Brian with Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau

It was COLD and WINDY up at the Schilthorn. Elevation I believe is around 9800 feet. Obviously, though, the views and clear skies made enduring the cold and wind worthwhile. The three main mountains you see in the center and right are (from l to r) the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau. The monk is protecting the young lady from the ogre, literal translation.

Early Morning Mountains

We were hoping for some clearer weather the next day, and we couldn't have gotten a more perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky. We got up early to take the lifts up to the Schilthorn....first a lift from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp (no pics cause it was still fairly lowlight). Then a train from Grutschalp to the resort town of Murren, where we started getting more light. Then another lift from the Murren station up to Schilthorn via Birg. This was the first good view we got as we left the Murren station on the gondola lift. Amazing.

Wengen at Dusk

VOL 3/5: We hiked up a few hundred yards up above Wengen to see if we could get a better view, but it started getting dark quickly, as it does in the Alps. Some great views of Wengen, would have been better if I had brought my tripod.

Wengen Kirche at Sunset

Europe has beautiful churches, and this was a great shot of the one in Wengen with just a bit of clearing as the sun went down. This is looking roughly west, obviously, and it was a sign of better weather to come tomorrow.

Brian the Hut

We didn't ever figure out what this little hut was for, but it's a good shot of Brian. Very Swiss, no? Perhaps it's a large doghouse for the St. Bernards.

Luftseilbahn

Me standing in front of a lift I probably took back 25 years ago.

Lauterbrunnen Valley from Wengen

Still clouds, but a good view from up above of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, with the Edelweiss hotel in the foreground.

Alpenrose

One of many very nice hotels in Wengen, this one named the Alpenrose, as Brian is so discreetly pointing out.

Wengen

Later that evening, we took the train for a 15 minute climb up the hillside to the town of Wengen. A larger ski town and some seriously posh resorts up here. This was were I first donned skis. The Sitzmarker Ski Club took a 5 day trip over Christmas of 1984, and I spent 5 crazy days on skis....this was not an easy place to learn to ski, but the atmosphere, views, and snow were well worth the trouble. After 5 days I was doing pretty dang good.

Brian and Lauterbrunnen

After our sumptious meal, we needed a walk. Brian with the town church in the background.

Swiss Spaetzle

Drove another 200 kilometers to get another great meal. Beef stew, spaetzle, more excellent homemade brot, a serious salat, and the ubiquitous Fanta. Some of our best memories of this trip and of Europe in general were the meals.

Lauterbrunnen Valley

A good view looking south-ish into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Although shrouded by clouds, the high peaks of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau are off to the left, and the Schilthorn is off to the right. The road deadends about 10 kilometers up this valley.

Rescue Copter and Falls

The dominant feature in Lauterbrunnen, other than the obvious high mountains, was the Staubbach Falls, and a number of other closeby waterfalls. Got this good shot of a rescue helicopter on it's way to pick up an injured skiier I'd imagine.

Hotel Oberland

Another good thing about this hotel is it's excellent English speaking owners/managers. Although keeping that in mind, it's clientele seemed to be mostly English speaking as well. Which is fine. This is one of about 10-12 hotels in town. Good deal, great food....

Lauterbrunnen Main Street

Lauterbrunnen is not a big town, and mostly caters to those who want to ski or explore the mountain, but still want to have car access. Once you go further up, there's no way to really get a car up....you rely on train or bahn or lift.

New Snow

It snowed 6-7 inches overnight our first night in Lauterbrunnen, and the car was pretty much covered. Which was fine, cause we just left it parked there for the next two days anyhow.

Lauterbrunnen First Morning

Hoping to wake up our first day in the mountains to some sun, but no such luck. This was the view from the front steps of our hotel, the Hotel Oberland. BTW, if you ever travel to this area (the Jungfrau region of Berner Oberland) this hotel in Lauterbrunnen is decent. The beds have footboards on them, so if you're tall, beware. Still ,we slept well anyways. Caters to skiiers, which means rooms are functional and clean. However, the restaurant in the hotel was excellent.....more to follow on that.

Swiss Temple

Left Mulhouse and drove just a few minutes to the Swiss border at Basel. From there about an hour south to Zollikofen, just outside of Bern, where the Swiss Temple of the LDS Church is located. It cleared up nicely for us once we left the Black Forest and stayed clear until we departed Zollikofen. About an hour drive from the Temple over to Interlaken, and then it started getting cloudy as we entered the Berner Oberland, seriously high mountains. By the time we drove up the hill from Interlaken into Lauterbrunnen (only about 15 minutes) it was close to dark.

Patisseries

Like I was just saying....some great sweets in France. We stopped here and got some eclairs and some pain au chocolat. Nice.

Mulhouse, France

After leaving Triberg, we drove through some more snow and eventually left the Black Forest and crossed over into France. This part of France (the Alsace region) was part of my mission, and I lived for 3 months in the town of Mulhouse. This is me standing in front of the central cathedral in Mulhouse....I spent many hours walking the streets downtown here. Great memories. Great patisseries (pastries)!!