4 October 2018.
Weather (near) perfect, locals friendly, cheese coming out of our ears.
This was our fifth visit to the Lauterbrunnen Valley, aka the Jungfrau Region, and it was difficult to leave after a week of great weather. We have rented the same apartment three times now and it feels like coming home. There’s nothing to figure out: we know the transportation, where to shop, where to eat, and that James’ and Michelle’s apartment has a slow cooker for our convenience. Day one, we put a pot of chicken soup on low and headed to the mountains.
We can see this waterfall from our apartment in the valley.
People ask why we go back to the same place over-and-over. That could be a bore in some places but here we always find new things to do. So many new things this trip that we did not get back to a couple of old favorites.
New to us was Sulwald and Isenfluh, a peaceful little community with views not seen by the masses heading elsewhere.
The cable car to Sulwald from Isenfluh can hold 8 people or one cow. Ric and I had a private ride.
In 4 trips to this area, we had not been to Isenfluh or Sulwald. It was a world apart. If you ever get to Isenfluh, stop at the restaurant there for a Sulwald Burger and a Radler and enjoy this view.
Eight people or one cow. The attendant showed us how the right side of the car opens to create a ramp the cow can use for boarding.
Another new-to-us adventure was the Aare Gorge. Our arrival was unexpected: the stop-on-demand train halted inside a tunnel and opened the doors. We thought it was a mistake until, magically, a door in the tunnel wall slid open revealing a path. We traipsed across a suspension bridge, then followed a somewhat rugged path up the hillside to the official entry. From there, the wooden walkways took us through the gorge to the train station at the other end.
A new-to-us walk was through the Aare Gorge on a slightly overcast day. We exited our train at the same level as the river, climbed up to the gated entry where the walkway began leading us down again.
People have been walking here for over 100 years. The ingenious Swiss build paths, tunnels, and walkways everywhere!
I have read about the Ballenberg Open Air Museum for years. Finally, we managed to visit. What a unique museum! 50 years ago the Swiss decided to create a place where their heritage could be preserved. Imagine a wooden building from 1336 preserved for posterity! While that is the oldest, it is far from the only ancient structure maintained at Ballenberg. Visiting was like taking a walk across all of the cantons in a couple of hours.
Many of the buildings at Ballenberg are hundreds of years old. They were disassembled, moved, and reassembled on site.
The day we visited there was a horse event. The Swiss Army turned out to help.
Handsome rooster at Ballenberg.
At Ballenberg one can walk across many of the Swiss cantons in a couple of hours.
A threshing demonstration at Ballenberg. Many Swiss crafts and skills are on display.
An old favorite is the hike from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg. Although we’ve done the hike four times, there is always something new.
Since we last visited in 2016, this Trojan Cow has been added at the Männlichen playground. It moos and has a slide inside.
On the way to Kleine Scheidegg. There are a lot of improvement projects and building everywhere in Switzerland it seems.
I love this picture of a woman taking a photo of her dog at Männlichen. This is the start of our favorite hike to Kleine Scheidegg.
In four weeks of travel, we have had one day where rain kept us from doing what we had planned. ONE DAY! Big contrast to last year when we froze for the first two weeks of September.
Our last morning the snow level had descended considerably. It was about 40F/4C when we left.
This little guy was out-and-about, drinking from the stream through the pasture behind us and keeping an eye on the ‘hood.
We do not eat dinner out very often in Switzerland, but we found tasty pizza at the Camping Jungfrau restaurant.
