when in Switzerland...

...do as the Swiss do. As epic as possible.
Woke up early this morning to catch a bus down to Trummelbach Falles. These are 10 separate falls INSIDE the mountains, which drain the Eiger, Jungfrau and Monch - this one spot drains them all. We took a lift halfway up, then climbed stairs the rest of the way. Absolutely astounding how much the water has carved away at the rock, and how it swirls inside the mountain. We were the first ones up today!
Next we conquered the Via Ferrata... A 4 hour cliff walk. I'll spare my mom the details but it was a life changing experience! Wow.
And after this, we took the cable car up to Schiltorn, the viewpoint for the Eiger, Jungfrau, Monch, and the rest of the Alps. We went through super thick clouds to arrive above them for crystal clear views. There are trails out in the mountains, so we were able to hike out a short ways to get even more amazing views of this gorgeous creation. A nice shop lady let us buy beers and drink them out on the deck 15 mins before closing. Mountain top experience!
Finished the day with delicious fondue made with local.cheese. a splurge for our last night here! Wish we could.stay longer! So much more we would love to do...

Swiss Alps

Today we woke up with the plan to go up to see the Jungfrau and other mountains, including the Eiger. We grabbed our (expensive) tickets for the trains up, and headed off! We were quickly swarmed by Asian tour groups, from the main Lauterbrunnen train station and up at the resort villages above the valley. Wow.
The trains took us up up up the sides of the mountains, and through cute little villages, and then THROUGh the mountain. Crazy! There were viewpoints along the way, the first was totally clouded in, but the second was crystal clear! Ahhh! We saw the blueish glaciers and jagged peaks jutting against the blue skies. Gorgeous. Up up up we went still, and ended up above the clouds! Words can't describe. So gorgeous. We stood in awe of the gorgeous mountains, snapped some pics, and toured the ice palace! We then found our way to get out onto.the glacier. And we were able to walk 1.5 km up to a mountain hut that had food. We earned our beer and meat/cheese, as well as met a lovely couple from the UK who gave us suggestions for that portion of our trip. It started snowing while we were there, so we hiked back down in the snow....what an experience!
Had a slow evening...walked up to the Staubach  waterfall and through town, still being serenaded by the church bells and cow bells. Love love love this town.
Tomorrow's a full day! Here are just a couple pics...camera is having trouble uploading, so these are from Jeff's phone. :)

Crazy travel ... But finally in Switzerland!

Boarded our train out of Munich at 2245. The train was full of people who fully enjoyed Oktoberfest... So glad we had first class tickets with our rail pass so we didn't have to deal with too many of them. Some make it up into 1st class anyway, and the conductor doesn't want to get in fights so they don't enforce the rules that late. Apparently Switzerland doesnt like trains running too often. at night so we didn't have too many options. Jeff snoozed while.I stayed awake to keep an eye on our stuff and listen for our stop. Got to charge our devices though! Sooo tired.
Got to Salzburg to catch a train that would take us to Zurich, obvious we are now in another country. Different dialects, cannabis green tea in a can, different Oktoberfest outfits... :)
Waited for an hour in the freezing cold, and then we were lucky to get beds on the night train into Zurich (although catching this at 2am!) Our bunk mate wasn't super excited to have us join her that late. Slept in our clothes, and arrived via 3 transfers in Interlaken, Switzerland by 930 this a.m. phew.
Our rail passes get us 25% off the Swiss rail system, so had to pay to get our train to Lauterbrunnen. I felt my stress melting away as we drove away from the cities and saw more trees, cows, fields and lakes. Once here, seeing the giant cliffs, huge mountains peeking above the clouds, even in the rain, was SO glad to get here. Showed up at 10 and couldnt check.in to hotel till 2 so stowed bags in lockers, and walked through the town. Started drying and clearing some. We were super sweaty and gross after our bike ride yesterday and being up all might. So we figured why not, let's walk the valley. So walked to the other end of the valley 1 1/2 hrs, through beautiful countryside, next to cows with their tinkling bells, gorgeous river, countless waterfalls, basejumpers, flowers, adorable homes and barns. Magical. Can't think of any other way to describe it. Took bus back, and wandered around some more, getting some snacks from store, and then were able to check into hotel. finally got cleaned up, rested, enjoyed some local cheese (made when cows go up higher into alps in the spring) and wine, then took a nap before a light dinner in the hotel restaurant. Looks like they offer quite a bit of local vegetables and local game, but we could only do soup tonight... Maybe tomorrow! Again...in bed by 845...we feel old!

