Hotel Sunstar Grindelwald

... face. Australian would never let that happen, we're too safe, you'd probably need a harness.
After about 40 minutes the snow disappears and your on an easier path deep in the mountains. It was arduous though. All up the trip was only about 3 hours but my toes were sore from all the downward motion and I desperately needed to go to the toilet. It was beautiful the whole time, and it was nice to get away from the toursists. I was the only one on the trail with noone else ...

We let the girls sleep in and then broke the news that we were going to have a quiet day in the hostel because it was raining and that they had to do a few hours of homework. Looking at the screen in the hostel, you could see that it was snowing heavily on the mountains.

By afternoon, the rain had turned to drizzle, so we ...

... had the Swiss speciality icecream). We looked through what was mainly outdoor shops and then caught the train back to Interlaken. We had gone all day thinking that it was Saturday but realised it was Friday when just before we went to bed, I checked the weather forecast for the next day. I also found out that it was going to rain most of the day, so we decided that maybe we should postpone our trip up to Lauterbrunnen.

... for 20 Swiss Francs and then we found a supermarket to buy food. Guess what they had – gloves for 7 Swiss Francs- Tara who is the real economist has given me a hard time since about not getting the best deal.

We had an early night as we were planning to get up early to go to the Jungfrau- providing that the weather was clear- there was a TV screen in the backpackers which showed views from webcams on the Jungfrau and Schilthorn.

... that I have much to compare it to, but I wouldn’t argue with that. Pictures will tell that story.

Shortly after I got to the hostel I met Bill, a retired engineer from Baltimore. He’s a pretty experienced hiker and I decided to go with him on a "six hour" hike the next day. That six hour hike turned into nearly 10, but it was entirely worth it. I can’t count the number of ...

... but down would have been a hell of a lot easier! (and quicker!) But we eventually made it back - I couldn't move the next morning, but it was sooooo worth it! The views here have been amazing. We only hope that our photos can do them some justice. Our time in Switzerland is coming to an end, but we don't want to leave - the people are great, the animals are gorgeous & friendly, and the views are to die for!! Pencil us in ... we definitely want to come back!

... after 3 train changes I finally made it to Lauterbrunnen. I can only say that it is absolutely stunning here. I have a waterfall not far from the balcony of my room. There are waterfalls everywhere. My first day I arrived around 4pm, so I settled in, bought some groceries, and spent most of the night playing card games with people at the hostel, we had a lot of fun. Yesterday ...

... train back down, and again, absolutely amazing. Some puffy white clouds had started to roll in and the views were different and interesting. One of my favorite photos of the whole trip was snapped out the train window on this descent. Once we hit Grindelwald, we hopped a train to Interlaken and stopped here for dinner. Ate some ****** overpriced food and got on the train back to Bern. This was a long day but obviously one of the best! Grindelwald, I vow to return...

... Lauterbrunnen, we started our search.  The first stop Mike and Marla encountered a rather stroppy Swiss woman who made it very clear (through raised tones) that there was NO BREAKFAST included in the accommodation... right, so we'll go elsewhere then.  Mike and Marla ended up at a hotel on one edge of town while Nate ended up with us at the hostel that Jeff and Kat had stayed in on our last visit.  The hostel turned out to be pretty nice, but the ...

... I mean, why not? My mom was born in Germany and I haven't visited it yet, and it's not exactly on the way back to Spain, but I needed to get out of Italy. That place is super over crowded during Semana Santa (everyone wants to see the pope's parade). The seat reservation was only 5E. Bad idea? Maybe, we'll see. So I'm on a train right now stopped in Switzerland. It's beautiful. Full on mountains and lakes! So I'll wake up in Germany. I'll let ya know how that goes for me! Ha!