Day 23 ~ Swiss Redemption: Solo Edition

Stef’s Story

Daniel and I have been joined at the hip throughout this trip. Honestly we weren’t sure how 24/7 togetherness would work. I’m happy to report that we are getting along beautifully, with only brief, few, and minor instances of anything I’d even call tension. The big picture is that I have never laughed so much and so hard in my life. Also I have deep appreciation for his wizardry with a map, and lightning abilities with all things technology. He has been a rock, and has been lighting up these days. But today, due to a cold that has been frustratingly assertive, we went our separate ways. Dan explored Lauterbrunnen a bit in the course of a hunt for cold medicine, and I went romping around. This is my day.

This morning started clear and crisp, with the most beautiful blue sky. In our brief time in Switzerland, we hadn’t seen weather this glorious. The green on the hills just glowed, and we could see more features of the landscape in the sunlight. We started together with the train ride from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen. This ride is absolutely gorgeous, with views of both towns and the whole valley. What a way to start the day.

Lauterbrunnen, with its towering falls.

We parted ways. I was headed to the Grutschalp cable car, which whisks you up the cliffside (see above) and deposits you at a scenic railway depot that goes along the top of the cliff (also above), terminating in Murren. Determined to get as close as I could to sharing this day with Daniel, I resolved to take lots of video – so that’s what you get today, and I hope they play well for you.

The cable car was neat, if a bit of a cattle call. We were really packed in there. Through a characteristic combination of dumb luck and sheer stubbornness, I got one of the few spots at a window, instead of the many spots crammed into the center. This was my first cable car ride in Switzerland, and it did not disappoint.

The scenic train ride along the ridge was truly jaw-dropping.

We pulled into town, and I got my first taste of Murren. This was a very elegant Swiss mountain town, with gorgeous chalets and, of course, incredible views. It has perhaps a more sophisticated quality about it – I suspect Wengen is where the American tourists stay, but Europeans who know stay in Murren. I loved it, and I hope we get to spend a little more time there.

I walked through town, unsure of what I would do, but excited to see what the town had to offer. As I walked, I kept seeing signs to the Schilthorn. Now, the Schilthorn is a little brother to the Jungfraujoch, a destination perched at the top of a mountain that people go to for spectacular views of the Alps. These buildings look like a Bond villain’s lair, and in the case of the Schilthorn, that is literal – its #1 claim to fame is that it was a location featured in the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969. We had kind of dismissed the Schilthorn as a destination in our trip planning because it was 100% Bond themed, and sounded kind of cheesy. But here I was, and I had to at least look it up. I learned that it was only at 30-minute cable car ride away. It offered me a chance for a view of the Swiss Alps that had been denied to us yesterday. I’d had a lot planned for the day. Would I have to sacrifice other plans to make this work? At a minimum, I would not get to just chill in Murren – sad. But the clarity of the day created an undeniable lure to see if I could really get up into the mountains.

Switzerland had handed me a sparkling day. I was going to the Schilthorn.

Another wonderful cable car ride, another great view. When I got to the top, I found the Bond theme mildly cheesy, sure, but there is no commercializing that view. Now, I don’t mean to sour-grapes the Jungfraujoch, but those grapes were pretty sour. Of course the weather had not been on our side, but also, we’d found the passage up there to be baffling, and the last 20 minutes were in a tunnel. Here, every step was clearly communicated, and the whole ride was spectacular cable cars – maybe the views are 50% less grand, but the travel is 100% better. Also unlike the Jungrfraujoch with its many different exhibits, this is a pretty modest facility where the views are the star. So here they are.

A kindly stranger saw me struggling to get a selfie with this sign and offered to take a picture. People are really nice to you when you’re traveling alone.

In the pic below, off in the middle distance is the 360-degree viewpoint where the video below is from. On the other side of the ridge, you can just barely make out the blue dot that is Lake Thun, the massive lake near Interlaken that is the gateway to the Lauterbrunnen Valley. It’s much clearer in person.

I don’t know what the Jungfraujoch had to offer me on this bright blue day, and I wasn’t going to find out, but I couldn’t have been happier with the view of the Alps I got on this gift of an afternoon. I’m so glad I said yes to the Schilthorn.

As I prepared to head back, I saw that the stop where I’d transferred cable cars actually housed a thing called a Thrill Walk – what’s this? I love a Thrill! Tell me more! I had almost missed it. Turns out it’s a metal grate walkway hugging the side of a cliff. Perfect! I stopped on the way back.

The grate was pretty fun, but what really got me sweating was a stretch of glass near the end. I don’t know what good it would have done me to walk slowly and tentatively across it if it were to actually fail, but I nudged across it like it was ice on a pond.

I arrived at Murren, and did actually take 10 minutes for a double espresso at a beautiful cafe with this view:

I had planned to head to Gimmelwald, Rick Steves’ number one town in the Valley. It was a 40-minute walk, which seemed longer than I wanted to spend. To my delight, there was a cable car down – but it didn’t leave for 20 minutes. Again I reassessed. This was an incredible day. This was a walk in the Swiss countryside. This, I decided, was a walk I needed to take. And off I went.

The walk was lovely! I saw many beautiful things. Including two very friendly felines.

I saw a couple of Debbie Haas-level gardens – how is this for a setting for pulling weeds and watering?

Gimmelwald was lovely. The downside of squeezing in all this stuff today is that I didn’t get to spend much of any time in the towns. I really pretty much raced through and on to the next destination. I would have loved to spend more time there. Maybe Daniel and I will go together, and we’ll just sit a bit.

Again, friendly strangers helped me out with a photo. They were traveling from Illinois, and had been to Oregon. I talked to more fellow travelers alone on this trip than Daniel and I have on the rest of the trip combined. I did love it.

My next route was a cable car to the valley floor to catch a bus to Trummelbach Falls. Friends, I took many cable cars today, but this was the winner. The angle of this ride was absolutely vertical.

I successfully caught my bus, and was delighted to find that stops are electronically announced out loud and on an electronic board – totally foolproof. And I was at Trummelbach Falls.

Trummelbach Falls is a completely unique experience. You take an inclined elevator halfway up a mountain.

From there, you walk up about half as far again into a slot canyon filled with thundering waterfalls. There are lighted staircases all the way up. I tried not to visualize my phone bouncing from my hands as I held my camera over the falls.

When you come back down, the staircases at elevator-level are now outdoors, which is also fun.

The walk back to the bus stop was lovely and woodsy:

…and I raced to catch a bus that would save me a full 30 minutes of waiting – and caught it! A huge victory.

And it was back into town, and a happy reunion with Daniel. A simple meal of pasta and veggies turned into a feast of gnocchi, chanterelles in butter, and the most incredible roasted broccoli.

It turns out that we go for a walk after dinner in Switzerland. We’ve done it every night. I suppose the twilight views don’t share the majesty of full daylight, but we’re eager for every minute we can get in this magical place.

And that, friends, was my first solo travel experience on this trip. What a day.