Switzerland: Day 1

After our arduous, exhausting trip to Germany and Austria, we vowed that our next trip would be easy and relaxing. We decided Switzerland in September would be just that. We may have been just a bit ambitious, though. Our end destination was Murren, Switzerland--a tiny town on the side of a mountain. In order to get there we did the following:

1. Drive our car to Gatwick airport, 30 minutes away.
2. Take a bus to the plane.
3. Take a plane to Basel, Switzerland.
4. Rent a gigantic van, more like a bus, and drive 2 hours to Lauterbrunnen.
5. Park the van in a parking garage and get on a cable car. Take the cable car up the mountain.
6. Get off the cable car and transfer to a train. Take the train along the side of the mountain to Murren.
7. Get off the train and walk across the street to the hotel.

And this is everything we took with us: 

 Needless to say, we were more than a little grateful for the hotel bellman who met us at the train station to take our luggage to our room for us. We also were incredibly grateful for Roo's patient and happy parents to entertain babies, carry bags, and help out in every way! The girls managed the trip as well as could be expected, depending on what you expect from a 6-month-old and a 2-year-old. If you expect a fair amount of tantrum throwing, demanding of food, crying, and pooping at inconvenient times, then you'd be right on.

What can I say about Switzerland? It was spectacular. Massive, craggy mountains, valleys carpeted in vibrant green, chalets overflowing with pots of geraniums and daisies, brown cows with cowbells that you can hear chiming in the distance, waterfalls, clouds, and sky.

On the cable car.

On the train

The view from the train

Our hotel

The view from our hotel room. It made the long, long journey feel worth the effort.

The panorama

The town of Murren. A few good restaurants, shops, hotels, and houses piled together and perched atop cliff.

After arriving at the hotel, we took a walk, ate a yummy dinner, and wondered how we got so lucky to be falling asleep with such a view out our window.