Heckuva Travel Day

Written by Jen on April 11, 2014

sunny58° F

Today was the day we said goodbye to London and Guten Tag to Switzerland! It started at 3:30am, unfortunately, because my brain wouldn’t let me fall back asleep in fear that I would sleep through my 4:45am alarm. I will be the first to admit that I didn’t have the sunniest disposition!

The travel itinerary involved an early taxi, a train to the airport, a plane to France, bus to the train station, a 2 hour double decker train ride to Interlaken, Switzerland, and a short regional train into Lauterbrunnen. On top of that, we were switching languages and currencies, our boys were a bit under the weather, and we still didn’t have tickets to any of the Swiss travel. We weren’t sure what time we’d arrive, so we let that one float, but unfortunately it was the one unresolved variable that continued to stress me out. A long day ahead of to say the least! I’m happy to say we made it without any mistakes!

One of the highlights of our day’s journey was when the Swiss train reached Lake Thun. The views right out of a fairy tale! The water shined in surprising aquamarine like something right from the the Caribbean. Lovely chalets peppered the coastline, facing the water and mountains beyond. We passed a harbor, a church with a steeple, and then we rounded the bend and BOOM! Epic snow capped mountains from horizon to horizon. Stunning!

The other big highlight was simply reaching Lauterbrunnen. The name means “many fountains”, aptly named so because of the 72 waterfalls into the valley. It’s somewhat similar in structure to Yosemite Valley, as a village in between two massive, sheer rock walls. Similar, except more massive and set in the Alps as an alpine village.

“Do you see those two hills? My house is between those hills.”
-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The village starts at the top of a hill and then winds down into the basin of the valley, split right down the middle with the river Weisse Lütschine. We hopped off the train, jaws agape at the beyond-picturesque alpine village we stood in, staring up at dozens of para-gliders strewn about the sky. Apparently, this is a haven for base jumpers. Who knew?

When we finally rolled into our chalet, we were exhausted, but at same time energized and overwhelmed by the sights. This is the first time in our trip that we have our own place. We rented a 2 bedroom apartment in a chalet for the week, and we managed to snag the top floor complete with skylights and a loft.

I can’t tell you how great it feels to fully unpack, do our own laundry, have separate rooms from the boys (which we also had at the Ferns… thank you!), cook our own meals to keep things low key, and lounge and relax in the evenings. It came at the perfect time, especially since I came down with a 104 fever later that night. Jack and the boys were also in their own various stages of a fever/cough/pink eye. Thank you Switzerland, for being so beautiful: 6 waterfalls off the sheer rock walls and a snow capped peak in view from our balcony. You made me feel not so guilty for simply enjoying the view from the couch and balcony!