Europe - Day 7 Breakfast feast, Arrival in Mürren

Raymond said breakfast would be ready at 8 am, since we needed to catch our train and get back to Lucerne by 10:05. We started smelling the heavenly smells about 7:45.

The table was set and ready to go!

There was everything you could possibly want...herbal tea, orange juice, creamy cocoa....

Raymond appeared and serve us bacon, eggs and Rösti which is like hash browns, but better. There was some lovely Müsli and he told us exactly how to make it, step by step. I think I could it that every day. He would leave to go and get something for us and as he left he would say, "I come." He would return with it and off he would go again, saying again, "I come."

He brought warm fresh rolls and walnut bread with homemade blackberry and plum jam. It was so delicious! 

When we could eat no more, Raymond brought us a ziploc baggie and insisted that we use the rest of the bread and jam to make little sandwiches for our trip. He couldn't have been kinder to us. He was especially proud of his red Swiss napkins.

After breakfast, he checked us out, and printed us copies of the recipes for the Müsli and the Rösti, so we could make it for ourselves. 

It was time to leave for the train to Lucerne and he said, "I help you." He picked up the bags and pretended they were incredibly heavy, dropped them and said, "No. I help nothing." And he laughed and laughed!

We took one more glance at his beautiful gardens...

We stopped at the kitchen door on the side of the house to tell Jennifer thank you for the wonderful meal.

And take a selfie! I'm so glad we did...I would hate to forget these lovely people and the memories we made here.

He stood on the street and waved to us as we walked all the way to the train station.

We had taken photos of our train schedule, because Switzerland still did not like my phone. It's very important to have the platform information ahead of time, because we often had only a few minutes to switch trains and there wasn't time to go figure it out.

                              

Soon we were climbing up up up through the mountains. I was grateful for the breathtaking views. The train was a little shaky and I needed the distraction. Also, Mom (who is brave) was sitting on the outer side and I felt safer closer to the mountain.

Look at all those houses up there in the mountains. Can you believe people are living up there?

And to my horror, the nervousness I felt on the funicular in Salzburg and Hallstatt and then this little old train were nothing! We had to take a CABLE CAR from Lauterbrunnen to Grutsdhalp. Oh my word. I haven't prayed that hard in a while...and I have teenagers.

But we lived. Hallelujah!

We arrived in Mürren and, again, realized that I didn't know how to get to our chalet! Whoops! So we headed up the hill and found the place with the big i and they gave us the trusty little map that we consulted the rest of the time we were here. We also learned that are Chalet was pronounced "Ahna-moh nee" not "Anemone",  like the sea plant. lol...I was wondering.

We wound through the streets and eventually sat down on the steps of a chalet and snack on our jam buns. A nice man walked up and informed us we were sitting on his steps and helped us to contact the landlady and get keys to our apartment for the next 4 days.  it was the perfect little place!

It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a fireplace and a place to do our laundry!

And such a beautiful view...

Besides the view out the window, there were two decks on opposite sides of the chalet. One looking up a village hillside and one out at the mountains.

We got settled and started a load of laundry then set out to look around and get something to eat. We stopped at the Coop grocery store to find a few things and I was shocked at how expensive the food was. 4 francs for 6 eggs?? We bought the ingredients we would need to make Müsli for breakfast and thought it might make more sense to eat out for lunch and dinner. Except the restaurants were even more expensive! Back to the Coop we went and the food prices suddenly seemed much more reasonable.

On the way back, Mom pointed out some edelweiss in a in a pot. Is it possible to feel star struck by a plant?

Real, live edelweiss!!

The alps are so huge and also seemed so close.

We had had a long day of travel and so we went home and made pot of asparagus soup with some yummy semel bread. It was the perfect meal. Followed by chocolate, of course!

The view out of the mountainside balcony was breathtaking. It was so quiet you could her the wind blowing around the peaks.

I am so glad we came here.

Tomorrow we will hike and see if we can find some cows with bells. Tonight we made our first attempt at making Raymond's Swiss Musli.

Our first recipe:

1 half of an apple, chopped very small
1 chopped apricot
4 soup spoons of quick oats
1 cup hot milk
T Tbsp honey

We mixed that all together and covered it with the plastic bag we brought our fruit home in. We'll see how it goes!

