Gossau and Zurich, Switzerland

We took the train from Lucerne to Zurich where we stashed our luggage in some lockers and had a quick lunch before boarding the train to Gossau, the birthplace of Jim’s Grandma Tjerrild. We had arranged to meet Jim’s Aunt Carol and her family who had also been traveling around Europe since the Tjerrild reunion in Denmark last week. Aunt Carol has been to Gossau several times and was the perfect guide. She showed us the house that Grandma Tjerrild had lived in as a girl before immigrating to the US. We also saw her school and church. It was a quick tour, but very meaningful.

The house where Grandma Tjerrild grew up

The church Grandma Tjerrild attended as a girl

After an hour or so in Gossau, we were back on the train headed to Zurich. When we arrived, we set out to explore the downtown area. I had found a walking tour of Zurich online, so we followed that to get an overview of the city. We finished off the day with a delicious fondue dinner at the Swiss Chuchi restaurant before collecting our luggage and going to our hotel out near the airport in preparation for our flight home tomorrow. 

The clock tower of St. Peter's Church in Zurich

A yummy fondue dinner

Lucerne, Switzerland

Due to the fact that we only had one day to explore in Lucerne, we wanted to be on the 8am funicular so that we would arrive in Lauterbrunnen in time to catch the early train to Lucerne. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and then made our way to the funicular station only to find out that their credit card machine was not working. They would only accept Swiss Francs (which we did not have enough of to cover the cost of the tickets). Since there is no other way to get to Lauterbrunnen (other than the hike we did yesterday), we needed to be on that funicular. The man at the ticket kiosk told us that the only ATM machine in town was at the Schilthorn station all the way across the village of Murren. With only 15 minutes before the funicular was scheduled to leave, Jim took off running through the village of Murren to get to the ATM. Luckily he made it back to the funicular station with about 1 minute to spare! 

We arrived in Lucerne by midday and walked from the train station to our hotel - The Hotel des Balances. When I made this hotel reservation, I decided to splurge a bit and reserved the junior suite. It was an amazing corner room overlooking the river and the famous Lucerne covered bridge.

Our hotel in Lucerne

We had the whole afternoon to enjoy Lucerne so we set out on foot to check out the sights. We saw the Church of St. Leodegar, the Lion Monument, and the old city wall and towers. We wrapped up our day with a boat ride on Lake Luzern and then dinner along the river before capping it all off with drinks on our hotel balcony.

The Church of St. Leodegar

The church grounds

The Lion Monument

The view of Lucerne from one of the city towers

The old city wall and tower

On the boat ride on Lake Luzern

The view from our hotel balcony

More views from our hotel room

The end of another awesome day in Switzerland!

Murren, Switzerland - Day 3

On our last day in Murren, we had breakfast at our hotel and then set out to hike down from Murren to Lauterbrunnen by way of Grimmelwald and Stechelberg. It was another amazing hike with the most picturesque scenery - snow capped mountains, wildflowers, and waterfalls. 

Near Gimmelwald

Heading toward Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen Valley

It took us about 3.5 hours to hike to Lauterbrunnen where we enjoyed lunch on a restaurant patio and then wandered through a few shops before catching a bus out to Trummelbach Falls. Trummelbach Falls is a series of 10 waterfalls that are located inside of a mountain. We rode the elevator to where the uppermost waterfalls can be accessed via a pathway and stairs that are tunneled through the mountain. It was amazing to see how the power of the water had carved its way through the rock of the mountain. We walked back down to the valley floor on the stairs that led past the rest of the waterfalls. The bus took us back to Lauterbrunnen where we were happy to rest our legs on the funicular and train rides back to Murren after our 12 mile hike today.

Lauterbrunnen

Stopping for some lunch

Trummebach Falls

We got a little wet from the waterfall mist

Back at our hotel, we got cleaned up and then enjoyed a delicious meal at the La Grotte restaurant while it was pouring rain outside. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Murren. Both Jim and I agree it is the most beautiful part of the world we have ever seen. We definitely hope to come back to this part of Switzerland some day!

Murren, Switzerland - Day 2

Our second day in Murren was a day filled with jaw dropping views and lots of adventure. We woke up to  a beautiful day with blue skies and not a cloud in the sky. We knew that while in Murren we wanted to take the cable car up to Schilthorn which is a summit at 9744 feet above sea level. Since the weather was cooperating, we figured today was the day to do it. To get to Schilthorn, we took the 30 minute cable car up the mountain. There is an option to get off at the Birg station to enjoy The Thrill Walk which is a series of stairs, glass bridges, and wire bridges set out over the edge of a cliff. It may sound scary, but it is actually a very safe, fun experience that even kids can enjoy. We spent about 20 minutes doing the The Thrill Walk and then caught the cable car for the last last leg up to Schilthorn. This summit was a movie location for the James Bond film - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Upon exiting the cable car we wandered through the James Bond exhibit and then went outside onto the viewing platform to enjoy the beautiful scenery. 

A warm up for the Via Ferrata we would do later in the day

The views from the top were incredible!

The weather continued to be perfect so we knew that this afternoon was the day to attempt the Via Ferrata. I had been reading up on the Murren Via Ferrata for months and had watched endless YouTube videos of people completing it. There are Via Ferratas all around the world. They are basically a climbing/hiking route that employs steel cables, rungs, ladders, and wire bridges fixed to cliffs to which climbers attached themselves with harnesses and cables to minimize falls while completing the route. Jim and I have both completed the 16 mile Half Dome hike in Yosemite National Park a few years ago, so we were ready to test our bravery once again with the Via Ferrata. We rented our equipment from the Intersport store in Murren and were ready to start our climb. I have to admit that I was very nervous at the beginning. We were basically climbing on a mountain wall 2000 feet above the Lauterbrunnen Valley with nothing more than 2 cables securing us. My legs were shaking uncontrollably with fear during the first part of the hike, but then miraculously, I settled in and enjoyed the spectacular views. The entire climb is only about 1.5 miles and it took us about 2 hours to complete. It was a real sense of accomplishment to complete this Via Ferrata and definitely makes me want to attempt others around the world.

Through that door is the Murren Via Ferrata

I'm still feeling safe at this point!

Jim with a 2000 foot drop behind him to the valley floor

Hanging on for dear life!

Lots of ladders to climb

A wire bridge over a waterfall

A very wiggly suspension bridge

We survived the Murren Via Ferrata!

Murren, Switzerland - Day 1

      We flew from Copenhagen to Zurich and then purchased train tickets that would get us to Lauterbrunnen. In Lauterbrunnen, we boarded the cable car that took us up the side of the mountain. The last transfer was onto to the narrow gauge train that took us the last few miles into Murren. Murren is the quintessential traditional Swiss village that has no road access and therefore, no cars. From the train station, we walked with our luggage down the village Main Street to our hotel - The Hotel Blumental. Our room was in the charming chalet behind the main hotel building. We got settled in our room and were ready to explore by mid afternoon. We had a late lunch/early dinner at the Hotel Alpina on the outside deck that overlooks the Lauterbrunnen valley. 

In front of our hotel

The Hotel Blumental Chalet - Our room was the one at the top left in this picture

Lunch on the Hotel Alpina deck

After we had eaten, we set out to hike some trails on the mountainside above Murren. We passed waterfalls, Swiss cows wearing bells, and had the most gorgeous views in every direction. We took way too many pictures because around every turn was a view more beautiful than the last. 

The hike above Murren

We could hear the Swiss cow bells ringing all across the mountainside

Wildflowers were in bloom

The cute chalets we passed on our way back to our hotel