. Besides the little buildings, we found a little stream with snow banks beside it. Taran thought it would be great fun to throw the snow into the stream. Piper was greatly concerned for his safety.

Sonnenberg stream

Taran scaring Piper - he did manage to stay dry

Piper found a pile of rock that looked just like a troll had turned to stone and fallen over a couple hundred years ago.

There was also some great views of the mountian called Monch - which is monk in English. It is the middle of huge three mountains on that side of the valley - Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau (maiden).

     

The sun and clouds made interesting light and dark patches

     While we were admiring the view and the boys were in the middle of another snowball fight, it started to rain. (Piper pointed out that she had warned that it was going to do this - oh, so helpful.) So we picked up our pace - and lost the trail. These Swiss trails are not marked quite enough for us Americans. The trail led right over the front porch of another pension - unusual thing to happen, we thought. We must have made a wrong turn. So Andrew asked a couple of guys sitting outside the pension where the trail was. Turns out we were on the right trail - it picked back up on the other side of the porch. It had stopped raining so we slowed down and enjoyed the less strenuous part of the hike - the downhill part. The promised wildflowers were not as overwhelming as we'd thought they'd be (we were a little early in the year for that, I think) but we did see some beauties.

I don't know what they are, but they're pretty. On the way down we made a stop at the Children's Adventure Trail, a short trail with fun kid activities. The zip line was the favorite. There was also a little fort, a log seesaw, and some balance beam logs.

Piper on the zip line

Kids exploring Adventure Trail

     Back in Murren we caught the cable car down to Gimmelwald then to Stechelberg. It was getting late (8:00 pm) so we thought best way to end our first Swiss day would be a dinner of cheese fondue. We took our car back to the hostel and asked for a recommendation from the girl at the desk. She pointed us across the street to the Hotel Oberland. Fondue at the Hotel Oberland was 24 Swiss francs per person - a little more than we expected so we thought we'd check the prices at some of the other restaurants along the road. The best we could find was 21 Swiss francs per person but by this time it was 9:00 and, rotten luck, the kitchen was closed! So instead of Swiss fondue, we had peanut butter sandwiches and Swiss chocolate for supper. (I'd fortunately packed sandwich supplies.) Then we got our things and headed for our rooms. Andrew and I decided to meet in the common room at 8:00 and then we'd find some breakfast.

Sunset in the Alps

     The kids and I were rooming with 4 Japanese guests and 2 Germans. We got ready for bed and made up our beds. Taran took the bottom bunk because he was the most ready to sleep and, since the light was still on, it was the darkest place possible. He dropped right off the sleep. Piper took the cot and I was on the top bunk. At about 11:00 I was ready to settle down and Piper needed the light off to get any rest, so I asked if it was all right to turn off the light - no one objected (did they understand me - I don't know) so I did. Other than the room being a little too warm and lacking the white noise I'm used to sleeping with, the night started out just fine. But that didn't last long. One of the Japanese guys started snoring. And I mean - SNORING. I could not believe that he could sleep through all the racket he was making. I certainly couldn't! I tried putting my pillow over my head, plugging my ears with my fingers - I even  tried stuffing my socks into my ears! Nothing would shut out the horrible noise! I decided that if he was making so much noise and no one objected, I'd add some noise myself. I had my phone up in bed with me and I had an app that provided white noise. So I turned on the white noise and  stuck the phone under my ear. It help a little and I managed to get a little sleep, waking up every so often as the snoring guy shifted position and the snoring stopped for a second, then picked up again with new vigor. 

     I had planned to get up at 7:30 am but at 7:00 I decided to give up the battle. Everyone else was still sleeping (somehow) so I quietly took my clothes into the washroom and got dressed. When I got back, wouldn't you know, the Japanese guy was sleeping silently! I think the snoring was an evil plot to ruin my sleep. Taran was awake so I got his clothes for him and, after he'd dressed, sent him up to meet Andrew while I worked on getting Piper up. Andrew met Taran and they went off to look for breakfast options. When Piper and I were ready, we went up to the common room with all our stuff to meet the boys. They came back with news that the grocery store was closed (for Sunday - they do that here in Bruchsal too) so a cheap breakfast was out of the question but there was the restaurant across the street and a cafe not far down the road. As we pondered what to do, we saw a family spreading out a breakfast assortment on their table. Andrew inquired where they'd picked up their goodies and was informed that there was a little bakery just a little further down the road from the grocery store. So Andrew and I walked down there and picked up some sweet rolls, yogurt, a baguette, and some milk while the kids waited at the hostel. (Piper spent her time drawing a really great picture of the mountains in the guestbook and Taran played on his Dsi.) So we got a pretty good, cheap breakfast after all.

