May 14, 2013 – A nice sunny day.  Why don’t we go up to 9,745 feet?  We were hoping for the weather to clear so we could go to the top of Schilthorn and see the famous Piz Gloria where Telly Savalas held court in the Bond film  “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”  It wasn’t perfect, but good enough! So up we went.  The trip starts in the town at Lauterbrunnen – about 10 minutes from our home in Wilderswil – with a tram to Grütschalp.  Just doing this tram ride would probably be enough – but this is only the beginning.  I was amused by the two 18 year old boys, and their mountain bikes, on the tram with us.  At first I thought, “oh that’s cool – they can ride down”… not long into the trip, my thinking changed to “these guys are absolutely nuts!”

Once we arrived in Grütschalp, we then got on a nice little train to the town of Mürren.  There are no cars allowed in Mürren, and at this time of year it seemed that there were no people allowed either!  May is the between seasons time.  Skiing is over, but there is still snow around, so summer can’t start yet.  There are few guys fixing the plumbing and beginning the setup for summer, but many of the stores were closed and there were very few people about.  We did see a good drink available in the vending machine which gives you a bombastic good feeling,  and we had a chance to take a few photos before the second tram to Schilthorn.

The tram to up to Schilthorn is awesome.  That’s the only word…. Awesome.  And when we arrived, we were glad that we bought the hats.

The trip down was just as wonderful as the trip up – more good sights!

That evening as the sun was setting our hosts, Cindy and Pascal Zeller, along with their daughter Sarah, took us on a little walk around town.  We stopped at a local farm and got some fresh, raw milk from a dispenser – one Swiss frank for a litre.  The farms are very interesting.  The cows spend the winter in the barns attached to the houses – right in town.  In early June, when the threat of snow is past, the cows are then led up into the hills where they spend the summer.  We learned that the small fields around town are kept long for the cows to graze, and the farmers get very angry if you walk in their fields…

Pascal showed the girls an old grain mill.  Wilderswil is a very old town and some of their neighbors’ houses go back to the 1500’s. Across the street was a funny little antique store that had an item in the window that is special to the Wilderswil area – specifically Grindelwald.  It’s a snow bike called a Velogemel. They are still made in basically the same way, and although there are other more modern versions, these Velogemel’s are the real deal.  This one in the window is possibly from the 1800’s. Each year in Grindelwald, they have a race. See it here.

It was a beautiful and awesome day!