hiking in the alps!

**i think one of the reasons i am not updating this more regularly is because it's almost over, and then what will i blog about? but i think i have an idea, so stay tuned. and anyway, i need to finish, so here we go. **

we woke up in the lauterbrunnen valley on a monday morning. here's a fun fact about lauterbrunnen: it's a bi-seasonal town (winter for skiing, and summer for hiking). fall and spring, it's pretty dead. and all of the shops were closed on mon and tue. and we left wed morning, before they opened. and there are no museums. there's just wide, wide space, and beautiful mountains, and a thousand waterfalls, and alpine trails, and cows, and goats, and chickens, and a hundred gnomes of all sizes, and gorgeous views. we were not bored. 

and it was such a relief to be out of a city, and not on a schedule. we needed a vacation from our vacation. and this was perfect. 

on our walk to the cable car station. 

wilkommen! 

we took the cable car halfway to murren, and then hiked up to murren, and then up but down the mountain to gimmelwald. 

there are a lot of paragliders here. according to rick steves, the locals don't really respect them, and think they take unnecessary risks. well, my maiden name is schweitzer, which is german for "from switzerland" (no, really), which might be why i share the locals viewpoint. but they do look very peaceful and pretty fluttering down the mountain. i would just fear collision and the landing far to much to enjoy. and ryan is scared of heights (no, really) so this was out for us. 

the lauterbrunnen cable car station. 

poster in the station, haha. you need to watch out for wild boars!

in line. we were lucky; they only allow 100 (?) people on the car at a time, so once it's full, you have to wait an hour. we were numbers 5 and 6, which meant we got to be near the front. 

i'm filming our ascent. it's a cool video. 

can't you imagine it?

we could see our hotel the entire time! it's a pretty big town, as you can see...

the valley floor. 

and higher....

and then we got there. it was packed on the cable car, as you can tell. most people just took the car all the way to gimmelwald or murren, but we were not such pansies (only half pansies). we were here for hiking! 

and here we go! apline wildflowers! 

and there was still some snow on parts of the path. and ryan still likes to take my picture from behind. 

i think this is where i sang "the hills are alive" to ryan. it was his favorite moment of the entire trip, just ask him. 

it was a little bit pretty. 

avalanche guard rails. i regret (deeply, deeply regret) that i did not take pictures of all the other avalanche protection on the mountain. there are trees planted in strategic locations and formations, with wooden barriers around them to shelter the trees as they grow. but the barriers are designed to break down and add compost to the tree's roots within 5-7 years. i didn't take pictures, but the proof is in the pudding. people can't live on mountains like this for centuries without respect for avalanches, and the other natural wonders the mountains dish out. they've been honing these techniques for generations, and these villages are still here. 

look at that!!

ryan is showing you the peaks, haha

that's a cheese shed. dairy farmers age their cheeses in these mountain sheds, which gives them a nice, floral flavor. 

we wanted to walk to murren, and then through that to gimmelwald. rick steves told us to come to the berner oberland, and nowhere else in switzerland. seriously, all of the chapters tell you to skip this section and go to the berner oberland. and his favorite part is gimmelwald. so we had to see it!

ryan in seasonally appropriate clothing...

we called this lady the mountain goat. she was about 70, and she had a walking stick and an odd gait (like a bum hip or something), but MAN could she move. we could not gain on her. and then we finally overtook her on the way into murren, and i stopped to take some photos there, and she got ahead, and was gone. like a goat. 

sometimes i believe in past lives, a little bit, and sometimes i think a past self of mine was a hermit in the mountains. either that, or that's how i'll spend my 90's. ryan is allowed to visit, but only ryan. 

more wood being seasoned for future years. 

another tennis court. i don't know how you could focus on the game with those views though. seriously. 

another ryan special: me in murren!

you can drink this water. not from the trough; that's for various animals and st. bernard's. but from the tap. we saw a couple feeding it to their 8 year old daughter. plus, we lived through it, so you will too!