Squeaky Clean

I love these little updates Mark sends me throughout the trip. Putting my mind to rest that everyone is bathed and brushed and healthy. Does he realize that he's doing a much better job that I do? 

Maybe.

But then again, let's give him 18 years of it and see if the standards are!

Enjoy it while it lasts, girls! 

Europe - Day 6, The Lion of Lucerne and Littau Farmhouse

Time to leave Salzburg. I really loved this city. I can tell you that when we planned the trip, I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. I'm so glad Mom has experience coming here and knew this would be an important part of our trip. 

I love this photo. How many dozens of times were we standing on a platform, looking at our Deutsche Bahn app, trying to make sure we were exactly where we needed to be? I have to say...we did awesome! We looked up routes, planned times, and when the internet wouldn't participate, we looked for a big i and asked the tourist information people questions until we felt like we could do it. 

Which is exactly how we got to Lucerne. Switzerland's internet simply did not care for my phone. It just wouldn't work outside of a wifi connection.  So, we found some lockers at the station and stowed our luggage for the day. We weren't staying in Lucurne, but we did want to see some of the city, before we went on to Littau and then to Murren.

The kind girl at the information desk looked up bus schedules and maps for us and I took a picture because I really can't remember that stuff for more than a few minutes.

Soon we were armed with map of the city and walking to see the Lion of Lucerne. I really was beautiful and peaceful. Mark Twain called it "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." I think he was right.

It was made in 1820-21 by Lucas Ahorn to honor the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The stood and died to protect Lous XVI and his family. To this day, the Swiss Guards are know for their loyalty and still guard the Vatican in Rome.

Near the monument, there was this water bottle filling station. I love its snake head! Mom and I marveled at their willingness to just let the water flow all the time. The Swiss seem to have plenty of water to spare.

We walked around the city and noticed their older buildings bear these beautiful frescoes in between the windows and along the border of the roofs.

We wanted to walk both of the old bridges in Lucerne. First we saw the Spreuer Bridge first. It was finished in 1408, destroyed by a flood and rebuilt again in 1566. So it's really not that old. Only 451 years. Makes me feel like we are babies!

I love those massive curved beams:

The interior:

An incredible view of Lucerne from the bridge:

 As you walk along the bridge, there are triangular paintings up in the pediment. Each one is different. The ones on the Spreuer Bridge form a Danse Macabre, depicting scenes from the plague...skeletons and corpses. Many were commissioned individually by wealthy citizens and have pastoral scenes and a coat of arms representing the donor. There were 67 paintings originally and 45 have survived. We could see that several have been restored and are bright and colorful.

We walked over to the longer bridge, The Kappellbrucke. It was built in 1333 and unfortunately a large portion burned down in 1993. It has since been restored, but so many of it's paintings were lost in the fire. 

We were thinking we might find a place to buy a music box, like my mom had with her mother when she was studying abroad, but we soon realized that Lucerne is very expensive. So we wandered about a little more, looking at the birds in the dock. We spied this funny little car, parked with the bicycles. 

Then we hopped on our little train and rode out to Littau to find the B&B Haus un Loche. It was only as we stepped onto the platform that I realized that I didn't really know how to get there from the station! For some strange reason, I felt like it was really close and so we walked up and around the corner and there it was! I recognized it from so many photos I'd seen.

We looked around and couldn't really see where the entrance was. We left our luggage near the street and climbed the garden steps around to the back. We could see a few people talking in a little gazebo about 10 yards away, further into the garden, but we had no idea who they were! Maybe they were the neighbors?

We went into the sliding back doors and suddenly a lively man with white hair came in from behind us. It was Raymond Norjean. He and his wife were the reason we were staying here. I head read hundreds of rave reviews about them and what truly lovely people they are. (I also read that they serve a fantastic breakfast.)

Within a few minutes we knew exactly what all those people were talking about. Raymond was talkative and always joking and laughing. You had to pay attention to keep up with him! He showed us our room and demonstrate the wonders of the touch lamp (that reminded me of Dad) and how to work the fan. 

