Chalets, Cheese and Chocolate

First of all, I have to thank Teresa for the fabulous advice on where to stay in Switzerland!

Second of all, this blog has taken a little twist as I am no longer in the trenches but on top of the world. I've been in the Lauterbrunnen valley in Switerland in the middle of the Swiss alps for about 3 days now and I'm sad to have to leave. The rainy weather cleared up right after I got here and it's been gorgeous ever since. It's amazing that people live up and among these mountains. I did a couple days of nice easy hikes and then yesterday I attempted a full day hike on what proved to be a rather challenging trail. The views from the top of the trail were well worth it though. I climbed over 700m in 2 hours. Needless to say, I was huffing and puffing, but up at the top of this plateau, I encountered a British man who told me this was the clearest day he'd seen in all his visits to this part of Switzerland. I had this whole mountain range spread out around me - it was incredible! I then hiked over 1000m down to the bottom of the valley before taking the cable car back up to my hostel. That was a great deal of hard work to put my weak little leg muscles through, but fortunately the hot tub at the hostel remedied that situation. I can't believe this place. Like I said, I'm sad to leave.

Nice to be able to hike by myself in these mountains and not have to worry about wild animals attacking you. The biggest hazard on the trail is cow flop! There are little hotels dotted all throughout the mountains and so half way through the hike I stopped for some tea on a hotel terrace with waterfalls cascasding down the sides of the mountains around me.

The Jungfrau region of Switzerland (named so for the highest mountain in this area) has been the icing on the cake for me. I guess I'll be seeing some of you soon.