and this is murren!

hotel. 

see? paraglider. 

the best rock garden ever. i loved it. 

little handmade felt gnome. one of my favorites. i like how her hat is bigger than her. 

another nice rock garden. doubles as avalanche protection. 

the path to gimmelwald. 

those are avalanche guards, under the wall. this is really the only photo i took. such a waste! 

cable car.

this is the beginning of a waterfall that ends in the valley. i'll show you later. 

approaching gimmelwald. 

my verdict.  **sidenote** ryan was looking at some of our photos this weekend, and has decreed, "The next time we go to Europe? Less thumbs up." 

i can't help it if i feel the need to indicate how much i approve of this continent. 

more cheese or wood or livestock sheds. 

alpine goats and sheep. cute. 

and that's the mountain hostel in gimmelwald. there's an honesty shop next door, where you can leave money in an envelope, and take whatever you buy. i got a wooden carving of a mushroom, to add to my gnome collection, from an artist in the town. and no pushy salesman! no salesman at all, to be honest...

ryan loved this sign. 

that's where i paid. right there. 

okay, HERE is my favorite thing about switzerland: gnomes are a huge deal here. it's a status symbol, especially in the rural areas, to have a large, varied, hand-painted collection of gnomes. i'm so for it. in fact, i plan to begin this tradition in Reno. and while the rest of the neighborhood thinks that we are creepy gnome collectors, I'll know that really, we're just so much classier and posher than our neighbors! hahahaha!

big ones, small ones, ones the size of your head....

the gnomes and i share a verdict. (there is nothing wrong with a good thumbs up.)

only the taxed garbage bags can go here. if you don't want to pay the garbage tax, you have to deal with your own garbage. 

gimmelwald, all in a row. 

dairy. you can tell the cows are still in the barn, because all their bells are hanging above these milk jugs. when the cows are pasturing in the summer, they wear these bells. so they're still wintering in the barn. 

swiss chickens. 

and goats. i bet the animals who live here provide very healthy products to their owners. because the pasture land is so varied! it's not just grass; if you look at it closely, you'll see all kinds of different weeds and herbs and flowers and grasses. makes for yummy cheese at least; i can vouch for that!

this cat joined us for lunch. he was a handsome fellow! he enjoyed italian cheese bits as much as i did. there are a lot of cats in gimmelwald, but believe you me: none of them are hurting for food. they're sleek and fat and powerful. i love cats, because they eat and destroy my huge fear: mice. 

see? he wants more cheese. i only gave him 2 TEENY bits. cats are not supposed to eat cheese. i know this. 

when he saw i was not to be persuaded, he took a nap in the shade of this bench. by the way, the grocery store was closed today. so we had leftover italian cheese, rolls and hard boiled eggs smuggled from breakfast, and some water. not a shabby lunch though- great views!

right? handsome. 

this is the best of 3 terrible shots. we are either very good, or very bad at this type of photography!

i'm saying goodbye to the cat. 

back to gimmelwald, and through murren to the cable car! this was a 12 mile hike, altogether. 

you can drink this. i hope.  i figured it was fine. and i didn't get sick, and i don't have a tapeworm, so i think it's ok. 

sleeping donkeys. so many ass jokes to make here... i just didn't. 

that's a happy ass in the sun! (ok, one ass joke. give me break!)

this is gimmelwald tea, made of dried flowers and herbs native to the area. it was 15 swiss dollars for a little more than an ounce. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

bunny-crows. 

all those dots are my leftover mosquito bites from venice. so, as you can see, i'm terribly attractive in europe. 

eiger, mönch, and jungfrau. these are the main summits of the berner oberland region. there is a legend associated with the peaks. i don't know what eiger is, but monch means monk, and jungfrau means virgin, and i think the legend is something to do with a young woman trying to escape an evil fiance... but i can't find the legend now. so if you know what it is, please leave it in the comments! 

it was a great, great hike. stay tuned to see what deliciousness we had for dinner!