Hiking in the Alps
This morning I got up a little before my friends and went on a short walk around our beautiful valley. There is a dirt path that winds alongside the river at the bottom of it. I walked next to fields with cows - and every one seemed to have cowbells - and crossed a river on an old wooden bridge to reach the trail. It was a cool crisp morning with the sun just barely peeking over the mountains. I took this time to just reflect and enjoy what this little piece of paradise provided.
We drove to the town of Lauterbrunnen and took a cable car up to Grütschalp. The panorama of the surrounding mountain range is hard to describe in words. We could see Jungfrau off in the distance which is called the Top of Europe and has an observatory. There was snow for hundreds of feet down from the summit still. It was an easy path - mostly a wide paved road almost. There were still parts covered with snow - especially in the shade. There were many fields and small sheds along the way. The whole trail provided amazing views as well as a good time to talk and get to know each other a little better.
We stopped for lunch at a pizza place in Mürren and then walked around a surprising tourist town - as in there were a lot of visitors - with many chalets and shops. Apparently this is also the place where James Bond filmed a movie. Also the first slalom was set up here almost 100 years ago by someone. We continued the hike through farms and various paths as we descended from 5000 ft to another town called Stechelberg. It was fun seeing the miniature horses, baby goats, waterfalls, moss covered stone hedges, and fields of green with bright yellow flowers as we slowly winded our way down. The town at the bottom of the trail was just another quaint little place with cows.
We took the bus back to our car and made our way over to another town (this one probably the most touristy of them all so far) Grindelwald. We walked around, bought some ice cream, and on the way out made a drive up a steep narrow road to get a better view of this part of Switzerland. I probably won’t ever get sick of the views of green fields, red roofs, and giant mountains.
Dinner was on the lake side of Thunersee. It was a quaint little Italian cafe - although our waiter was from Kosovo. We spent a few quiet moments on benches by the lake watching the sun set. There is always a calmness watching the sun set and listening to the flow of water.
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