Our Swiss breakfast

     After breakfast, our first destination that day was the world famous Staubbach Falls. The falls are the second tallest waterfall in Switzerland. It was first measured in the 1800's and came out to be 816 King's shoes (or 300 meters) tall. It has inspired authors such as Lord Byron and Goethe. We'd never heard of it - just stumbled across it. 

The falls from a distance

A fountain at the foot of the falls - I think the plaque said the fountain has been there 100 years.
(It was in German so I could be wrong.)

     We took the trail up toward the falls and discovered that it led us right into the cliff and up behind the falls. It was a bit wet but so cool!

Behind the Staubbach falls

Monch as seen through the mists of Staubbach falls

    After that we headed back to town, picked up some cheese, sausages and milk and headed up the mountain. Climbing up a mountain is a lot harder than going down. We found the walking trail which was a series of switchbacks along a narrow asphalt road heading up the mountain. We were trying to find the mountain trails that would be a steeper climb but a lot more interesting. 

Heading up the mountain

Taking a break for some pictures

We passed several wood piles - the Swiss sure do pile their wood neatly. There was one every few hundred yards or so.

Swiss wood pile

And even though the going was rough and the path less than ideal, we couldn't help but soak in the beauty of the place.

The mountain on the left is Monch and the other is Jungfrau

    And then we met some real Swiss goats wearing bells and everything. They were along the asphalt road right before the mountain trail split off. We hung out with them for a few minutes then got to some real hiking.

     Andrew's goal was to find a mountain stream along the path that we could stick our poor tired feet in as we ate a Heidi-style lunch of bread, cheese, and milk. He always loved the book Heidi and here was his chance to have lunch like she did in the book. (Well, he added the part about the stream but it helped motivate Taran who loves to play in water.) As we walked along, we could hear the stream and it always sounded like it was just up ahead. But we never could find it. So we found a nice shady spot and had our Heidi lunch.

Bread, swiss cheese and milk - good stuff

     Then it was back down again. We manage to stay on the mountain trail the whole time instead of having to take the asphalt road which was lovely and picturesque but really hard on the knees.

Couldn't get enough pictures of the mountains

Walking through the wildflowers -
the large numbers of bees and other bugs are not mentioned in Heidi

     Just as we got to the end of our hike, we found it - Andrew's mountain stream. We took off our shoes and stuck our feet in the icy water. Boy, was it cold.

My feet, Piper's foot, and Taran's foot  - freezing!

So cute!

     We got down to our car at about 2:00 pm and got ready to head out of town.

Here's proof that I was in Switzerland too. = )

   We decided to head to Interlaken and look around at the shops and maybe find somewhere to play in the lake. We got to Interlaken and drove around the town a bit (saw the Grand Palace Hotel) but the kids were too tired for shopping and there is little that is less fun than taking kids shopping who are too tired. So we set the GPS for Bruchsal. This time we went around the lake on the north-side so we had a view of the snow capped mountains on the other side of the lake. And we thought the view was amazing yesterday!

     We stopped at a little spot along the road where there were steps down into the water and people laying out in bathing suits. We debated about getting out bathing suits but opted on just putting our feet in. Besides, there were no change rooms. Not that that's a problem for the Swiss. I saw a lady come, find a spot to sit and pull out her bathing suit. How is she going to change, I wondered. Then I found out - she just stripped down. Right out there in the open! No one seemed to bat an eyelash at it. Those Swiss! Shocking!

Our feet in Lake Thun - I made it in another picture

     We were all very tired on the drive back to Bruchsal so you can imagine how that went. On top of that, I think I didn't drink enough on the hike so I got a splitting headache. We got back to the flat around 8:00 pm and I lay down while the kids and Andrew unloaded the car. Then he gave them a bowl of cereal for dinner and put them to bed. In the morning, Piper won the late sleeper award - she wasn't up until 11:00 am, that was 14 hours of sleep. Pretty impressive, aye?