Day 10: Murren, Gimmelwald, Trummelback Falls

Day 10 was full of hikes and views and we were very tired after. So, we didn't have a chance to do the Day 10 blog until today.

On Day 10, we checked out of our hostel in Lauterbrunnen and checked our luggage at the train station. From there, we took the cable car lift and a scenic railroad up from Lauterbrunnen and over to Murren. Murren is a mountain town above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, with amazing views. The town is actually built on a cliff.
The edge of town, literally. Don't hike & drink in Murren.
Cable car above Lauterbrunnen.

Downtown Murren, in the sky.

We grabbed breakfast at a coffee shop in Murren.
Lots of croissant choices in Murren...

We planned to hike from Murren to a village below... until we were distracted. In the clouds, we stumbled onto clay courts. We had to play. We rented racquets and court time, and the boys got to experience their first clay court action. We had expected to wait until France for this.

Clay courts in the sky in Murren.
Action shots.
The views were amazing.

After tennis, we refreshed and then resumed our hike down from Murren to a village called Gimmelwald. It is a pedestrian village that lives a traditional farm lifestyle. We watched a Rick Steves travel show about this village and swore that he couldn't make us go to this town because "he isn't the boss of us," but he was right as usual -- it was worth it to see.

The hike down to Gimmelwald.

Mountain living in Gimmelwald.

We ate at the only restaurant in Gimmelwald. Traditional meat and cheese plates, with a cold beer.

Gimmelwald lunch.

From Gimmelwald, we took a tram down to Stechelberg, back on the valley floor. From there, we took the bus to Trammelback Falls, the single waterfall that drains the "big 3" peaks in the Jungfrau region: the Eiger (ogre), the Monch (monk) and the Jungfrau (young virgin). In lore, the monk protects the virgin from the ogre (that is how the mountain peaks are lined up).

From Gimmelwald down to Stechelberg.

Trammelback Falls is neat because the waterfall is inside of a mountain. So, tourists can walk around the falls inside this mountain.

Funicular up into a mountain to see the Trammelback Falls.

Steps around the falls. Trammelback

I would recommend this tour.

After all this hiking and sightseeing, we took the bus back to Lauterbrunnen, picked up our luggage and caught the train to Grindelwald (not to be confused with Gimmelwald), for our final night in the Jungfrau mountain region.

Our hostel was terrific. Lots of other kids and plenty of games. There was a large group of teenagers from Belgium; they talked with Owen and Garrett a lot, including asking if the boys knew Michael Jackson. Owen responded that he had tennis player Michael Chang's autograph, but that was it. Garrett was the life of the party, as an 8 year old ping pong phenom.

Downtown Lodge Hostel, in Grindelwald.

Games at the hostel

We had a long day, but finally had our chance to hike some unique places, and even get a good tennis experience. This was our last night in the German speaking region of Switzerland; tomorrow, we move on to southwestern Switzerland, to hear some French.