Murren, Gimmelwald, Lauterbrunnen (Trummelbach Falls)

It seems like everywhere we go here in Switzerland has amazing views. The mountains are so steep yet so green and beautiful. As I am typing right now I am sitting on the front porch of the little chalet we are staying in with the huge Eiger mountain staring at me. Here is the picture of the Eiger mountain directly in front of the chalet where we are staying.

Warning: The pictures you will be seeing are extraordinarily beautiful and awesome. You might have urges to quit work and fly to Switzerland. Don't do anything drastic and remember that you can always come back to our blog to see all the amazing experiences we are having ;)

So I went into town to get some essentials in the morning, which of course included baguettes, cheese, milk, and some other random food items. We ate the baguettes with Nutella on them for breakfast with some hot chocolate. That is my kind of breakfast ;)

We decided we wanted to head up to Gimmelwald so we packed some sandwiches, the rest of the baguette, cheese, snacks, water, our rain jackets, and our cameras and headed out. Just so that everyone is not confused, we are staying in Grindlewald and we went to Gimmelwald, two different places.

*Tip: One way to get to Gimmelwald is to head to the town of Lauterbrunnen, take a cable car up to Grüschalp (located directly across from the Lauterbrunnen train station), hop on the train to Murren, and walk about 45 min to an hour down to Gimmelwald. The round trip from Lauterbrunnen to Murren cost about 24 CHF each.

When we arrived in Lauterbrunnen we were pleasantly surprised to be able to see the Staubbach Falls up on the side of a huge cliff right from the main road of the town. The waterfall was amazing to see as it fell so far down the cliff that the water was more of a mist than anything else. The mists collected on the rocks of the cliff and continued down.

We left the car in Lauterbrunnen and bought our tickets up to Murren. The cable car up to Grüschalp was pretty crazy. It was super steep and and super packed. We were smashed up against the side but luckily we had a window so we could at least see some of the great views. We hopped on the train to head over to Murren. Murren was just supposed to be a placed that we passed through on the way to Gimmelwald but it had some of the best views and the town itself was quite charming.

We found a great little spot that we stopped at just out of Murren both on the way down and the way back up from Gimmelwald. Thanks to our Gorrillapod we got some really good shots of both of us.

We hiked for about an hour down to Gimmelwald. It was a little bit odd that Gimmelwald is lower than Murren but was more well-known. We might have enjoyed the views from Murren a bit more just because it was a little bit higher. But we would still recommend the hike from Murren down to Gimmelwald because the views were so spectacular.

In Gimmelwald there is a famous Mountain Hostel that everyone that stays at raves about. We almost stayed here but thought it would be best to stay in a more central location (plus hostels tend to be less romantic). There is also a shop called "The Honesty Shop." It is a store ran on honesty. There is no cashier and nobody there at all. The prices are marked on the items (well most of them) and there is a box where you put the money. We have found Switzerland to have very nice, trusting people.

We decided to eat a snack in Gimmelwald so we busted out the cheese. It was the best snack ever. The cheese was perfect and it hit the spot. Natali was in heaven; just enjoying life as she snacked on great cheese while being surrounded by beautiful sights. You will probably find that we always post a lot of food pictures. The truth is that I believe Natali loves vacations for two things: To get amazing pictures and to eat great food. If she can do them both at the same time then that is perfect.
While we were eating the cheese a guy stopped by and nvited us to his "secret spot" where you could take a dip in the waterfall. We decided to check out his spot but we had to pick our way through a pretty steep mountain with trees and bushes everywhere without a trail. When we got within view it I looked up and saw two white butt cheeks staring back down at us. I stopped, told  We didn't want to just sneak up on the guy while he was enjoying the freedom of his secret spot. He waved for us to come on up a minute or so later. His spot was actually really neat with a waterfall and he was an interesting guy to talk to. We ate our sandwiches and snapped some pictures of the waterfall.

After lunch we were pretty exhausted so we decided to travel back to Murren by cable car instead of walking. While we were waiting for the cable car we set up our travel blanket and the Gorillapod and snapped a few more pictures.

*Tip: We think that this travel blanket I bought before the trip is a must-have for traveling in Europe. It is slick (and waterproof) on one side so you can put it on wet ground and the water will not seep through. It is soft on the other side so you feel comfortable using it as a blanket. We got it at Target for $12 and it has been worth every penny so far.

We were tired but we were close to the Trummelbach falls. I really wanted to see them so Natali pushed through the pain and tiredness so that I could enjoy some more waterfalls. These waterfalls were very unique and amazing. They cut through the mountain so the only way that they are accessed is through a series of tunnels that were carved out of the mountain. The falls are amazing and the pictures just don't do them justice. The sound of the water falling, echoing through the tunnels and the mists that cover your face from the shear power of the falls hitting the water are just a few of the things that cannot be caught in a picture. We took a sort of elevator up to fall 6, walked up to fall 10, and then walked all the way back down again. I believe there are over 2500 steps altogether. We were a little nervous that our feet would get wet, but they were fine.

*Tip: If you do go to the falls I would suggest to bring a rain jacket because it gets quite chilly in the tunnels and the mist would get quite cold without one.

Ursala, the person we are staying with, told us about a street party that the town was having that night. We rested a little bit, and then decided to go eat dinner and check out the street party. They closed off the main road for about 6 blocks, had a live band playing, and had booths with food, games, and all sorts of entertainment. On the way to the party we came across some great Switzerland music playing in front of a restaurant. It was an older couple playing these huge horns. It was great.

 

We luckily grabbed one of the tables on the street and ordered some food. Natali got the Raclette and I got the Swiss Hot Dog and we shared a strawberry dessert. It was all really good. I don't think you can go wrong with Raclette.

As we were eating, an older couple sat at the same table with us. The lady was overjoyed when she found out we spoke English and we started to talk about our trip and about who we were and everything else. Then, another couple sat in between us who were from Dublin so they joined in the conversation. It turns out that the older couple's daughter was a lawyer who worked at a big firm, worked in Paris for a year, then went on to work at the Department of Justice, and is now a stay-at-home mom with 4 kids (Natali was super jealous of all the things she was able to do). The guy from Dublin was also a lawyer so we talked about the for a long time. We ended up talking with all of them until about 10:30 that night. The couple from Dublin had just gone hiking through Austria so they told us a funny story about how the hostels they stayed in would just pile all the guests together on huge 10 foot mattresses! Sounds romantic doesn't it? Haha. It's always fun to meet new people and hear about their different crazy adventures.

We really enjoyed the street party and talking to our new friends. Sadly we didn't get any pictures with them and didn't even get pictures of the street party. We headed back to our little chalet after a great day exploring new things and meeting new people.

One last little tidbit about Switzerland. Everything is like a postcard here. The houses are all covered in flowers and have cute little shutters and things like that. It is crazy. They even cut their woodpiles and stack them perfectly and put flowers on those!