Berner Overland Part II
Trip Start
Jun 14, 2008
1
7
13
Trip End
Jul 02, 2008
Wengen,
Switzerland
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thursday I decided to not hike so I headed down to Lauterbrunnen and then up the cable car to Murren. Murren sits on a cliff above the Lauterbrunnen Valley opposite of Wengen. It is smaller than Wengen, but the views are very dramatic. I wandered the town and then headed down to Interlaken for a break from the mountains. Interlaken sits between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz and is a town with grand old hotels from the late 1800's. It is very touristy, but is a good break from the Alps. wandered around, stopped at the Churchill Arms for a beer and then headed back to Lauterbrunnen to visit Angie at the Horner. Angie greeted me warmly and I sat and enjoyed the great scenery.
Lauterbrunnen is world renowned for its BASE (Bridges, Antennas, Spans, Earth) jumping
Murren
. These people jump off anything high with their small parachute poised and ready to open after free falling for only a few seconds. The Horner is the official headquarters for the BASE jumping in the area. They charge a $20.00 annual fee for a permit and this goes for repairs to farmers land who are kind enough to allow landing amongst their cows. I would imagine some landings could be very messy!!! I spoke with a couple of the jumpers and they seemed like normal people, but I know otherwise. In my mind they are nuts to risk their lives for a few seconds of a thrill. Angie said one jumper was killed a few weeks ago, but not in the Lauterbrunnen area. One guy came in to pick up from Angie his helmet with a viedo camera attached. I'm sure some interesting videos. I headed back up to Wengen, had dinner and then went to Sinas Pub to watch the other semi final of the Euro 2008, which was Russia vs. Spain. Spain 3-0 and plays Germany for the championship on Sunday. Packed and ready to head to Zermatt and the Matterhorn. Have not been there before and am looking forward to it.
