A wet walk around Gimmelwald

After a nice long night and a couple more big thunderstorms, we got up and decided to check things out. We grabbed a nice European breakfast down stairs: fresh bread, butter & jam, OJ, Swiss cheese, and hot cocoa.
One thing is certain, the beds are not made for anyone over 5'8". My head touches one end and my feet hit the other with my knees bent. So I to tossed and turned a little, but still slept well.


Jo & JJ were not up, so we decided to wander down the hill to Gimmelwald. Walter's is a 15 minute walk up from town, so with Charm crutches, it's a little more of an adventure. When we arrived yesterday, we took the trail (shortest distance). This morning she and I took the road. It was raining and we figured the road would be easier. We were right. Plus, there were some great views. Here are a few of the local critters trying to stay out of the rain. And then there are the crazy humans that think Gore-tex is all you need.






Once we arrived in town, we enjoyed the Honesty Shop (Europe's first unattended village shop). Then we hit the Pension for lunch, make that a yummy lunch! We chatted with the Australian bartender and enjoyed mountain veggie soup and an assortment of cheeses, meats, and pickles. It was outstanding. Charmelle went on another successful fly hunting expedition and we enjoyed chatting and taking in the scenery.




The walk back up the road wasn't too bad. The rain had stopped and the views were even more amazing.












On the way back up, we saw Charmelle's next investment coming down t road from above. She thinks this would be a good idea, I don't know about that.




We got back to Walter's as Jo & JJ were heading out. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be clear and nice. We plan to head up to Murren and take in some more sights.

Good morning Switzerland

When we arrived yesterday there was a lot of cloud cover and it had been raining on and off all day. Thus, we couldn't see the mountains very clearly. Last night brought in another thunderstorm. Lots of lightening that lit up the sky quite beautifully.




When we woke up this morning there was still a lot of cloud cover, but we did get a better view of the mountains. The first photo is literally the view from my pillow. Then I sat up and took the second photo. The run off from the storms and glacial melt is unreal. There are waterfalls streaming down the mountain everywhere you look.
The frequent rain and glacial melt has the rivers running very fast. The interesting thing is the river water is almost white. It is sort of this murky or cloudy gray. I spoke with our host about this and he said it is a combination of the glacial melt and the soft rock in the mountains that erode. That made me think there wouldn't be any fish in the rivers. According to Tim, there are some fish. He didn't know the species off the top of his head, but said many locals do fish them.



I think today will be a lazy day of rest and exploring Gimmelwald. We're expecting more rain and clouds throughout the day. However, tomorrow is looking like a great day to do a little hiking and exploring.