Swiss Family Vacation

Sorry it has been a while since I last posted. It's not because nothing interesting has been happening, much rather the opposite! I haven't had a weekend in a while when there has been nothing going on. It all started in mid-July. Dallin got to take two weeks off of work and my family flew out to Europe to visit us. They flew into Switzerland and we drove up and met them there.

It was so great to see my family again! My parents rented a little chalet in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, a small town in the beautiful Berner-Oberland region. We stayed there for a whole week exploring the beautiful, heavenly mountains of Switzerland. We hiked, rode the trains and lifts, ate delicious fondue and chocolate, made friends with cows, and marveled at the beautiful landscape.This area is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have been. It is just so unreal-looking, even when you are there.

Reunited with my sister!

On the first day in Switzerland, we went to church in Interlaken. The service was in German, but luckily, the missionaries translated for us. After church we went on a beautiful drive through the valley and went on a hike to some waterfalls.

Hiking to the falls with my silly bro.

The waterfall and beautiful canyon.

I believe, this is the town of Grindlewald. We were looking across the valley at it.

For the beauty of the earth...

We then stopped off on our drive to climb up a glacier. It was quite a hike up. We were climbing up these ladder/stairs all the way up. Unfortunately, when we finally got up to the top we could still barely see the glacier, because it had melted too much. But the journey there was still fun.

The fam taking a break. Haha, Mom does not look too happy.

sporting his stylish capris...

Trav, Dal, and Dad trying to break the suspension bridge.

The next day we decided to ride the lifts and trains around.

A gorgeous waterfall right by our chalet.

We took a lift up to the mountain-top town of Murren.

View from Murren.

We explored Murren and then went on little hike.

We met the Fantastic Mr. Fox...

...and some cute cows that make delicious cheese.

View from the end of our hike.

Some beautiful falls along the way.

After our hike we walked back down to Murren and ate a picnic lunch. Then we walked down to the lower, nearby town of Gimmelwald. This town was tiny! But so cute. Apparently Rick Steves was staying there. We looked for him and even yelled his name outside of the inn he was supposedly staying in, but we had no luck of seeing him. So sad. I seriously want to meet him! I am one of his biggest fans. I have a whole library of his books. Haha!

A collection of cowbells in Gimmelwald. That first one was humongous! Each bell has a different ring to it. It is fun to just sit down in a field of grazing cows and listen to the symphony of different ringing bells.

Gimmelwald.

On the next day we ventured to the top of Jungfraujoch, one of the tallest and most beautiful mountains in the Berner-Oberland. We traveled by cog-wheel train.

View on the train ride up.

View from Jungfrau.

I think this was the Aletsch Glacier? Europe's longest glacier.

It looks so snowy and cold, huh? It really was not cold at all! I was just wearing a sweatshirt, and I was fine. It was overcast, but we could feel the sun shining through and reflecting off of the snow as well, so we were rather warm.

The exhibit at the Jungfrau also had an "ice palace". It was fun to walk through.

The ice palace.

Exploring the ice palace.

The next day we went Bern, but I will save that for my next post.

The day after that was my birthday! We rode the lift up to Mannlichen and went on what was supposed to be one of the most beautiful hikes in the Berner-Oberland. Too bad it was so rainy and cloudy! It was still fun though, but it wouldn't have been if Mom didn't bring ponchos. Way to be prepared Mom! :)

My awesome sibs.

just hikin'...

We came across a bunch of cairns on our hike. I thought they looked so mysterious.

After our hike, we made our way to the Trummelbach Falls, which are these huge waterfalls that have carved through a mountain. We had to literally walk into the mountain to see them. The water was so powerful, the ground we were standing on was shaking!

The falls rushing through the mountain.

Father and the power of the falls.

We then came back to Lauterbrunnen and went out to dinner for my birthday. We of course got the Swiss specialties-- delicious fondue and Rosti (it's kind of like a big plate of hashbrowns with yummy stuff like ham, eggs and cheese on it). Then we came back to our cabin and celebrated my birthday with cake, icecream, and presents. It was a rather fun birthday, and I am glad my family was there to celebrate it with me.

Happy Birthday to me!

The next day my photographer, Dallin, was feeling sick and stayed home. So I don't have any pictures from this day. Nonetheless, it was still fun. We basically rode all of the trains and lifts that we hadn't ridden yet and went to a bunch of places we hadn't been yet. One of the highlights was doing an alpine slide. It was fun! That evening we went to Interlaken and explored that little resort town and had dinner. Then we went back to the chalet and concluded our last day in Switzerland.

The Berner-Oberland was so beautiful, and we so enjoyed our time there, but I am not so sure if we will ever go back. Why? Because it was so unbelievably expensive!!! One of our train/lift passes alone cost 200 SF (225 USD). And food, accommodations, and anything was crazy expensive. And I thought Italy was bad. Thankfully our parents were able to help us out a lot with expenses. Thanks Mom and Dad, it was a great trip!