On top of the world (and never going home)!

I am at a loss for words for this blog post. I think I have found my rightful place on the Earth. Switzerland is just soo beautiful I don't want to leave. Anyway, on with the story.

The first full day we had here, Jeni and I took it easy and just explored the village of Lauterbrunnen - twice. It only takes 15 minutes to walk from where we are staying to to train station on the other side of town. The most exciting part was that it was snowing all morning while we were walking. All the snow here in the valley is soft as power and covers everything. Our second visit to town was for the very important task of organising skiing of the next day.

We got up early yesterday morning, pulled out the ski gear from the bottom of your packs and headed up the mountain. It took about 40 minutes to get from Lauterbrunnen to Kleiner Scheidegg, winding our way slowly up the mountain on the train. The view from the top was jaw-dropping. Infact, everywhere on that whole mountain was worthy of a postcard photo, it was all just so beautiful. Jeni and I skiied all the way to the bottom of the mountain, which took over an hour on just that one run. We caught a cable car from the bottom (Grimmerwald) to the very top of the mountain - Männlichen.

Männlichen is about as close to skiers paradise as possible. You have a perfect 360 degree view of the mountains and valleys of the Jungfrau region. There is also a deck chair area and a bar that is made of ice. This bar has it's own brew of beer and their signature drink, the Spycher - hot chocolate with Grand Marnier topped with cream. Needless to say, Jeni wouldn't share. Like I said - paradise.

We spent the rest of the afternoon carving up the slopes and taking photos of the dramatic scenery. For dinner we headed out and had authentic Swiss cuisine, Fondue and Rösti. We both left very tired but very well fed.

Today we walked, walked and walked some more. During the summer this region is a hiking meca, and there are walking trails everywhere. We walked the hour long track to Stechelburg, where we caught the cable car up to the tiny village of Gimmerwald. The others had stayed here when they came thru Switzerland and said it was beautiful. It is a tiny farming village perched on the edge of a cliff. We went walking trying to find the had caves the others had found. While we didn't find the caves, we did pass awesome views and scenery.

In the afternoon we caught the cable car up to the skiing village of Mürren and spent the afternoon walking up the ski fields. It would have been great if we had a toboggan to side down the hill on, but we didn't find anywhere to rent them (even tho everyone else on the mountain seemed to have them).

We came back down to the valley to find we were the only ones left in the hostel, and cooked a huge meal with the kitchen to ourselves.

Tomorrow we head to Paris, but I would rather spend extra time in Switzerland. Oh well, we must keep moving I guess but I will definately have to come back - sooner rather than later!