the last (cheese) supper

another good thing about vacationing in the alps is that you can eat whatever you'd like for dinner. when you walk for 13 miles, you earn it!

back to the hotel oberland, and this is our view. 

and these are our fur lap rugs. they're not faux. 

yummy salad...

i got rosti, again. the pickle shares my feelings about this dish. 

ryan got rosti with sausage and onion gravy. onion gravy is so much better than regular gravy. i heart it. 

it's also good on rosti. oh, and going...

going....

GONE! (i didn't eat the pickled onions. so i didn't clear my entire plate like a savage. that's manners.)

see, ryan left a good bite of potato. our mamas raised us right!

but only because there was ice cream and meringue and berries to follow. yum. 

i mentioned earlier that all of the store in lauterbrunnen were closed. so we didn't have a souvenir, which made me sad. so i asked our waitress if i could take home a menu from the hotel oberland. this was the exchange:

me: can i please have one of your menus to keep?

waitress:.... for what purpose??

me: um... just... to look at?

waitress: I will check with my supervisor. 

lucky for me, i had made a point of finding the owner the day before and telling her that i had never been as happy as when i was eating her food. 

so she gave me a menu. unfortunately, all it does is make me miss switzerland...

SWISS ARMY KNIVES! (what, did you think i'd forget??)

that's a spider in the case. ryan was afraid. 

the painting outside our hotel room. i call her the goat maiden. 

our room. 2 single beds pushed together; the european version of a queen bed, lol. 

the cable car went right outside our window. so remember that when you are getting dressed in the morning!!

see? and since you can see everyone in the car, that means they can see you changing. 

the garden next door!

our balcony. it wasn't really the right weather to be basking outdoors, but the chairs and view work even if you are bundled up. 

then it was time for our last train trip across europe, back to amsterdam for 3 days before we fly home. ugh. 

lauterbrunnen valley

our last full day in switzerland, so we got up early to take advantage. first, breakfast in the hotel...

this was the most incredible automatic espresso machine in the world. the latte had 3 distinct layers. YES. 

terrible views.... :)

we decided to walk along the valley floor, and see some of the 72 waterfalls. 

i love him. 

the trummelbach falls is a glacier waterfall. it's awesome; just wait. 

this is the elevator you take to the top of the falls. then you walk down. 

ryan took this, obviously. 

surprisingly, it's a bit cold in the cave near the glacier falls. can't imagine why...

yeah, i like it. CAN'T YOU TELL?

ryan is scared of heights...

view from the top of the falls

see if you can guess why it's called the corkscrew falls.... and don't think too hard; it's fairly obvious...

more gnomes. they are obviously people of high taste and breeding. 

this is a pretty rotten backyard, eh? i didn't see a whole bunch of kids, but i bet the ones that live here have a pretty good time. 

it's called the valley of 72 waterfalls. we only counted about 15, but we only saw a little part of the valley. so that's probably still an accurate description. 

more wood sheds. i love the whole idea of this: that wood burns better when it's been aged for precisely three years, and so it's important to cut enough wood to lay it by for 3 years. and this is the way the people have lived here for centuries, even with gas and electricity available. 

another paraglider. not me. 

this is the end of the murrenbach falls! remember the photo from 2 blog posts ago? this is how that little stream ends...

much more impressive here! 

another waterfall, without a handy identifying sign...

doesn't it look like i live here? maybe i'm just walking home, la la la!

little stone wall...

it really was such a special day. lovely weather, beautiful scenery and the best company i could have. plus- bench picnic, but i forgot to take a photo. switzerland rules!