Lovely Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

From Vevey we took a picturesque train journey to Lauterbrunnen.  There was a particularly long tunnel and Sasha entertained herself and us, by making funny faces in the window reflection all the way.

Lauterbrunnen is absolutely beautiful.  We were between seasons – not

summer, not ski season….but the most gorgeous autumn foliage.  Our hotel, Hotel Staubbach (which was terrific,  Doris…you rock !), was nice and quiet and we were given a lovely room with incredible views of the waterfall.  Lauterbrunnen means “loud water” .  It wasn’t only the water that we could hear, having just left the bells of the nearby church at Vevey we were less than 100m from the Lauterbrunnen church bells which chimed on the hour throughout the night and wee hours of the morning. (The bells, the bells….!!)  It was actually a bit like living in a picture-perfect real life postcard.  We also learned that lots of Bollywood movies are shot in the region.  Which explained the big group of Indian tourists we encountered on one of our cable car rides, posing for photos in Bollywood-esque fashion.  Well….why not!?

We travelled on the trains and cable cars into the mountains and went up to Schilthorn, where the Bond film On

Her Majesty’s Secret Service was filmed in’69.  The Swiss had run out of money to complete the mountain top constructions, so Hollywood kindly finished it off for them.  We had apple strudel and coffees in the revolving restaurant.  While we were up there we even spotted an alpine ibex which at first we thought was a fake one, until we saw its jaw moving chewing its cud.

We had lots of lovely walks and hikes and enjoyed the scenes of little swiss chalets perched within the green valleys of the mountains and hearing the cows moving around with their giant bells around their necks.

The little town itself was very quaint with one main street.  A highlight for respite was “Airtime” which was a cafe/ book exchange/ bookings office/ wifi hotspot / laundromat and social hub.  Great diversification!  Daniela, the owner had been to Perth and made us wonderful flat white coffees.  Thanks Daniela, they were a godsend! 

Another surprise for this place was not only that we had wireless internet, but that it was the fastest connection we have had yet on the trip. Happy campers.

Sasha added to her fluffy toy entourage with the introduction of “Lauter”, a St Bernard.  That now makes nine!