cheese, horns, and alp mania

So much to catch up on. We have been going non-stop since the Summer began. All the American’s we know who live in Germany take advantage of the travel opportunities in Europe. Stuttgart is within 3 hours of 3 different sets of Alps! This trip, we decided to get our Swiss yodeling on. We hopped in the car early one morning and 4 hours later were at Lake Geneva in South Switzerland visiting the Chateau Chillon.

Chateau Chillon, Switzerland

After the Chateau, we headed into the Swiss Countryside and drove to the cute town of Gruyere. We visited the cheese factory and learned how they make and preserve it. It was fascinating! We also got free samples of the Gruyere. The town was adorable with it’s own chateau, picture perfect view, and lots of fun shops.

cheesy

giant cheese vats

Random opera singers in the middle of town.

After our countryside experience, we drove up the windy mountain roads to the Berner Oberland. We parked our car in Lauterbrunnen, schlepped all our stuff to the train station and took two cable cars up the mountain to the alp town, Mürren. It was gorgeous!

The tiny alp town, Mürren, where we stayed.

Day 2 we took a cable car up to Allmendhubel from Mürren. We did the all day North Face hike. The weather was hot, but it was a good day for a day in the Alps!

playground at Allmendhubel

comparing the peaks

We went hours at a time without seeing anyone else on the trails. Our kids could be as loud as they wanted...

Fraulein Adelaide

romantic Swiss cows

Addy and Cam in Gimmelwald

That evening we returned back to our chalet for a home cooked dinner. Everything is so expensive in Switzerland, we were low budget on this trip. During our dinner we heard our landlord, Albert, playing his Alphorn outside the chalet. His friend from Calgary was visiting and we were treated to an unbelievable Swiss experience. The homemade horns echoed off the mountains in our town.

professional Alphorn players

Day 3 of our trip we did the hike to Kleine Scheidegg on the Jungfrau side. We rode a cable car to Wengen and hiked from there. It was breathtaking the whole way. The hike was very family friendly. As a photographer I was a little frustrated with the harsh light, but it can’t always be a photo safari! Here are some snap shots of the stunning mountain views we saw.

sweet spot for a picnic

Kleine Scheidegg

Junfraujoch view

alp flowers

cute chalet in Wengen

sunset view from our window

The last day we took a cable car up to the Schilthorn where the James Bond “On Her Majesty’s Service” was filmed in 1968. It was an amazing view at the top!

James Bond film scenes at the top of Schilthorn.

Bond girls

After we hit the peak, we finally went back to our car and headed home stopping in Luzern on the way. Luzern is a beautiful Swiss town and one of my favs.

Luzern, Switzerland

playing with the swans

Reuss River

Paintings every few feet in the Chapel Bridge.

the famous Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal

Luzern