Thursday, August 31, 2017

Europe - Day 9 Living in the clouds, Trümmelbach Falls, Stechelberg Apfelstrudel

This morning the Alps have disappeared into the clouds. It is completely beautiful and I'm not sad at all that the sun is gone. The air is misty and the village houses look cozy and snug.


No one is out and about. We walked down to get a few last groceries to fill out our meals for the week. There was a nice selection of bread because there are no shoppers...but we still chose are favorite semel. It's crustier and chewier here than in Austria, and I really like it. 

Oh yes! Our müesli turned out beautifully. I think this version is a keeper. Did I mention we thought we lost Raymond's recipe? That left us to experiment and go off of our memories. (Kinda glad that happened...it made it more fun!)


The winning recipe:

1/2 apple, finely chopped
1 apricot, finely chopped
4 soup spoons dry quick oats
1/2 c hot milk (a little cream is nice)
several swirls of honey
chopped nuts (we did almonds)

Stir in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit over night in the fridge. In the morning add 3-4 spoons of plain yogurt and any fresh fruit you like. I particularly like nectarines and mom chose strawberries and grapes. Anything would be delicious!

The forecast said it would get colder and rainier throughout the day, so we decided it was the perfect day to go down and hike into Trümmelbach Falls. On the way we came across this little fellow traveling across the sharp rocks and heading out into the road. We relocated him free of charge.


Want to know what is scarier than riding on the cable car?

It's riding the cable car in the rain.



It never occurred to me that I would see a waterfall from this vantage point.



That's beautiful....and a long way down.




When we reached Stechelberg, we hopped right on a bus to Trümmelbach..it was perfect timing! We sat by some kind, talkative tourist that were interested to hear Mom's experiences at the Falls. They had questions about what to expect and if it was doable in the rain. She told them that a rainy day is the perfect time to go because you are inside the mountain. It is wet and cold in there, but since it's also wet and cold outside, you are already prepared and dressed for it. 

Makes perfect sense to me!

We hopped off of the bus and walked a beautiful path to go get tickets. 




We walked up several flights of steps that were on the outside of the mountain. The view of the valley was so green and so....Swiss!

We opted to take the elevator the rest of the way up. We made the choice before we ever came to do everything we could to be kind to our feet. So, a nice Australian kid took us right up to the entrance of the falls. 


And then....wow.

The sound of that water coming down through those caverns was....

HUMBLING. 

It was this deep rumble that you could feel in your feet, in the back of your head. We stood there and watched it crash down and rip around the caverns that had been carved right out from under it. It wasn't hard to imagine how all of this was formed. That water made you feel like it could do anything. 




 The pictures will never do it justice, but how can I not take them anyway?



As you climbed through, each time you came around a corner, there was a new section of the falls right there before you. This one sprayed you about every 5 seconds when the water hit off of the rocks at a certain angle. The challenge was to get a photo in between splashes.


This one shows how the river turns, drops and continues in a different direction.


As we hiked and climbed up to the top, I couldn't help but wonder...who made these steps? What kind of crazy person would get anywhere near this water and start chipping away at the stone around it?


Can you imagine coming in here and laying the cement for this pathway and installing that railing? Whoever it was....THANK YOU! I can't imagine shimmying along the wall trying to go see the falls.


After we left Trümmelbach, we walked out to the road and there was another bus waiting right there to take us back toward Stechelberg, we hopped right on and went right past where we would have hopped back on the cable car to Mürren....we had other plans

We had apfelstrudel plans.

And in true Kathleen and Maren fashion, we got as close as we could with the bus and we wandered a bit and sniffed our way right to the place. 

It was lunchtime, but we didn't waste any of our energy on LUNCH. 

Ah, yes. At last we meet.



Totally worth the rain, the travel, the flights, the cable car terrors and the calories. Mom and I make great travel companions. We have similar goals!


We left Hotel Stechelberg and what was right there waiting? A bus! We hopped right on and we were back on the cable car in no time.

And soon we were watching Stechelberg disappear.


There it goes...


Woah, wait.


Oh no....


It's okay, we survived. The catastrophic scenarios that played through my head as we blindly relied upon those three little cables to keep us all alive and deliver us back to our little chalet did their job perfectly.

Soon we were back and settle in for a bit to read and relax. I'm not sure what mom did because I took a 2 hour nap. Which was pure heaven. It is so quiet up here. There are very few cars and nobody is poking my face and asking me to make them a quesadilla.

After my nap, we walked down to the co op (why not?) and picked up some sausage and little potatoes. They have to coolest little machine for produce here. Why don't we have this? It would appeal to our desire to have a bar code on everything. Plus...it's fun.


We admired the well-loved vegetable gardens on our walk back. It makes me want to do more with the land I have.


After dinner, I stayed up and talked to Everly. I missed her the other day and wanted her to see my face. It was the middle of the day for them and Mark put her on Facetime with me and let her "have me" while he got caught up on work. So we had a playdate!


She showed me all of her things and wandered all over the house talking to me about this and that.


She left me alone a couple of times while she went in search of new things to do. It was sweet and I think she enjoyed have a truly captive audience.


Tomorrow is our last full day in Mürren. The weather is supposed to be even rainier and there is even a possibility of snow!

