The drive from Beaune to the Lauterbrunnen takes at least 4 hours. Our group stopped for a nice, long break mid-day in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. There is some debate about the origin of the city name. Some believe it's because the city founder vowed to name it after the first animal he saw while hunting - a bear. The bear has been on the coat of arms for hundreds of years and the city has also kept live bears for the same amount of time. After grabbing lunch, we had some free time and could have visited the bears at the Bärenpark. After walking around the Old Town, we instead opted for a quick visit to Einstein's house. This exhibit taught us about life in Bern and much about Einstein's personal life. It was small, but worth the stop.
A return to the Lauterbrunnen Valley was highly anticipated by our family. In our previous travels, it was cold, rainy, and overcast most of the time, which meant that we didn't have the full opportunity for hiking and the scenic views that this area is known for. This time, we were lucky enough to have sunny weather while in the valley; however, it was very warm!
Driving into the area, Travis shared a very interesting story with the group from his studies at Marquette University. Marquette is home to several original manuscripts by J.R.R. Tolkien. In 1911, a few years before serving in WWI, Tolkien visited the Lauterbrunnen Valley and many believe it to be his inspiration for Rivendell, the city of the elves.
Tolkien's illustration of Rivendell
One of our views of the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
We parked the bus at Lauterbrunnen and boarded a cog wheel train for the ride up to Wengen on the northeast side of the valley. Here, we checked into a very cute hotel and the group met for happy hour.
A full, sunny day in the Lauterbrunnen Valley: Tour Day 6
From the map at the left, you can see that there are many places to see in and around the Lauterbrunnen Valley. You can visit most by hiking, cog wheel train, or aerial cable cars. Since the day was warm and sunny, we opted for a visit to the Schilthorn - a summit just under 10,000 feet. Located here is the famous, rotating restaurant, 360 degree Piz Gloria / Bond World 007, known for its appearance in the 1969 James Bond Film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The restaurant is complete with 007 China, exhibits detailing the movie, and some of the silliest bathrooms we've ever seen.
The views in the Lauterbrunnen Valley are some of the best in the world! Here are photos from the cog wheel train from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, cable car up to Grutschalp, train over to Murren, walk around Murren, and cable car up to Birg and the Schilthorn.
Photos to, at and from the Schilthorn and Piz Gloria.
Following our trip up to the Schilthorn, we decided to take the funicular to the Allmendhupel with some very large and friendly dogs, shown below. Once at the top, we had even more views of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau and hundreds of wildflowers. This is a great destination for anyone because of the views, walking path with illustrated signs about all of the wildflowers, and views. It's also very family friendly with a large playground. The weather could not have been more perfect for this memorable day in the heart of Switzerland!
Off to Munich, the home of salt and beer: Tour Day 7
About 7 hours after leaving Lauterbrunnen, we found ourselves in the heart of Munich. The afternoon was overcast and rainy, so we chose to first visit the Residenz Treasury. When we think of royalty, crowns, and jewels, what we imagine is pretty much what is on display in the treasury.
By the time we were finished, the weather cleared somewhat and we walked through the English Gardens to catch some surfers in the river and finally on to the Viktualienmarkt, a large and open-air market. With the return of the rain, we took shelter in the famous Hofbrauhaus, which was packed with the merriest crowd of folks. Probably because of the 1 liter beers and pretzels as big as your face!
The Autobahn, Lokschuppen, and Munich: Tour Day 8
Our previous visit to this part of Germany resulted in one of the funnest travel days ever - a ride on a luge or Alpine slide. To get out to the country where most of these Alpine slides are located, we opted to rent a vehicle at the Munich train station for the day. Perhaps our new favorite activity in Germany was discovered after driving off in this car - the Autobahn! There are actually speed limits on the Autobahn, near on and off ramps. Otherwise, you choose the limit.
Unfortunately, the Alpine slide was a bust because the rain persisted. While out and about outside of Munich, we kept seeing signs for a Viking exhibit at the Rosenheim Museum in Lokschuppen, and decided to give it a try. This turned out to be a very interesting exhibit and a great way to stay dry. For having such wild hair and beards, it's funny to know that common Viking artifacts are combs! You may also be wondering why there was a Viking exhibit in a small town in Bavaria. It turns out, that the Vikings were all over Europe, not just northern Europe.
After driving back to Munich, we stopped into the Neue Pinakothek to look at the impressionist collection and then took advantage of the rental car and drove to the Nymphenburg Palace.
This summer home for the royal family has an over-the-top interior. King Ludwig I appears to have been slightly obsessed with beautiful girls and here, you can see an entire room of portraits that he had commissioned to keep images of all the beautiful girls he discovered.
Finally, it was time to return the car and settle into a local restaurant to catch the evening match of Germany and Slovakia.