Day Seventeen - Murren

Today we hike to Gimmewald. Gimmewald and Murren are both small towns in the Jungfrau region. While Murren is more of a tourist ski resort town, Gimmewald is more of a locally dedicated farming town. First things first, free breakfast.

We enjoy our hotel breakfast and hit the trail. Side note: There is a sugary honey spread I found in Switzerland that I can't seem to locate anywhere in the states. I stole a few packets of these for the trip home :)

The hike to Gimmewald is downhill, nice, but tricky in the snow. I am proud to report we didn't fall once. As we make our way down we pass waterfalls and pine cones, cats, goats and miniature horses. A kettle of hawks (yes kettle) circle over us, twisting in a spiral and peppering the bright blue sky. Edelweiss seedlings are making their first appearance of Spring. We go from hot to cold then back to hot, removing then replacing our jackets.

Upon arrival in Gimmewald we notice the lack of snow. The grass is exposed and it smells like, well, manure. It is a farming town after all. There are barns with cows and barns with tractors. It feels untouched by tourism due to the fact that there are very few hostels and no ski activities. It's nice.

The hike takes us over an hour, we stop into an "Honest Shop" a tiny little shack with shelves filled with trinkets and souvenirs from cheese to mugs to clothes to magnets and all for sale without a sales clerk. You grab what you want and you put money in the basket.

The next stop is to get meat and cheese. I stop into a cafe to ask for directions and I'm advised it's "Past the water trough in the barn on the left." Water fountain troughs are placed throughout the village providing a steady stream of fresh water for hikers or just thirsty humans (and animals I presume). The water is so clean in Switzerland that tap water is preferred over bottled water.

We find the barn and see a sign on the door that let’s us know that while no one is available to help us with our purchase (because they're out tending the farm) we're welcome to come inside, browse the selection and leave our money in the dish. There's a small refrigerator filled with cured meats, wedges of cheese, milk, eggs and other farm fresh produce. Inside the fridge is a small box with a sign that reads “Please pay here”. We total up our haul and leave our cash.

It’s been a few hours and we are ready to head back to Murren. This time it’s an uphill hike. We take our time and make stops along the way. The snacks we just purchased are sounding really good so once we get back to Murren we pop into the grocery store and grab some beers and crackers. Jacob purchases a Swiss Army knife from the shop across the walkway to slice up the salami.

We grab seats on the hotel sun terrace, pour beers and set up the spread of cheese, salami and crackers. It’s fresh and delicious and well earned after the daunting hike it took to retrieve it. We go up to our room to take a nap and rest our tired feet.

The sun sets and we are ready for dinner. We have heard good reviews of Tham's a family owned Chinese restaurant. Craving carbs and grease we eagerly dress and hit the snow covered streets. We arrive at Tham's and ... it's closed. We check to make sure it's business hours and it definitely is. A hand written note just saying "We are closed today" is taped to the door. The grocery store just closed minutes before and it looks like all the other dining establishments followed Tham's lead and closed for the day as well.

Our last option is to eat at our hotel. Turns out the family with the stomping kid had the same plan. There is only one dinner option a squash based dish, with squash based soup. I am not a fan of squash. We eat our dinner, slightly disappointed but thankful to be having a hot meal in a gorgeous setting. We return to our room, pack our bags and watch Sicario on Jacob's iPad. We fall asleep to the familiar sound of stomping child.