Lauterbrunnen, Day 2
This may have been my favorite day of the entire trip so far. It was jam-packed with fun activities, and we got an early start. We took the cableway up to Grutschalp and then the train over to Murren. The views were stunning, particularly when taking the cable car.
Murren is a cute little town on the top of the mountain from the valley. There are no cars allowed, and today there was a race going on. I think it went from Lauterbrunnen all the way up to Schilthorn, which is a crazy run all uphill. There were still people running when we were leaving for the day around 6 pm.
From here we took the cableway up to Schilthorn and Piz Gloria. Going up so high so fast made our ears pop. We all loved taking these cable cars; the journey was just as exciting as the destination.
Piz Gloria is the location where the James Bond movie ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ was filmed. The main room is a restaurant that rotates 360 degrees so you get views of all the surrounding mountain ranges. This was a big splurge and my favorite thing we did! It was a brunch buffet, and I think I ate six croissants. We stayed there for an hour and a half so we could go around the rotation twice and see all the views.
Next we went outside to the viewing deck, which is the old helipad and curling game scene from the movie. The sky was clear so we could see all the mountains. This is where the finish line for the race was, so they had closed off several areas, including the stairs down to some of the snow. Willow was so sad she didn’t get to play in the snow because I had told her that was something we would get to do. But she did get to join in a dance party with JonPaul because they were playing music and several people were dancing.
We then went to the 007 spy museum, which we all thought was fun. There was a helicopter that the kids pretended to fly and gave us interesting facts about making the movie on Piz Gloria. There was also a bobsled where you could do a virtual game from the movie where you bobsled and have to shoot at the bad guy. Even the bathrooms were Bond themed!
On our way back down the mountain we saw lots of parasailers, hikers, and runners trying to get to that elusive finish line.
The cable car stopped in Birg, so we got off and did the Birg thrill walk. This was really fun! We walked down a series of steps to get to a mesh pathway built into the side of the mountain. Then came the exciting part. Everyone got to walk on a tightrope over a steep drop to the ground below (don’t worry, there was a net underneath and cables to grip), then over a glass walkway, and finally through a mesh tunnel (only the kids did this one). A steep walk up a gravel path took us back up to the top. The kids wanted to do it again, but we still had lots more planned for the day.
From here we took the cables back to Murren and then the funicular up to Allmendhubel. Here are a few more pictures of Murren because I liked it so much.
Allmendhubel had a really great playground and awesome views. This ‘town’ had a restaurant, a bathroom, a playground, and that’s about it. They also had sunbathing areas, which I could have stayed at all day. We spent about an hour at the playground since it was just so fun.
From Allmendhubel we did the Northface Trail, which was about 4 miles altogether. I have way too many pictures from this hike because it was just so beautiful. The kids did great, even with some steep uphill areas. When we were taking the cable car up to Schilthorn we saw a house with a sign on the roof that said ‘Restaurant’, and the kids were so excited to walk by the same restaurant on our hike. After lots of walking, we passed a lemonade stand and the kids each got a cookie, and then we finally made it back to Murren.
There is a via ferrata in Murren, and I tried to book it as a surprise for Zoey and me to do the next day, but the weight limit is 40 kg and Zoey weighed 39.2 kg so she wasn’t heavy enough to do it, and it was supposed to be rainy and wet the next day, which is not the best conditions to do a via ferrata. So we didn’t get to book it, and Zoey was very disappointed (as was I), but I promised her I would take her to a via ferrata at the Red River Gorge for her next birthday in the spring. It’s not the same as doing one in Switzerland, but it will still be very fun.
We took the cable car from Murren back to Gimmelwald where the kids played on the playground again and JonPaul and I took a walk through the town. We saw a whole bunch of cowbells and went into the Honesty Shop where you purchase items based on an honor system. We took the final cable car and then the bus back to Lauterbrunnen and ate dinner at the pub under our hotel, was a great end to a long day.