Munich Day 3

Woke up lateish but grabbed a train to go see the Neuschwanstein castle in Fussen. Got there and were all tired and a little cranky, but the bike shop was kind enouh to open just for us, so we rented bikes to ride up to the castle instead of being stuck standing on the bus like we had been standing on the train for the last 2 hours. Best decision ever. cleared up our bad moods! So beautiful riding on "romantic road" through the trees, seeing fall colors, over an almost turquoise blue river, seeing wedding photos being taken, catching glimpses of the castle through the trees, and hearing the tinkle of cow bells across the fields. Gorgeous.
Long ride or walk up to castle in muggy weather, all wearing jeans, finally arrived. was cool to see the castle, and James, Jeff and Michelle walked across Mary's Bridge to see caslte from.different vantage point. Climbed up high onto trail to see away from other people. Gorgeous. Grabbed some beer from the market to enjoy on train on way home, after a fun but tiring and stressful day.
On the way back, train stopped in between stops, and an announcement was made in German, and we noticed people start to get upset and frustrated. A medical incident happened ahead on the tracks so all trains were stopped until further notice. (we had worked hard to time our day to get back for our train leaving for Zurich at 630...) We all had to get off the train, and they said there would be busses. We ran to the taxi stop and asked someone if they could help.us. we were in the middle of nowhere so there was only 1 taxi, and some jerk.wanted to get to Oktoberfest so he left in it. We saw the train start moving, and RAN. Got on, for a short bit, then were told to get off again because they were sending busses. Nope. Then stood and waited. Then "herd mentality" kicked in and people tried getting on random buses. we tried to get a cab, but people kept stealing them from other people who called them. Finally, trains started moving again and we RAN again to catch one going to Munich. Whew. Definitely missed our train, but we remembered about our travel insurance that will cover cost of our hotel. Went to travel center and talked with a really nice guy who helped us find the most tolerable train out of Munich late at night that woukd allow us to get on a night train and try to get beds for a few hours...but have to.go through Salzburg on our way to Switzerland. Got to have dinner with J&A and one last German Bier before leaving Germany!
Internet has been hard to come by so hard to post pics. Writing on phone, but pics are on camera. No free WiFi other than Starbucks.

Munich Oktoberfest

Went to bed at 830 last night, all slept soundly until 7 this a.m.
Met people last night who told us to get there at 9, so we did. Paid way to much for a quick and not so convenient coffee and breakfast,
As we were walking to Oktoberfest, saw people drinking on street, as is legal, at young ages, also legal (age 16)
Randomly picked the tent with shortest line and coolest.people outside (augustiner). Ended up finding a table with 3 nice looking German girls. Was their first time at Oktoberfest too. Had great time, practicing German, learning about them, their families, boyfriends, culture, Bavarian culture. Kersten, Ramona, annika. Kersten was 28 like michelle and James , Ramona was 18! Met cute old couple married 55 years. They were all surprised we were married already (so young).
Lots of singing, beer drinking, flirting between all the girls/boys. Stayed until early afternoon, then went on ferris wheel, saw whole city, alps, fair grounds, stood in crazy line, more like a clump of hundreds of people.
At Starbucks for our quick email.checks, found out about passing my test!
We wanted to.celebrate, but all.almost fell asleep, but we went to dinner at Mexican restaurant. Ha! But, it had freshest food we have had in days.
In bed by 830 again. Whew.

Munich

Was eerie sleeping on.the train. Kept waking up and sounded like a scary movie. But we survived!
Get to Munich tired and sweaty and sore.
After stowing bags in lockers, Caught train to Dachau concentration camp, an emotional experience. So glad we did this, but was hard to see.
After we took the train back, found our cute hotel! Pleasantly surprised with how close to.the main city center, and how cute it was!
The Guys got to enjoy beers downstairs with Gunter, hotel owner and manager, hear about his Ferrari.
Walked around, since so close to everything. saw st Michael's cathedral, other churches, the famous Glockenspiel, got to watch it chime!
Decided to brave the touristy Hofbrauhaus for dinner ... Great decision. Met a nice guy from Israel, and some other people from Germany, heard some tips about Oktoberfest for tomorrow...
Walked home. Bed by 830! Wiped out!

Berlin day 2

Sleep number 7000, extra starch. That was James' description of our firm hostel beds and sheets.
There was a cute antique store next to pur hostel, full of old dishes and linens.
We walked through a beautiful park to get to a former Nazi-era building, tallest still standing in Berlin (much of the area has been rebuilt after bombing and ww2), now it is a US Air Force Base.
Walked thru fun districts, similar to San Francisco and Queen Anne,.old buildings, cute shopping.
We were walking along trying to find a book store for James, when we were told to stop, and.cross.the street. A movie was being filmed, so we stopped to watch... And all of a sudden we saw Vince Vaughn! After we watched a short scene, James yelled "yeah, Vince." Everyone but Vince looked over at us. Ha! We stole some sneaky photos on James' camera that we were told not to take!
On our bike tour, our guide had told.us to check out the Turkish market, which we did today. It was such a fun experience. So much culture, amazing displays of food, wares, and apparently no photos allpwed, oops! A nice man told me kindly that I was supposed to ask each merchant if I could take a photo. Now I know why some of.them looked at me funny... But it was beautiful.
In two days in Berlin, we walked over 25 miles, plus our 8 mile bike ride. we are all exhausted.
We went back to the Memorial to murdered Jews of europe museum, very touching and moving experience.
Walked through Brandenburg gate again, this time there was construction. So much changes in one day in this city!
Walked by the American embassy, and Jeff and James asked if they could go in, out of curiosity. An appointment is required.
We found a Biergarten afterwards to process the memorial/museum, and enjoyed schnitzel, currywurst, apple strudel, Bier, practicing our German, and discussing politics and culture! Wow.
Walked thru Grocery store to get snacks and bier for the night train. Always fun to find new things to try!
Oh, and we always needed to make sure we had .50 or 1 Euro on hand to use the bathroom. Mainly in train station, but on most public places too, unless you were eating somewhere.
Our first Night train. Sat for a while talking, waited for tickets to.get checked.and.drank beer and ate cheese, crakcers salami. A little crowded, woke up stinky and sweaty after walking all day and sleeping in a hot train. Now we are in Munich!
Photos: Turkish market