Day 7

After a pleasant rest in Bern, we were off early to catch the train to the Berner Oberland.* The Swiss Rail app made it very simple to negotiate the changes from train to bus to cableway. The entire trip took a little under two hours and we arrived in Gimmelwald at about 10:30 am.

*Editor's Note - the insanely crowded train to the Berner Oberland!

We deposited our luggage at our accommodations, Ester’s guest house and crossed the street to the Biergarten at Pension Gimmelwald for a beer. The house beer was a Schwartz Bier called Schwarz Monch. It was absolutely delicious, possibly the best Schwartz bier I have ever had. They used to brew it on site right here in Gimmelwald but it is now brewed in Interlaken. They had two European Beer Competition gold medals. Needles to say Schwartz Monch is the beer of the day! After finishing our beer, we hopped back on the Seilbahn to explore Mürren. The boys were of course hungry and I was “thirsty” so we stopped at the Hotel Edelweiss for a quick lunch. The scenery was jaw dropping! We had a panoramic view of the Berner

Alps including the Eiger and the Monch. The meal of choice was goulash Suppe and it lived up to the scenery - fantastic!

After lunch we walked around Mürren and made our way to the funicular to go up the hill to Allmendhuben. There we walked amongst the wildflowers before hiking the couple miles back down to Mürren. After a quick stop at the Co/Op for some groceries we headed back to Ester’s to claim our room and have a brief rest. Our hike stirred our appetite so we walked across the way to the Pension Gimmelwald for dinner. As I write this entry we are sitting in the Biergarten eating fondue and gazing at the Alps on a perfect evening. Cindi checked off two of her bucket list items -

riding a “funicular” and having fondue in Switzerland. We are happy!

We finished off the evening with a walk around the village to settle our fondue then returned to the Pension Gimmelwald for a nightcap. As we sat in the Biergarten we were treated to an amazing Alpine sunset. The tops of the mountains were awash with color as wisps of clouds swirled and passed by the peaks; intermittently drawing the curtain on the show before reopening to reveal another act played out in color and spender. Each dramatic encore with its own magic and melody. Truly breathtaking.