Grüezi from the Alps

See the cows in the background!?

Water. Bread. Apricots. Cheese. Orange. Banana. Gummy Bears. Wine.  Those were the lucky items that were selected to be in our hiking bag, which I must mention in our packing haste we forgot to pack a backpack and so I was lucky enough to have a reason to buy a new bag!  E and I were bound and determined to get a solid day of hiking the Swiss Alps in on our four day journey.  Typically we are not the most blessed when it comes to good weather, so much so that on everyone of our holidays we have purchase umbrellas: Harry, Lloyd, and Elvira (R.I.P everyone of them, their dollar values didn't give them much more than a 1 trip shelf life).  But in Interlaken we could not have asked for any better weather, a few clouds spotted the clear brilliant blue sky, the grass was greener than I have ever seen and the cow bells were the perfect cacophony of background noise.

Quarter of the way, feeling confident, notice the outfit
change?  We had lots of layers on, the key to hiking
success, oh and always bring a scarf :)

We started off in very high spirits in Grindlewald, the map said that it would take us 4 hours and 40 minutes to reach our destination, Mannlichen, at the tippy top of the mountain we were on with the Eiger, Monck, and Jungfrau just in the distance.  We hiked along and chatted at the cows and the goats and even the butterflies too!  About half an hour into the hike I was puzzled that we had not seen any other hikers on the trail, but we pressed on.  An hour into it I realized why we were the only ones on the trail, I am in pretty good shape, ran a 10k about three weeks before, but by this point I was about ready to get on all fours and climb up this beastly mountain.  It was like going on the stair master at level 37 for 2.5 hours.  I looked up at the cable cars running above us with envy.  But there was no other decision but up and we pressed on.

Half way point!

Finally we reached....the half way point.  I think my heavy breathing, lack of conversation, and my obvious fatigue convinced E that we could ride the cable car up the rest of the way.  I was incredibly grateful, but we paid for it!  Switzerland is such a gorgeous place but oh so expensive, it was $33 for the two of us to rest our tired selves in the cute cable car for our 20 minute ride to the top.  It was absolutely stunning and of course the sore calves and shaking quads were well worth it.  We had a celebratory beer, some fruit, bread, and gummies and appreciated the breathtaking
(literally!) back drop.

This was just one day of our amazing journey, check back in for Switzerland Part 2.  On a side note, I miss all my family and friends back home and love you all so much!!

Our at the top celebration!