We have arrived in what is possibly the closest place to heaven on Earth: Murren (MEW-rehn), Switzerland. Tiny Murren seems to hang off a cliff overlooking the Lauterbrunnen Valley and across from the most spectacular mountains I have ever seen: the Eiger (the ogre), the Monch (the monk, protecting the maiden) and the Jungfrau (the young maiden).
Every day is a new experience and adventure on this tour. Imagine traveling to a village that is only accessible by two gondolas silently gliding up from a mossy green valley to an out of sight destination. When our bus driver dropped us and our luggage off at the Stechelburg cable station, Tom and I watched warily as our group of 29 and a lot of other travelers with their luggage, and base jumpers with their gear (more about them later), filled the gondola – could it possibly handle all this weight? Easily! We glided up and over the mountain, exited then entered another gondola in Gimmelwald (GIM-mehl-vahlt), and up and away we went again, to Murren.
Murren has two small streets and we were led by Tara up the higher one towards our hotel. I'm not sure about the rest of our group, but I had a hard time keeping up as I was mesmerized by the colorful flower and vegetable gardens flanking chalet-style houses and businesses, and the peaceful feeling that surrounded us.
By the time we arrived at our hotel I knew three nights here wouldn't be nearly enough time to get my fill of this tranquil alpine village.
As I sit here writing this, I'm gazing out our hotel window at this and listening to the melodious sounds of cow bells, and I can hear a farmer ringing his bell, calling them in for some reason. We were told the cow bells weigh up to 10 pounds and can cost more than 2,000 Swiss Francs each. I doubt the cows like the weight or the noise very much, but to a tourist, the sound is heavenly. Time to go explore! YOLO!!
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