Switzerland

Friday we arrived back from 5 days in the Swiss Alps. Shew maar dit was kief! One can't really explain the beauty of the place. The low-lying valleys are green and filled with rivers, waterfalls, pastures, cows, dairies, mountain bikers, hikers and paragliders. The peaks are white with snow and home to some serious glaciers. We were based in a little town called Lauterbrunnen, nestled in a deep valley with waterfalls all around. That whole area is just one giant fairy-land playground. Cog-wheel trains, cable-cars and hiking trails run in all directions and everyone is either hiking, on a mountain-bike, paragliding or base-jumping off the cliffs. Some pics:

Day 1 on our way to Lauterbrunnen:




The Swiss know how to build tunnels. The longest one we went through was about 9km.

Valley created by glacial action.

Imagine building this. I'll pass. (my dad's kind of humour)

Outside the glacier. We entered at the little hole on the left and walked through the heart of the glacier.

Inside the glacier. Eery and blue inside.

Eventually we arrived at our destination, the little village of Lauterbrunnen.

Our house in Lauterbrunnen. Awesome view.

Day 2: We took the gap in the bad weather and headed for the Jungfraujoch, the highest station in Europe. It sits at 3454m asl and terminates within a mountain. From there you take a lift 100m up and pop out at the most amazing view point. Its was -8 and the wind was pumping.

The Jungfraubahn train takes you through some serious tunnels before reaching the top.




At the top - station/restaurant area (bottom right) and observatory (top left).




The view from the observatory. The Aletsch Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alps.



The Ice Palace at the Jungfraujoch.

Massive snowball.

Al and Chants tuck into some Swiss pastry in Wengen on the way back down the mountains.
Day 3: We did a day walk to Murren from Lauterbrunnen, catching two cable cars along the way.

The highlight was passing a huge herd of cows with all their bells clanging away.

It was a slow and wet walk home in the rain.

Day 4: An early morning walk in the hills behind the village revealed what I'd been hoping to see, a Chamois. Thank this little fella for your super soft rags you use to wash your car.

This day, our last full day there, provided the best views. We drove to Grindelwald, took the cable car up to First, hiked to the Buchalpsee and then down to Bort. From Bort we rode trottiebikes (little scooter things) back down the Grindelwald. What a scream!

Trottiebikes. They are cooler than they look.

This was one of the last pix I took before the drive mechanism inside my camera decided it had reached the end of its lifespan. After some grinding and crunching, all went dead. So no more photos for the Fyvies for a while I'm afraid.

Day 5: After a final drive up the Lauterbrunnen valley we headed home via Interlaken and a picnic on the shores of the Thunersee. The gastonomically adventurous members of our party tried horse biltong. Tastes like salami. Our friends Mark and Liesel (and little Levi) Roome traveled all the way from Stuttgart to meet us at Basel airport on our way back to the UK. We were able to spend a few hours catching up. Thanks guys, we felt very privileged that you travelled so far for us.

The Swiss Alps are unbelievable. Only one thing remains... to visit them in mid winter when all the green is white. We'll be back!!