Day #71 - Murren, Switzerland

Murren, Switzerland

Looking down from Cable Car

Murren, Switzerland

Picture on my hostal wall

Monday, May 24th

Today I stayed around Interlaken for the better part of the day. I walked around a bit and then sat outside for a 3 hour lunch. It was a great spot with Wi-Fi, right along the main drag, where you could watch people walk up/down the street.

Interlaken is a nice little town with great streams flowing down from the mountains. It's really a convenient location to stay and do day trips. It's got anything you need. I'm staying right near the Interlaken West train station. It's got a great ice cream shop right beside it I've been visiting the past 2 nights.

I went to the train ticket office and developed a strategy for the next couple weeks. I don't have tickets booked yet, but I have a location plan set up through my US departure date of June 2nd - when I'll be flying to Raleigh/Durham.

Around 3pm - I was tired of doing work (planning, map reading, finances). I decided to take a spontaneous daytrip to Murren, Switzerland. Murren is considered the birthplace of downhill skiing in its modern form. The local Arlberg-Kandahar race is regarded as the unoffical world championship of the alpine countries. It was about an hour train ride. I'm certainly glad I made the journey.

Spectacular, unbelievable views once again. Murren sits high on a hillside above the Lauterbrunnen Valley. It's the highest year round inhabited village in the canton. Only access to the town is via train or cable car.

There is a cable car going up from the town to a 9,742ft peak called Piz Gloria. There is a revolving restaurant at the top - made famous by the 1969 James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". I haven't seen this movie yet.

I really just walked around the town, had a beer overlooking the valley, and soaked in the atmosphere. I didn't have time to do the James Bond thing - but the trip was extremely enjoyable. I watched people hang-gliding through the valley. You see this on all the mountains around Switzerland. There's skydiving shops, hang-gliding, mountaineering, mountain biking - it's safe to say these people take it to the extreme.

On the way back into town, I boarded the train and this older lady sits down beside me. There's other seats open, but that's cool. She doesn't look at me, stares straight forward, and says semi-panicked: "I've just lost my husband, I boarded the train, he was behind me, now I can't find him anywhere" By this time, the train had started moving and we were on the way downhill. I said, in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry - everything will be fine. You'll meet him at the next stop". She was still panicking, "We travel alot and we've never been separated. He told me to just stay put if we ever get separated. He'll come and find me" I told her that made alot of sense, just sit back, you're doing the right thing.

I changed the subject and asked her where they were from. She said they were from Little Rock, Arkansas. They were travelling for 2 weeks in Switzerland. The lady would occassionally say: "I'm in big trouble." I kept telling her: "He's the one that didn't follow you on the train - no worries". We talked about the areas they've been and her favorite parts of the trip. We made small talk for the next 30 minutes until the train was nearing the next port. Just then, the ticket lady came by and was asking us for our tickets. The lady got up and said: "I have to find my husband, he has my ticket" The ticket lady, in a very comforting, English-spoken way, with her arm on the lady's shoulder, said: "Maam, your husband is back a couple cars, he asked me to let you know he is fine. We don't allow pass-throughs between cars in transit - he wasn't able to get to you" The lady's shoulders shrunk with relief. She said: "That's so nice of him." Everything was good in the world once again. I said: "Hey - now you'll have something interesting to talk about at dinner tonight - it just made the day a little more exciting." The lady was happy I talked with her. We parted ways after exiting the train - her husband waiting for her - I wished them safe travels.

I'm back in Interlacken at the hostal. I'm posting a picture from the wall of my room. It's a picture of some sort of insect/bug looking thing. Probably not a good ides to be painted on the walls of a hostal. I'm down for the night. I have a 6:30am train tomorrow morning - another day trip from Interlaken.