Lauterbrunnen

This morning we awoke to a clear blue sky and full sun for what was to be our last full day in Interlaken. Tomorrow we are heading to Montreux for a couple of days before reluctantly saying goodbye to Switzerland and returning home. Sitting at the edge of the lake in the morning sun and waiting for the boat to arrive was a brief respite before a busy day of travelling. Our final destination was Murren, a high alpine village and getting there involved the boat, followed by a bus, a train, a cable car and finally another train.

The first staging post of the journey was the village of Lauterbrunnen, set in the valley floor beneath rocky cliffs and surrounded by mountain peaks. One of the first sights to greet you on leaving the train is the roaring, 300m-­high Staubbach Falls, the highest freefalling waterfall in Switzerland. After a short walk and countless photographs, we sat at the foot of the falls to eat our packed lunch. I emptied out my water bottle, filled in the hotel toilet, and refilled it from a font that I like to believe was dispensing pure mountain water. After lunch I made the climb alone up into the cliff face and behind the waterfall, Jackie's knee and her nerve not trusted to make it up and back unscathed.

Murren is a cosy mountain village, which at 1650 meters is the highest continually inhabited settlement in the region. Nestling between the towering peaks of the Schilthorn and the Jungfrau, just across the Lauterbrunnen valley, this car-free village is only accessible by cable car or mountain train (or on foot). High above the village, at the top of the Schilthorn is Piz Gloria, the revolving restaurant featured in the 1969 James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service ".

We squeezed into an already full cable car, the last 2 of about 80 passengers and the doors closed. It was about then that the little girl beside us started screaming and grabbing at the door handles. The screaming continued for the full 4 minute ascent and also after we disembarked. Knowing Jackie's love of cable cars, I am sure the child was vocalising what she was feeling inside. The train waiting for our arrival was a small narrow gauge single coach with doors at either end so we hastily headed the opposite end from the still screaming child.

We secured 2 seats and the train rapidly filled until it was standing room only. At least the densely packed bodies helped deaden the sound of the clearly inconsolable child at the opposite end of the carriage. Standing beside us were 4, middle aged and slightly tipsy Finnish guys. We had as lovely and meaningful a conversation as one can ever have with 4 slightly tipsy Finnish guys on a train at the top of a mountain, so much so that they invited us to join them at the pub. Or to be completely honest, they suggested I go sightseeing and Jackie join them at the pub.

I can't overstate the sense of awe and wonder we felt wandering around this picture perfect Swiss village surrounded by massive mountain peaks. The Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau look particularly impressive from Murren and we could have sat and gazed at them all afternoon. In fact that is exactly what we did, accompanied by a glass of wine on a wooden deck overhanging the valley below.Read more