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.
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!
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