We met up with some friends from the US in Lauterbrunnen, in the Berner Oberland or Jungfrau area of Switzerland (not far form Interlaken and Grindewald). Lauterbrunnen is a tiny, beautiful village in the valley of major mountains and ski areas, with several waterfalls within the village borders. It was a fabulous place to set up a home base while we explored and skied the surrounding area.
Our landlord had a clever way of keeping his hands warm while riding his motorcycle. And at night he draped a patchwork quilt over the entire bike. Not sure why, as it was under cover…? Maybe it needed to keep warm.
Love the colorful, and well-designed money of Switzerland! American money is so bland looking.
Of course we ate lots of Toblerone.
Everyday we would take one of the trains to a ski mountain. It was always a favorite part of the day. The views were spectacular, the train made a calming tock-tock-tock sound and there was always some good people-watching. Plus, they had cool, old wooden ski carts attached the the back where you could put your gear.
A particularly snowy and cold day, somewhere up top, with Dave looking a bit rough.
Some typical scenery as you skied. Lots of barns along the trail, some with goats or sheep or cows in them.
And our lovely "Swiss Decor" in the apartment. It all kind of cracked me up.
Some highlights: the cuckoo clock...
… and a landscape print, and one of those cow bells...
… another landscape painting ...
Every night was full of stories of how sore we were, how we were getting old, and how tomorrow we would take fewer runs. Sometimes a leg massage was in order, but it was always really painful, but funny.
Dave on his way to his ski day. That's our chalet behind him. Not too shabby, eh?
The pretty glorious view from our apartment.
I REALLY loved these chairs. SO MUCH. They were in the waiting area of one of the gondola lifts. I wanted all of them. And they had this cool mountain carving/insignia on them too. SO GREAT.
Oh, just some pretty skiing scenery for ya.
One fabulous thing about Switzerland is when you take a break you can things like this: a delicious cup of hot chocolate with a super cute reindeer cookie in it …
… or grilled sausage with homemade potato salad and crusty bread.
Nice to have one of those rescue dogs around. Makes one feel that much safer.
Couldn't get enough of the edelweiss motifs. these light fixtures were pretty sweet if you ask me.
The "china" that the lodge used. Nice. Nothing made in China there.
Eidelweiss ashtray? Sure, why not?
Riding the train home.
Yes, a Rucola-sponsored gondola.
Nope, that view has not been photoshopped in- it really WAS that gorgeous, and we got to look at it the whole way down the trail. I think this was my favorite run of the week!
