European Vacation... Part 3
Leaving the car behind, we move to the trains, gondolas and funiculars of Switzerland.
September 29th
We take the train from the overbooked Munich and head to Austria for the night.
Innsbruck was definitely not booked up, most restaurants and shops weren't even open.
Innsbruck is very quiet when it's not ski season, so we quietly left by train the next morning.
SWITZERLAND
Arriving in Lucerne, we quickly realized why people talk about Switzerland.
Lucerne is a cute little city, with it's walls, historic bridges, and winding river,
it's only downfall is, you can forget all about it once you get off a gondola in the Alps.
The next day we make our way to see those Alps.
October 1st
We make our way to Interlaken by train, and change to an old historic train.
Climbing the Alps to get to Gimmelwald means taking unique modes of transportation,
we start on the historic cog-wheel train, the cog allows the train to climb the steeper hills.
The train only takes us as far as Lauterbrunnen, where the slopes mean we need to switch to a cable-car.
At Stechelberg we switch to a smaller Gondola, which drops us in the hillside town of Gimmelwald.
Gimmelwald is a small farming community perched on the side of a mountain, population... maybe 100.
Walter's Historic hotel is where the term "rustic" was invented, wood construction worn smooth from use, basic needs, shared bathroom,
but the food was good. Walter might be 75 years old, but he still cooks every meal.
You can't beat the views of the Alps, or the sights & sounds of small town Switzerland,
cows & cowbells just outside your window, chickens running in the front yards,
leiderhosen and feathered hats abound as the locals are lugging their groceries up the trails.
The view from our window at Walters Hotel
Yes those are cows, complete with cowbells...
Walters Hotel is a Rick Steve's recommendation, "europe through the back door",
see the Europe that isn't normally seen by the tourists, meet the real people,
apparently Rick Steves is popular in the U.S., as all the guests (8 others) are from there.
Interesting conversations around the dinner table that night... with an american twang.
The highlight, literally, was the trip to the top of the world, 3 gondola stops from Gimmelwald. Each gondola is a little smaller and ends at the peak of the Alps, Schiltorn is 9,748'. It has the best views of the three Alps peaks; Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau, and it is the famous location of the James Bond movie 'On Her Majesties Secret Service'. Everything tourist is focused on James Bond, and not the Alps, including a film about "the making of On Her Majesties Secret Service"
Breathtaking Views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau peaks
Leaving the alps we take the extremely steep route down, rather than using cable-cars, we use the funicular,
a small tram-like car lowered down on tracks at about a 45º angle... a little exciting in an ancient wooden car.
On the way to Zermatt from the Alps, we stop in the historic walled city of Mürten before continuing our journey. A 13th century castle is the centerpiece of this unique town near Bern.
Leaving the Alps was only made easier by our next destination, Zermatt!
Zermatt is the quaint ski-town home of the Matterhorn, no cars, only electric carts.
We were surprised when our hotel room window opened up to a perfect view of the Matterhorn,
there was some similarities to Disneyland's ride of the same name, but no abominable snowmen.
Leaving this scenic beauty of Switzerland, to head on our way to Italy, was very hard.