Mürren, Switzerland
September 30-October 2
Day 4 - Black Forest and Mürren, Switzerland
On our way to Switzerland, we stopped in the Black Forest to explore the Vogtsbauernhof Black Forest Open Air Museum. A lovely woman named Frau Schmidt (the only guide whom Fabian did not call by her first name!) gave us a tour of farmhouses that were still occupied until the late 60’s. This is one of those places like Plimouth Plantation or the Jamestown Settlement where the historical buildings are kept intact, and you can really experience how it was like to live on the farm.
After our tour, the group had lunch just outside the museum grounds and enjoyed real Black Forest cake – complete with a shot of Black Forest Kirschwasser – a strong schnaps (very different from what Americans know as schnapps”). If you aren’t a fan of strong tasting alcohol, you may want to not pour it on your cake.
A few hours later, we arrived in Switzerland.
Mürren, Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places to stay. First of all, you have to take a tram to get to the town – the town is at an elevation of 5425 feet. So, we all got off the bus, grabbed our suitcases, and got into the tram. At Mürren, we got off and walked to our hotel, Hotel Jungfrau - Murren. I checked into my room just in time to open the doors to the porch and see the sun setting on the Jungfrau, Eiger, and Mönch mountain tops. Absolutely stunning. Little did I know, but my sunrise view would be even better.
We had our first of two group dinners in Mürren at our hotel that night. Nothing says “Switzerland” quite like cheese fondue. Yum!
Day 5 - Mürren, Switzerland
Our first full day in Mürren was clear enough that most of the group decided to go to the top of the Schilthorn. We took a tram from the same station that had dropped us off in Mürren the day before – only this time, we went up, up, up. At the top, there are 360 degree views of the entire area, as well as a fun James Bond exhibit (they filmed the movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” up here right after the Piz Gloria viewing area was built in the 60’s.
This is definitely only worth the money to go up to the top of the Schilthorn if the view is not clouded in. Thankfully, the hotel had TVs that are tuned to a channel showing you the weather conditions at the top, so you can make an educated decision before plunking down your money.
After coming down the mountain, we heard there was a cheese festival going on in nearby Winteregg, so we grabbed picnic supplies at the one grocery store, and hiked to Winteregg. The group all picked different stops along the way to stop and eat, but I can tell you, every single stop had an incredible view! The cheese festival was not much to write home about, so the group that went to Winteregg ended up enjoying some beers and sunshine on the outdoor patio of the one restaurant. There’s a great little train that goes right from Winteregg to Mürren that we hopped on when it was time to head back.
As this was now the 5th day of the tour, and I had been in Paris for a few days before the tour, this was a good day to get some laundry done. I could have paid a few more Euro and had the hotel do my laundry, but there was a self-service laundry only a few hundred feet away, so I did my own. Unfortunately, the dryers took forever, so I used more free time than I would have liked to get my laundry done. It probably would have been more worth my time to pay the extra to have the hotel do it for me. But, I did save money for more beer.
Dinner that night was on our own, so a couple of us ended up at the restaurant just above where I was doing my laundry (convenient, since I was still drying things when it was time to grab dinner).
Day 6 – Mürren and Lauterbrunnen Valley
It is a good thing we went to the top of the Schilthorn yesterday, as today was rainy. So we took the tram down the mountain and explored the Trümmelbach Falls. There are 10 falls to view – all spectacular in their own way. The rain and the falls combined to make us all a bit wet and cold, so when given the option to hike from the Falls to the village of Lauterbrunnen, or take the bus, I took the bus. Those that went on the hike said it was beautiful, even with the rain.
I spent an hour exploring the little town of Lauterbrunnen’s shops, and then took the tram back up the mountain, and then a short train to Mürren (passing through Winteregg once more). By that time, it was time for lunch. The rain held off for most of the afternoon, providing for spectacular photos with all sorts of interesting cloud movement in the mountains. After a little souvenir shopping, I spent time relaxing at the hotel using the free wi-fi access they offered in their comfortable living room (as did half our tour group – it was entertaining to see all of us fiddling on our electronic devices whenever we had free time in Mürren).
That night we had another group dinner at the hotel. However, before dinner, we were treated to a local musician, Chrigel, who played us traditional Swiss tunes on the accordion. I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow we all had a version of a Conga line going, with Chrigel in the lead.
