As we were planning out spontaneous trip to Switzerland we were trying to decide whether to go to Zurich or Geneva. Luckily, we narrowed it down to Gimmelwald. I don't ski but spending a weekend full of day hikes in the fresh mountain air and evenings reading with hot chocolate really didn't sound so bad to me or my travel buddies. That being said, we flew into Geneva and took a train up to the Junfrau (pronounced Yung-frau) region. The region is essentially a series of 'towns' (it's hard to even call them that, they're so small) spread upward in the alps, all connected by bus and cable car. Our first night, we stayed in a hostel at the base town, Interlaken. Interlaken is home to Lake Interlaken and is the largest of all the towns. The next morning we explored a bit than made our way up to our glorious hostel, the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald (prnounced gim-el-vauld...but only by Lauren and I). It's located right on the edge of a mountain and overlooks a valley as well as other mountains. To be fair, what other name would they give it. Mountain Hostel is the perfect cozy haven full of happy friendly mountain-eers. There isn't too much detail to give because we really just relaxed and enjoyed being in that part of the world. We did however make it to a very special restaurant a few stops up on the cable car, in Schilthorn. Schilthorn's altitude is at 9748 ft and many of the mountain summits can be seen from it. The restaurant's actual name is Piz Gloria, but everyone just calls it the James Bond restaurant because it was used for a scene in 007. We had a meal there by the name of Champagne Brunch...The James Bond Champagne Brunch (see what I did there?). A little pricey for the quality but good nonetheless (we left with our purses just a weeeeeee bit heavier...stolen Nutella and hot chocolate packets = justified by the "student budget" excuse/ "this place is wayyyy over priced). Anyway, the coolest part about the restaurant is that it had 360 degrees of windows AND it's REVOLVING (very slowly, as it is solar powered). The yoga pictures below are from Schilthorn and there are more further down. Of course we also went on a nice hike, which ended during the hours of darkness. We made it back though. Everyone at the hostel was glad as they were about to send a search party. Of course no trip to Switzerland is complete with chocolate bars galore and Fondu...both Cheese & Chocolate.
Yoga aroung the world:
Juggling around the world:
To understand what this man is doing please access this address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJhSp-TKeEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJhSp-TKeEE
Pictures from around Interlaken:
Looking down onto Interlaken from the Cable car
Pictures from around Gimmelwald:
Inside the Cable-Car
We go up, temperature goes down...that's Celcius though
Going up....
I took the picture while the clouds were low, but right behind them are the alps
If you want to see more, access:
Strict leave-shoes-at-the-door policy
Closing up shop at 12pm sharp. It's a ghost-town from 12-2. Everyone closes up shop for lunch.
Murren, the 'town' right below Gimmelwald
"Lounge room" in the hostel, you can't tell but outside the windows is a panoramic mountain view
Chocolate Fondu, Swiss Style!
Hangin in the Hostel
Up to Schilthorn!
Cable car view on the way up to Schilthorn
Piz Gloria! WARNING: this photo is google imaged...helicopter tours were at least $400
Map of the Summits
Pictures from around Gimmelwald and Murren:
Aussie boys first ever snow...and first ever snowman
Pictures from the Hike:
California girls first snow angel
Me and Lauren on our hike
Cheese Fondu, Swiss style!
Insider Info: I tried a lot of chocolate in Switzerland-A LOT OF CHOCOLATE-and to my knowledge, Lindt and Toblerone (both Swiss made) are the best, so if your going to fly across the ocean to Switzerland...do it for the alps. You can just walk over to CVS for the chocolate. I did have an interesting 'chocolate disc' that was thyme infused. But I believe the brand was New Tree and I believe they have that at Whole Foods. God Bless America.
