Mountains, Mountains, Mountains

We headed off to our favorite place in Switzerland again - the Lauterbrunnen Valley. This time we stayed in Wengen. We love Muerren as well but it's a little smaller, little sleepier and we find Wengen has a little to offer everyone in the group - besides a few more restaurant choices. Especially if you are staying for more than a weekend.

Again, these are "car-free" towns at about 1700 M elevation. Grindelwald (on the other side) allows cars and is quite a bit busier. Grindelwald would be the 'Valley' of Yosemite while Wengen/Muerren would be more like the Tuolumne Meadows of Yosemite. If that helps at all in describing the atmosphere of these places.

We rented an apartment this time vs hotel since Mom & John would be staying long-term and we planned 4-5 days with them. It worked out great and we really like the flexibility of food preparation - especially in a country where every evening meal is going to guarantee about $25 + /person which really adds up long-term. Highly recommend it.

So - here you have, again, the Lauterbrunnen Valley below. Front ridge of the Jungfrau is to the left, Stechelhorn (waterfall) ahead and Muerren on the lower ridge to the right. Our first night in Wengen was a "Folk-night." They started off the evening with the bell ringers. These are the same bells the cows wear during the "Alpfahrt" time in the Fall. Big and heavy. And very loud. Poor Kendra's ears were suffering - she doesn't handle loud, clanging noises well. But it's fun to watch.
Local wildlife. We love the sound of the cow bells clanging in the mist while we hike. Some of us do anyway.
One of my favorite "wild-flowers" to photograph. Not sure it is a flower exactly. If it were in my garden, I might yank it as a weed. Not sure. But they are really cool looking up in the mountains. With all the other beautiful weeds and flowers.North Face of the Eiger with wildflowers. The flowers were spectacular this year. We went this same time last year but in a lot of Switzerland, things seem to be about 2 weeks later in blooming (ripening) than last year. Amazing for us as far as the mountains go. Not so good as most of my veggies will be ripening while we are gone in Italy next week (corn & tomatoes).
And we finally made it up the Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe - this trip. Weather cooperated - yeah. So those pic's for next post.