Lets go back a day to yesterday (Sunday). The day was again pretty clear so we thought we would make the most of our last day in Lauterbrunnen (and the Swiss alps) and see if we could drag the kids on a hike.....
So we packed some food and headed for (yet another) cable car ride....(I have now lost count). Up from the village we went...to the tops of the cliffs that we can see from our chalet.
Up we go (again)...
Once at the top, we got on the hiking path and began our adventure. The hike was 'supposed' to take just over an hour, but we figured on taking a bit longer since the kids wouldn't be able to walk too fast.
The views were truly magical as we wandered along the path....
It was pretty cool (about 7 degrees) so I think that helped keep everyone moving...
Down through the trees into the valley
The path was gravel all the way so it wasn't as if we were crashing our way through the trees....
Spurred on by the glorious views, we kept going....we were slowly going uphill most of the way...the whole path rose about 200m from the start to the finish..
Halfway along, there was a small hotel and restaurant (with playground) so we stopped to warm up with some hot chocolate.
My little adventurers.....
This river becomes the waterfall that we walked under on our first day in Lauterbrunnen and the one that we can see from out chalet windows....
Into the forest we go....
And out again.....
When we got to the next town, we felt we had achieved quite a big deal. It was just over 4km long (and mostly uphill). Neve walked the whole way (Eloise was carried on Shane's shoulders mostly)....
The views the whole way along were incredible.
Once we had reached the next town, we had a rest and then caught the train and the cable car back to Lauterbrunnen village.
On the cable car back to Lauterbrunnen. The waterfall that comes from the stream we crossed in just on the right side of the cliffs.....
It was an fantastic adventure. The girls did SO well with the hike and we were very lucky to have had a good weather day to get it done.
Needless to say the girls were in bed early that night....we finally managed to wear them out!!!!!
This morning we woke up, more than a little bit sad that our time in Lauterbrunnen was ending. Shane is in love with this place and is already making plans for a ski trip at the end of next year..!
After doing some cleaning and packing, we finally had time to enjoy the view out of huge chalet windows one last time. It was then that we realised that the trees on the top of the cliffs near the chalet (the same trees we were hiking through yesterday) - were covered in snow!!!!
The trees at the top of the waterfall covered in a dusting of snow!!!!!
This made us just a little bit sadder that we were leaving....we would miss all the snow!!!!
There was no snow in the village, so we decided to stop and see if there was any snow in Grindlewald on our way to Zurich.
We weren't disappointed. Grindelwald was a picture of white....and it was still snowing.....big, fat, fluffy snowflakes like I (and even Shane) had never seen before.....floating like feathers from the sky.
The kids loved it and spent a bit of time catching snowflakes on their tongues!
I think the snow was a little unexpected....even the flowers seemed shocked by the cold snap!!!
Not sure how many of these will survive after today......
After spending some time enjoying the snow and the view...it was time to head to Zurich.....
Plus it was really cold outside!!!!!!
We got to Zurich and found our apartment - actually it was quite a fabulous find. It's in the middle of the old town right on the river. And all for the princely sum of 480 swiss francs for 3 and a half nights (I say 'half a night' because they are letting us stay in the apartment until 4pm since our flight home on Thursday is quite late).......this is AMAZING value for Zurich.....the next cheapest place I could find (that wasn't anywhere near as nice!) was 300 francs per night!!!!
Anyway, the apartment is great - although it's on the top floor (the 4th floor) of the building and there is no lift and the stairs are ridiculously steep and small. But Shane somehow managed to get out bags up here!!!
The apartment is on two levels and the kids were thrilled to discover the top level floor is partially glass.....
Very thrilled!!
The apartment is all very new...but in a really old building - so they obviously had trouble getting the floor level.
We went and got some groceries for dinner....I was tempted to try the frozen snails but decided I didn't want any 'trouble' when I am going to get on an aeroplane for 24 hours in only a few days time....
Tomorrow (Tuesday), we explore Zurich - perhaps visit the Lindt chocolate factory - and then go and visit an old friend of mine and his family for dinner, which will be a lovely way to start winding-up this massive and magnificent trip!!!
