To the Top of Europe and Beyond

Switzerland really outdid itself for our fourth weekend extravaganza. 

Blown away by larger than life mountaintops, we traveled to Berner Oberland nestled in the depths of the Swiss Alps at the Top of Europe. 

We took a cozy train from Basel to Interlaken, transferred onto an adorable cogwheel train to Lauterbrunnen, boarded a stomach dropping gondola ride up a mountain side, embarked on another cogwheel train and finally landed in the car-free village of Murren.

 

We arrived Thursday night and stayed at the Hotel Alpina.

Not a bad view, eh?

Friday was a bit cloudy in and around Murren but we headed up past the clouds to 

Schilthorn and the rotating restaurant called Piz Gloria.

Fun fact: the 1969 James Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, was filmed here. Can't say that I recall this Bond all that well...sorry James...

 

 

Just above the clouds.

It was breathtaking!

We spent most of the day there just taking in the view.

We grabbed a delicious traditional Swiss lunch inside the rotating Piz Gloria. 

As we were getting ready to head back down to earth, we were told that some technical difficulties with the cable cars had been detected and that we had to catch the last car down at 4:30pm. 

So we did just that. 

We took the gondola down to the Birg station and waited to take the last leg to Murren. 

Unfortunately, that was the end of our trip down the mountain via cable car; for the first time in 40 years, one of the cable wheels had given out and the only way down was to hike. This was conveyed after they realized they wouldn't be able to get a helicopter to take us down due to bad weather - bummer, a helicopter ride would have been nice!

The cable car operators-turned-guides handed out water, bags of chips, apples, and safety blankets to our pack of about 50. It almost seemed like a scene from a movie as we began our slow and careful descent down the mountain.

Fortunately, it wasn't a strenuous hike and there were proper trails to lead the way down along with our new guides. The misfortune was that it started to rain not long after we started our 2 hour journey. 

Once we reached the bottom the Swiss did as they do best, with keen attention to detail and organization, they swiftly accounted for everybody and took down our contact information so they could compensate us for the trouble. All of this over a nice hot meal. 

Well done. That's me doing the well done dance...

That next day we welcomed the continued rain as it blanketed Murren with a damp grey cover and the mountains with fresh snow. To make the most of the indoors, we enjoyed a morning swim in our new hotel, Hotel Eiger, and then set out on a self-guided tour of Murren and it's pubs.

We ended the chilly day with a hearty pot of fondue!

On our final day in the Berner Oberland it was to the Top of Europe or bust. The rain subsided and the clouds parted and we made the 6 hour round-trip to Jungfrau at over 11,388 feet.

The journey to the top was beautiful. Here's a view of the Lauterbrunnen valley.

The other small car-free village, Wengen. 

Everywhere you looked there were cows wearing their chiming cowbells.

Jungfrau

The clouds would swoop in at any minute. It was freezing up there!

The building at the top of Jungfrau had several activities to enjoy along with restaurants that had epic views.

There was an ice center with ice sculptures and fun passageways.

 

We enjoyed the best leek soup with mountain cheese at the Crystal Restaurant.

Berber Oberland is one of the most beautiful natural places we've ever visited, we're so thankful for this weekend and the opportunity to enjoy its loveliness.....despite getting stuck on top of a mountain!