Day 7: Wengen to Murren and the best hike ever?

Day 7: Wengen to Murren  

 

THB, DB, G, N, JW, B, SC, T

Weather:  Clear and cool all day, maybe reaching low 60s in afternoon sun

QOTD:

My heart's in the highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the black swan
Big white clouds like chariots that swing down low
Well, my heart's in the highlands, only place left to go.

Moving day. Breakfast perked up with the addition of blueberries.

Bags are down and ready for transport; $12 per bag. A nice service offered by the hotel (for similar offering, see Japan posts) which frees us up to do a mid-day hike on our own schedule.

Check out means we all get to see what we paid for our room and board at Hotel Schonegg! Our room was $290 per night, very reasonable based on location and size (let alone a huge deck that we would’ve used more if the weather had been just a bit better). Dinner the first night was $145, the second (a special meal) was $215, the third was $195 (a meal where we requested what was served at each course and one less course). All dinners were apportioned equally on food and drink, so those that didn’t drink as much subsidized those of us who drank a lot; from THB’s perspective this was a great way to handle the expenses (did we drink a  lot? Well, we certainly didn’t hold back).

The short version of what happened today: we took a train and a tram to get to the start of the Mountain View Trail. After a stiff uphill, the trail leveled out and we entered heaven, directly across from one of the most magnificent mountain ranges anywhere (and clearly the best THB has ever seen). As a bonus, the wildflowers were close to prime time. Unbelievable!

Lunch at a restaurant at the end of the trail: THB had spaghetti Bolognese and shared a salad and a beer with DB, and DB had a focaccia sandwich which she liked a lot. SC treated for lunch.

Murren

Hotel Eiger

From lunch we proceeded pretty much straight downhill to Murren, an easy walk of about a half hour. The Hotel Eiger is right across from the tram station, with a lovely view of the Eiger and Monch. Lovely doesn’t do it justice, it is one spectacular sight. We are looking east and the sun is setting on the mountains (as THB types) and it is hard not to keep looking. Very hard!

Dinner spot

Dinner at the La Grotte in the Hotel Blumenthal, about 10 minutes along the main drag from our hotel; a lot of Switzerland is stuck in the 50s when it comes to food and tonight wasn’t much different. THB has plain grilled chicken (actually a rarity here) with a ton of salad stuff without really being a salad. The group shares three bottles of wine and N and T treat tonight for dinner.

Mountains

The tram stop where we had snow a few days ago, above Wengen

Flowers

Note the black slug or salamander...dining?

Cows

Dogs

In doggy daycare at the lunch spot

Miscellani

JW watercolor

B&G

THB and DB, worth posting twice

G&B enjoying brewskis at lunch