Murren, Switzerland: Day 3 and 4

We got up early (ish!) and set out on a hike/walk to Gimmewald from Murren. It was a tad chilly and foggy but the mountains were silent and the wild Alpine flowers beautiful! There seemed to be no one else in the world but us and the sound of our feet on the road. The views were so stunning and made us reflect on the Creation and the beauty that our Heavenly Father has given to us. We saw a few cows and read some signs with information about the area. They plant areas that are prone to avalanches with trees to make a natural avalanche barrier. Naomi picked a few flowers and later we learned it is illegal to pick Alpine flowers! Oops!

As we arrived in Gimmewald we were greeted by some cats and sheep. Then we saw a farm with a shop of homemade goods. We stopped in and a lady appeared and said she knitted all the gloves, hats and scarves. They were very pretty! There were some English books and I was looking through them and she said I could have one. I didn't recognize any titles but chose one that sounded interesting. So nice of her! As we left we saw her two mountain ponies; Miss Elly and Dimitri. They were beautiful ponies! We continued on to the center of the village and came upon the famous Honesty Shop. It has lots of things for sale and it's all on the honor system. No one is there to collect the money or make sure no one steals anything. You just put your money in an envelope and write what you bought and how much it was, then put the envelope in a box. I bought a small book on the Lauterbrunnen Valley and Chris got a Snickers bar. We looked around the village a little then took the aerial tram back down to Lauterbrunnen then another to Interlaken to tour around Schloss Oberhofen.


 

       

                  

Beautiful Dimitri!

    

   

  

 Happy Father's Day!! What a great Dad to take his girls on such great adventures!

Schloss Oberhofen was a moated castle on Lake Thun built in the 13th century. In 1940 an American lawyer William Maul Measy purchased it, lived in it, set up a foundation for it's maintenance and then donated it to the Historical Museum of Bern. The picturesque turret standing in the clear, blue lake was so pretty! The surrounding gardens were really pretty too. Inside the castle they had a room where you could dress up and take pictures. It was hilarious! We stayed and played there for quite a while. The library was incredible! Like the library on Beauty and the Beast but much smaller :) All the colorful, old books lined up on the shelves and the sunlight streaming in the huge windows made me want to sit and read for a while. The Turkish smoking room at the top of the castle is has all the original furnishings and decor. It was pretty!

    

     

          

          

Naomi had the camera!

          

          

There was a camera set up by a mirror on a vanity. Once you took the picture you could email it to yourself. We took a lot of pictures!

         

         

          

We took the train home (and all fell asleep!) and went to eat dinner at the base jumpers hang out. We didn't really mean to eat here as it was a younger crowd with not so great language, but there weren't any other restaurants open. The bar tender (who was French and was hilarious!) and cook were really nice and we ordered a crepe for Naomi and we ordered cheese fondue since it's the Swiss thing to do. The cook asked us if we wanted the usual Vodka in our fondue or to omit it. We requested he omit the Vodka. The fondue was good but tasted like there was wine or some other alcoholic drink in it and was really rich. After we left we realized we didn't have Chris' rain jacket. So I ran back to the restaurant but it wasn't there. Then I realized I didn't tie it on well enough at Schloss Oberhofen and it must have fallen off there. I was so upset! We hoped it didn't rain on us for our last day.