The Alps – Up Close and Personal

May 21, 2015 by crawfordeg 1 Comment

Tuesday morning I decided to get up early and head East to the Berner Oberland region. This is the area that is most famous for the Alps. Switzerland is smaller than the state of Georgia so you can cover a lot of ground in just a few hours. There are three official languages here: French, German, and Italian. We are staying in the French speaking region and the Berner Oberland is in the German speaking region. It was neat to see the names of the cities change from all French (Geneve, Nyon, Rolles) to German (Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald).

I wanted to get to Gimmelwald which is an Alpine village of about 120 people and sits high in the mountains. It took me about 3 hours and a few train changes, but I made it to Lauterbrunnen around 10 am. Lauterbrunnen is in the valley and the jumping off point for the other villages. The landscape is so different here than in the Lake Geneva region – you are right in the middle of the mountains!

Lauterbrunnen was SO small and this was the largest “town” I went to! The guide book says it is the “valley’s commercial center and transportation hub.” There was just one main street and some shops to buy necessities. There was a huge waterfall spewing out the side of the mountain. I saw a ton of these – there are so many because of the snow melt from the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau mountains. The Jungfrau is the mountain in here and had the weather been better, I would have gone to the top.

I took a cable car and then a tiny train up to Murren. It’s a ski resort in the winter but was pretty empty this time of year. It’s crazy small and just sits on the side of a mountain. I had lunch there and got the Swiss specialty, Raclette. It’s melted cheese that’s served with pickles. Since it’s a well-known Swiss dish, I had high expectations. The sum was not better than the parts – it was a plate of melted cheese with a few pickles that tasted just like melted cheese with a side of pickles. An odd lunch to say the least.

From Murren it was a 40 minute walk down the mountain to Gimmelwald. I only saw three people on the entire walk – two were mountain bikers from Lake Tahoe who were going up the mountain and were about to pass out! I can’t even begin to describe how remote it was. The only thing around me were cows, some wooden sheds that held tons of firewood and the amazing Alps. There are A LOT of cows in Switzerland.

Gimmelwald was just a collection of a few buildings. There are a few people who rent rooms to visitors. One family rents out the two rooms that used to belong to their son and daughter. It’s a no frills kind of place, and the people that are there are there to experience the Alps and all they have to offer. To get groceries or any necessities, you have to go up the mountain to Murren. However, they still get mail everyday that is delivered by a four-wheeler to a communal mailbox. It was an amazing experience to be in such a small place that’s tucked into the side of the mountains!

I stopped in Interlaken and Bern on the way back. I thought Interlaken was over-hyped, but I liked Bern. It’s the capital city so it’s busy but has a pretty river running through it. They also have shops that are down in cellars. The cellars used to store household supplies, then wine, and are now shops.

It was a fun and busy day and I’m so glad I went. I wish the weather would have been clearer so I could have seen more but it was still a great experience! The photos don’t do it justice.