Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

We left Paris bright and early to catch a train to Switzerland!  We were so ready to get out of the big city and settled into our little Swiss village.

He had to read his magazine with the reading light on.  In broad daylight.  

On the road again!

Finally we got to ride on a train that had a family car with a play area.  It was awesome!  The running around was much needed by Jameson.  They had a blast!  I think it may have been one of the highlights of their trip.

The scenery as we got closer to Lauterbrunnen was beautiful.

Lauterbrunnen Valley!  Switzerland was love at first sight for me.  A quiet afternoon and early bedtime was just what we needed!

The next morning we got up and made our way to the Schilthorn to have breakfast at Piz Gloria.  We had to take several cable cars to get all the way to the top.  At 9,748 feet it isn't quite the top of Europe, but that was high enough for me!  It was pretty interesting to see the kids that live in Lauterbrunnen take the cable car up to Murren to go to school.  That was so fascinating to me, but normal life for them. 

Of course the views were spectacular!

This is a picture of the restaurant that I pulled from the Internet.  It is quite literally built on the peak of a mountain with nothing else around it.

Swiss cheese in Switzerland!

The restaurant is always slowly moving as it revolves 360 degrees.  We pretty much got to see the sunrise high atop the mountain!  Gorgeous!

One of the James Bond movies was filmed at the Piz Gloria so there is a nice interactive experience dedicated to the movie.  It was a fun way to kill a little time.

Here you would be filmed as you rode in the bobsled shooting at stuff.  The video would play on the screen around the corner and it looked as if you were really in the movie.  It was so funny, especially when Jameson's little head would pop out of nowhere!  

Next we went out on the viewing platform and this kid was so excited to finally be out in the snow!

Wow.  Just wow.

After we had our fill of the Schilthorn, we started to make our way back down the mountain.

This is a birds eye view of Murren from the cable car.  It is the first small village we decided to stop off in.  Other than a few service vans there are no cars.  It has to be one of the cutest villages in the world!

We had the best time just wandering around!

Of course Connor was in heaven with all the snow!

We found a little shop that rented sleds so we got a couple, took the funicular up to Allmendhubel, and found the trail to sled back down to Murren.  We had a blast!

Of course the views were amazing.

This is what I like to call karma.  You have to watch until you're almost to the end :)

Fun times!

Snow angels after sledding.

We made it back to Murren!

It doesn't look like it, but Jameson loved being pulled around.

We saw these water troughs everywhere!

We had over an hour to kill before the shop where we rented our sleds opened back up so we popped into a small restaurant to try out fondue.  It smelled terrible, but it was really good!

After lunch the boys played in the snow.  This was the first time Jameson really got down and played in it.  He was a little apprehensive at first, but then started to enjoy it.

I don't know if he'll every like it as much as Connor though.  That boy loves being in the snow!

This laid back day in such a picturesque place was just what we needed!

He was cracking up watching Connor slide down a hill of snow.

After returning our sleds we got back on the cable car and stopped off in Gimmelwald.  Gimmelwald is another cute little village on the mountain and it is even smaller than Murren.  Rick Steves raves about it in his book!  I'm sure it is a great place to visit in the summer, but nothing was open or going on during the winter.  It was still a nice place to walk around and enjoy nonetheless.

I would love to know the story behind this glass shower/phone booth.

The town is so small that they have an honesty shop.  The people who live in the village farm in the summer and work the cable cars in the winter so they set up this honesty shop for tourists to stop in and buy stuff.  You take what you want and leave the money there.

Most of the buildings have years on them to show when they were either built or rebuilt.

Can you imagine growing up here and this being your view everyday?!?

Finally back on the ground and on the bus back to our apartment!

Lauterbrunnen is known as the Valley of the 72 Waterfalls.  They are all up and down the valley.  Staubbach Falls is the most well known because you can pretty much see it from all over the town.  It was right across from our apartment!

The next morning we woke up to lots of clouds.  I was so glad that we had gone to the Schilthorn the day before.  We enjoyed a lazy morning and then went out for a walk around Lauterbrunnen.

I had read that base jumping is really popular in Lauterbrunnen.  I'm sure it's amazing to come down into the valley, but you wouldn't catch me doing it!  It was cool to watch them though. 

The local church.

As if the town wasn't cute enough...there's a stony brook! 

As usual, he wasn't impressed!

Love it!

So this was an interesting find in the vending machine.  All together we have beef jerky, pregnancy tests, cigarettes, lighters, cannabis drinks, and Capri sun.  Hmmmm...all in one party pack?

Time for a hot chocolate stop!

Gorgeous!

After an afternoon nap, Harry and I set out on foot again to the grocery store.

I noticed these tree things hanging on the side of several places.  We never did figure out what it was for though.

Another view of Staubbach Falls.

Huge lantern hanging from a house!  We knew it would be dark by the time we passed back through so we were hoping it would be lit, but it wasn't.

We stopped in at a restaurant for a drink.  Of course Harry had to get the beer in a boot!

They have the most decorative eggs in Switzerland!

I didn't think the town could get any cuter.  I was wrong!  It was even more stunning as the sun went down.  I almost felt as though I was walking around one of those little ceramic towns people put out during Christmas time.

Well I guess if you only have one option...

I think these two enjoyed Switzerland as much as the grown ups did.

So we came across some "ready to heat" fondue on our walk so we decided to give it a try since we liked it so much the day before.  Big mistake.  It wasn't very good and we really stunk up the house.

Jameson was insistent on helping me pack.  And by pack I mean throw everything in a pile and pat it down.

We were all so sad to say goodbye to Lauterbrunnen so soon.  It is one of the very few places I would go back to if I had the opportunity.  I really wish we would have spent a few more days there.  I would have loved to go up to Jungfraujoch (the top of Europe) and maybe do a day trip to Interlaken.  Lauterbrunnen makes a good base for lots of days trips to the surrounding towns.  Even though we hated to leave, we were excited to make our way to Germany!