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Europe - Day 8 Hiking Allmendhubel, Cow bells and Interlaken

We woke up late (heaven!) and went straight to the fridge to see how the Müsli turned out! We added about 2/3 cup of plain yogurt and gave it a taste. We added some more honey. It was a little runny and needed some nuts.  Tonight we will drop the milk down to 1/2 c and add a little of the cream we bought and forgot to add yesterday. I brought a baggie of almonds in my purse from home, so we'll chop them up and add them too. I won't miss them...who wants to snack on nuts from Kansas when there is so much yummy food to try?!


We got ready for our day of Hiking in the Swiss Alps. (I love saying that!)

The view out my window! I love there gardens...no fussy lawns around here.


Soon we were out the door and ready to hit the trail to Allmendhubel. With our trusty little map at hand, we worked our way over to what we thought was the right trail....well, it was what I thought was the right trail. Why in the world would I listen to my highly intelligent mom that has been her many many times?

So...we ended up hiking on this VERY steep service road for quite a while. It was still ridiculously beautiful. Where else to service roads look like this?


We were hoping that the road would connect up with the trail to Allmendhubel eventually. In the meantime, there was so much to see. I fell in love with the itty bitty flowers that were everywhere.


Eventually our road did turn into a trail. It was one of those trails that goes straight UP.


It was tough! We took lots of breaks to let our calves stop burning and our lungs to start working again. Taking a break always resulted in turning around and seeing this:


I was torn between looking at the majesty of the Alps and those sweet little blossoms everywhere. Mom was incredibly patient and let me stop and take photos. And more photos.










We came upon this gate and I really liked the way it made me think about who laid those pavers up here. I remember my mom laying our mosaic path in Payson...stone by stone, digging it in and making it level with the others. The idea of someone doing the same here reminds me how much we are the same all over the world.


Taking another short break and listening for cow bells.


Catching mom before she was ready for her photo....but it's such a cute picture!


What a beautiful place! And I am so glad to be here with my Mom.


Up ahead on the peak is the Schilthorn. It's a rotating restaurant where they filmed a scene from one of the James Bond movies. Most people take a cable car up, but it's also possible to hike there. We aren't doing either. We have cows to find and miniature flowers to admire!


A gorgeous panoramic view of the valley and mountains behind us.


More flowers!






At last, our service road did meet up with the trail we to Allmendhubel. And we headed in that direction....


But then we heard the cows! So we turned around and crossed the meadow to meet up with some wonderful fellows and listen to their bells. I really wanted to get up a little closer. I always think of the picture of my mom with one of these Swiss cows. I love that picture!


Once we got to see the cows up close. We went back to our trail and started heading to Allmendhubel once again. Luckily, there were little flowers along the way...



The trail turned from meadows to pine forests as we got closer to the top.


I kept noticing these twisted tree roots that formed perfect little fairy houses.  I couldn't help but think how much the little girls would have loved to see them and imagine that little people live there when we aren't looking.



And we made it to the top!


One of my favorite pictures of our trip...


Mom showed me that the peaks we were looking at all have names.  There is the Jungfrau (the young maiden) on the right, next her is the Mönch (the monk)...he protects her from the Eiger (the ogre) on the left. I really love that.

Here's my little map I drew to help me remember:


We wandered over to the restaurant, yes...a restaurant on the mountain. This is a great view of the three peaks!


We thought we'd see if they had any apple strudel. They only had apple PIE. Apple pie should not be legal when you are from a country that knows how to make apple strudel.



You would think that since they did not have what we were looking for, we would leave.

But no.

That is not who we are. We stay and order food we don't want, at prices we can't afford when we aren't even hungry because we don't want to hurt any feelings. There are a lot of great things about being a blue. This is not one of them.

But the sparkling apple juice was cold and delicious!

I was grateful we had purchased tickets to ride the funicular back down to Mürren . My feet were aching and was more than happy to ride STRAIGHT DOWN the hill.


We were back in the apartment in no time...just catching a nap. It's an essential part of a perfect vacation!

We still had a good amount of time left in the day, so we decided we should go down to Interlaken and find a music box store. We looked up the address before we left and I took a screenshot of the city map.

When we arrived, we did what we always do....we just sniffed our way there! We found it like we knew where were going. (We didn't).

Mom bought me this beautiful box:


It plays a beautiful tune and I have no idea what it is! Someday I'll figure it out.

I have fond memories of playing my mother's music box when I was younger. Her mom bought it for her in Lucerne!


We didn't stay long in Interlaken. We took the train back to Lauterbrunnen.


Before we hopped back on that scary cable car, we walked down to Staubach Falls. Seriously! Look how beautiful this place is! People actually get to live here.


The falls were awe-inspiring. As we stood there at the base of it, I couldn't help but watch a small section of the falling water fall all the way down. It made me think of what it would be like to fall over those falls...ack! They say that this spot is a favorite for base jumpers from all over the world. People are crazy!



What would a Swiss Fall be without Swiss cows?


We filled up our waterbottles at one of the ever-flowing spouts nearby. Then we started our walk back to the cable car lift.

On our way we spotted these little deer. You can't tell from the picture, but they were really red!


Back to Grütschalp and then to Mürren. We heated up a lasagna for dinner and buttered our favorite semel buns.  Our new batch of müsli is in the fridge for tomorrow's breakfast. Yum! We have high hopes for this batch!

I stayed up late to talk to each of the kids, except for Everly.  Ethan was sounding particularly happy. School is going well and he's excited to have a job interview at Walmart. That made me happy to hear!