This is an old Swiss farmhouse. The ceilings were very low and you stepped down into it. It kind of reminded me of sleeping in a little cubby! But it was so charming and they were so kind and accommodating. Raymond dashed off to get us a little more chocolate to snack on.  

I loved our door handles!

Soon, Jennifer pulled Raymond away and we were left to rest for a bit. The chocolate was gone in flash and we decided to go find some real food. We walked back down to the train station and then across to the other side. There were some very expensive sit down places and they didn't seem like a good idea. Then we found a little run down spot where they sell greek food. Kebaps to the rescue! 

And they were really good! We sat outside and munched them down along with a couple Orange Fantas (the European version is lighter and yummier.)

Back to the B&B for the night....we quickly took a peek at their fun garden. The gazebo was theirs. Their backyard was going straight up the hill and they had planted or landscaped every single inch of it. 

Look at these great tomatoes!

And this pumpkin trellis that makes the best of their hilly spot.

I love this place! It makes me happy knowing that such a fun couple live hear and spread their love of life to the travelers that come through.

In the morning we will get up early, eat that famous breakfast and head out to Murren!

Europe Day 5 - Hallstatt

We got up early to catch an 8 am train to Hallstatt. This is the kind of place that you think can't possible be as beautiful as the pictures. 

But it truly is.

Once your train stops, then you wait for a ferry to come and take you across a gorgeous shiny lake. If you can elbow your way in between the very pushy Asian tourists, you can snap a photo. It was no easy feat. They must be used to standing their ground in their highly populated home countries. 

This was the first sign we saw off the ferry.

That is one seriously long word. And apparently it means that this store carries a variety of items.

We planned on touring Hallstatt's salt mine, which is the oldest in the world. Mom has done this several times with each of the kids that take a big trip with her and she says the miner's slide is pretty great. So we are aiming for that first.

We started walking down the street and looking into shops. And as I glance up, I noticed a VERY STEEP funicular up to the salt mine.  I mean, really. That looks scary, right? But every time you see something like that, you also have to weigh the scariness factor with the fact that you will not have to climb up that mountain if you can get yourself over the fear.

Not to mention, that is a very beautiful mountain.

We made our way through the shops and over to the base of the funicular. Looking at it from this perspective did not calm my fears.

This is the view from the trail above the funicular. It really is so gorgeous. I could just picture this in the winter. What an amazing place to live!

There was a pretty substantial trail we needed to still climb to the entrance of the salt mine. I got bit by several Austrian mosquitoes. They are just as mean as American ones.

We had brought our puffy jackets along with us because we were thinking it would be a chilly day. We wore long sleeve shirts too. Well, it really was NOT chilly and by the time we hiked up the trail, we were both really warm and sweaty. So, mom had hauled those puffy coats around in her cute bag all morning just so we could use them inside the mine. She knew first hand that it is very cold in the mine.

Unfortunately, we were so hot from the hike, we were both thinking that the coolness of the mine would feel amazing and a welcome relief. So we CHECKED THE COATS!!

They issued our coveralls, complete with matching green pants with reinforce bum for maximum speed on the miner's slide.

Mom realized just that the pants they gave her were too small and we started to head back to exchange them. But our tour guide said, "No, no...those are fine. It's too late now!" So mom was stuck with uncomfortable pants the whole tour.

Other than that, this guy was a pretty good tour guide. He spoke both German and English very well. He took a moment before the tour to ask us to please refrain from picking up rocks, writing on the walls, grabbing pipes or wire and....I promise you....not "relieve yourself'" in the mine.

ugh. You know he said it because someone did it.

We hike up several flights of outdoor steps and walked over to the entrance. This mine is 7000 years old. It really is the source of wealth and industry hear. I think it is fascinating that salt is so important and can bring so much money into the area and we buy it for 50 cents a pound. I have never thought of it as a valuable commodity.

The entrance to the mine. If you are claustrophobic, you probably should go back and look for souvenirs.

Walking down down down... and the cool temperatures felt amazing....and then they felt freezing. We were both wishing for our puffy coats after about 15 minutes. DANG!

We reached the first miner's slide and the guide tells us if we are really super scared we can walk down the stair case..(wimps). If we choose to slide, all you have to do is sit down, lean back and resist the urge to slow yourself down with your feet, which would cause you to pitch forward and break your face.

