From Zürich, our next destination was the town of Lauterbrunnen, also in Switzerland. Lauterbrunnen is located in south-central Switzerland and couldn't exactly be described as a metropolis, as it has less than 2,500 inhabitants. Most Americans have probably never heard of it, but if one confines oneself to asking only extreme fans of skiing, the percentages would go up significantly, as the area is home to a number of well-known ski resorts (e.g. Mürren, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen itself).

This status didn't matter to us a bit, as first, we were visiting in early September, and second, we don’t ski at all ("These people don't drink, or smoke, or medicate themselves recreationally, or even ski. Don't they do anything??”). We were interested in the scenery, however, which is breathtaking. You may have seen some of it too, as area scenery has appeared in a number of movies (e.g. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), The Eiger Sanction (1975)) and television shows (e.g. The Amazing Race (2009), The Bachelor (2012)). Those with more literary interests might find it interesting that a young J.R.R. Tolkien visited the area in 1911, and later used a hike he completed to Lauterbrunnen from nearby Interlaken as a direct inspiration for the crossing of the Misty Mountains by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Tolkien was also a talented artist and made sketches of the scenery he saw, and is said to have used the sketches in creating his descriptions of the Elvish realm of Rivendell.

Getting to Lauterbrunnen from Zürich involved a train ride of about two-and-a-half hours. Or rather a few train rides, as transfers were required in the towns of Spiez and Interlaken. The name "Interlaken" might suggest to you a town between two lakes, and this is in fact the case. We had a good look at one of the lakes, called the Thunersee, whose shore we followed as we approached Interlaken.


The transfer in Interlaken put us on a privately-run train route which took us southward, up into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. On the way we followed the Weisse Lütschine River. "Weisse" means "white", and this is an apt description of the river, which has an odd whitish-blue color to it, a product of glacial material mixed in with the water.


We disembarked from the train, which immediately turned around and went back to Interlaken. Lauterbrunnen is not a large town, and everything is in walking distance, including our hotel, the Hotel Silberhorn. On the way we noticed a banner welcoming runners to the Jungfrau Marathon, which apparently was upcoming but which did not happen during our stay.

The Hotel Silberhorn consists of a large main building, plus some smaller buildings. Our room turned out to be in one of the smaller buildings, but the room itself was quite large, with a nice view. It was also very close to the cable route of the Mürrenbahn gondola ride, which takes passengers up to the west rim above the valley.


We dropped off our luggage in the room, but we didn't stay long, as we were anxious to find ourselves a late lunch (it was about 3 PM by this time). We found a place where we could get some sandwiches, and they also had Toblerone ice cream, which we hadn't seen before.

We returned to the room and rested a bit, and then went out to see what we could from Lauterbrunnen. From the area of the hotel, we could see southward into the valley, and upward at some of the snow-covered mountains rising above it. Across the valley we could see one of the many waterfalls that empty into the valley from above. There are said to be 72 waterfalls in the valley, but we only counted half a dozen or so. Most are probably on the subdued side, and I have a feeling some only appear after heavy rainfalls.



We made our way through town, so we could have a better view of the bulk of the valley, which was to the south.


We were able to get the view of the valley we were hoping for, plus a nice view of Staubbach Falls, the largest waterfall in the valley, which happens to be only a short walk south of town.


Staubbach Falls drops 974 feet and is floodlit at night. There is a Swiss flag to the left of the waterfall, I guess so you don't forget what country you're in. I have no idea how it got there, but it must have been a challenge. We noted that there seemed to be some kind of passageway behind the waterfall, as we could see people back there. I was intrigued, but Nella was not so interested. Fortunately she was tolerant, as she didn't complain when I expressed my fervent wish to see what was back there, and promised to await my return (or send out a search party if necessary). I headed out onto the trail, and after half a mile or so, including a tunnel, I found myself in the coveted damp position behind the waterfall.


I didn't stay long (after a minute or two, you've pretty much exhausted the experience) and started back. There were some nice views on the way back down. One thing I hadn't noticed on the way up was a small cemetery with a playground next to it.


True to her word, Nella was still there when I returned (working on a crossword puzzle if I remember correctly), and we headed back through town on the way to the hotel. On the way, we passed a store that had a display of Swiss Army knives, of all things.

We rested in the hotel room some more and eventually had dinner at the hotel's dining room. We returned to the room, watched some German-language TV and eventually fell asleep. Our plans for the next day were somewhat weather-dependent, but they included an excursion to the town of Mürren.