You don't have to tell me twice.

But, wow. That was scary. Doing something like that and just letting it happen. That was really hard for me. And it felt very very fast.

This is mom getting off the second (much longer and much scarier) slide. Can I just say, I really had no idea how fearless she is! She doesn't bat an eye when we are going up steep inclines or sliding down into the abyss of a mine. She has nerves of steel. And....we found out that she clocked a speed 30.7 km per hr! She says she thinks she can do better when she comes with Heidi in a couple weeks. I told you....fearless!

The rest of the tour was all about the history of the mine. They showed us how they found a staircase that they believe is the oldest in the world. And some of the science behind removing the salt from the mine and making it usable. Mom and I kept getting jostled to the back of the group and really couldn't see or hear a lot of it.

The mine was cool and the history was so interesting. But we were absolutely shivering by then and we were thinking lovingly about our puffy coats back in mom's cute bag from Budapest.

We left the mine by way of this funny little train the miner's used. It was basically a long skinny bench that you straddle. This picture makes me laugh every time....

We were so happy to warm up outside of the mine. And hiking downhill is infinitely more enjoyable that uphill.

At the base of the mountain I saw this little cottage again. The more I looked at it, the more I wanted to just move right in and live out the rest of my days. I'm not sure it would have the same charm if I built on to fit the whole family, however.

Maybe later.

We walked back through the town and took found some fun souvenirs. Mom and I both bought some darling wooden toys...little animals that have wooden balls on their backs that roll when you move them around.  I bought a little turtle and mom got three animals for the little girls that live across the street from her. While we have been on this trip, they have essentially lost both of their parents and it is so heartbreaking. I know Mom wishes she could be there to help and comfort them. I think these little toys will make them smile.

We spied this fantastic pear treat that has been pruned to grow flat against this house. I love it so much! Right after I snapped this photo, Mom pointed out the "no photo" sign nailed to the trunk.

lol... whoops!

Along the banks of Lake Hallstatt.

Soon we were both starving. And we found a place that looked good.

All of the restaurants have the same basic menu. Which is totally fine with me, because weinersnitzel! But really, it was the salad I liked most. I even poured the leftover salad dressing over my potatoes.

I love how the people here take such care with their homes. The paint and trim and all the flower boxes.

The view of Hallstatt from the path up to the old church.

We visited this old church and next to it the Charnel House. Because of the way the town is so nestled in the hills, there is limited space for burial grounds.

"In the 1700s, the church began digging up corpses to make way for the newly dead. The bodies, which had been buried for only 10 to 15 years, were then stacked inside the charnel house. Lest this all sound overly callous to the memory of the dead, there is actually a charm to the whole affair that Hallstatt can’t seem to escape even with a room full of skulls. Once the skeletons were exhumed and properly bleached in the sun, the family members would stack the bones next to their nearest kin.  In 1720, a tradition began of painting the skulls with symbolic decorations, as well as dates of birth and death so that the dead would be remembered, even if they no longer had a grave. Of the 1,200 skulls, some 610 of them were lovingly decorated with an assortment of symbols - laurels for valor, roses for love, and so on. The ones form the 1700s are painted with thick dark garlands, while the newer ones form the 1800s, bear brighter floral styles. "

Kinda nice, huh?

After the Charnel House, we went down to the dock to wait for the ferry. The view behind us was gorgeous. 

We watched as a lady hand fed a swan.

And had a laugh about how much Mark and this kids would love this ticket.

We were happy to hang out and rest our feet.

On the trip back, I was wise to the pushy tourists, so I hopped right on and found a great spot at the back of the boat. I wanted to get a great shot of the town as we crossed the lake

We could see a lot more of the shoreline as we got further away...

Right as we came to the other side, the ride came pounding down! You can see the water jumping in the lake. We were feeling pretty grateful for our coats then.

Luckily there was a covered area at the bottom of the hill. All we would need to do is run up it when we heard the train coming. That way we could spend as much time as possible staying dry. Others made a run for it.

Mom heard the train and the rain petered out. Perfect timing!

We rode the train all the way back to Salzburg and back to our hotel, but we made a little pit stop at the grocery store in the station for a dark chocolate and coconut ice cream bar. Delicious!