I have been so impressed with the public transport on this trip. I've always known that Swiss timing is impeccable, but the great signage, a wonderful app and perfect connection times have helped us cram in as much as possible in a short time. We had a great service experience today when we went to get tickets for the various legs of our hikes today. We just missed the train we wanted, but the woman booking the tickets gave us bus passes that took us to the station two stops away so we could catch the train that we had missed. I didn't even think to ask for this and was just going to wait for the next train, but she knew the connections so well, she just did it and sent us out the door to the bus on the curb. Yay for helpful people!
Our first stop was at Lauterbrunnen to visit Staubbach Falls.
Made it to most of the places on the left of the sign today.
This is the main street through Lauterbrunnen.
The town is just below Wengen which sits on the cliff above it.
With each town we visit, I've been scouting for where we should stay next time we come. On day 1 I was thinking Wengen was it. Then we visited Lauterbrunnen and I thought this might be it (right at the intersection of several beautiful canyons and countless great trails). [By the end of the day, I was convinced that Murren might be the place -ha! I think the reality is there is no bad place to stay.]
We've noted a number of flags that are not the white cross Swiss flag. Unfortunately the wind was not cooperating in the picture. But one is a rampant bear on a red and yellow background. Google says this is the flag of the canton of Bern (Bernese Oberland). The green and white flag below is the flag for Lauterbrunnen. The three white shapes represent the 3 main waterfalls in the area.
As we walked through the town of Lauterbrunnen to Staubbach Falls, we passed a beautiful cemetery. We decided to wander through. It was very recent. The oldest grave we found was 1982, but most dated from the 2000's. It was practically at the foot of the falls.
So many different styles of stones from rough with etched patterns to wooden with metal 'roofs' to protect the wood from weathering a bit.
The white flowers are edelweiss. We didn't see any in the wild, but they were in a number of flower beds.
The thing they all had in common were flowers planted on them.
There was a little cart with fresh bedding plants and a money collection box (honors system). Every grave had flowers. I don't know if that means every grave has a living friend or family member to tend it, or if the cemetery staff does additional planting.
We stopped into the church in the distance after visiting the falls.
The first measurement of the falls was in 1776 by Johann Wyttenbach. He ascended the face of the cliff and then drop a length of rope (with several sections tied together) from the top to the bottom. When it was measured, it was "816 Kings shoes or 900 Berne shoes (feet)". Not quite sure if that's 900 standard feet in today's measurements. His written account is amusing in its tone: I myself, accompanied by our friend host, made my way to the top of the falls from where we saw our people, just like little mosquitoes, sitting on the top of the wall of rock and we heard the jolly echo of their cheering sounding through the valley"
We were glad for a little shade. Our legs were ok, but the heat made the climb more tiring.
Lauterbrunnen
The climb was right along the cliff wall with some overhang and roofing to protect from falling rocks.
The trail ended just before we were directly behind the cascading water.
I love taking wildflower photos. These flowers were very happy in the cliff wall.
This was looking straight up at a smaller cascade of water that was coming off the cliff. As it fell past me, it was just a small stream of droplets with a lot of it be lost in the breeze.
Although it felt like we climbed quite high, we didn't. The viewing point and path up was just above the roofline of the house on the right. You can see a line of shady cave-like variations that is the trail.
Charlene is drawn to bells where ever they are (ringing in towers or hanging in front of churches).
Our German is pretty limited, but we think the bell dates to 1497 and came out of a clock tower in 1952.
This is the inside of the church near the cemetery.
I like the baptismal font.
So much of the architecture is classically Swiss. I think the unwritten rule is that every balcony and window must have flowers!
More bells hanging on the house. Google doesn't seem to have a definitive answer to what these bells represent, although cow bells are very much a part of Swiss culture.
This is the bus we took up the canyon. Its a bus with a 'bus trailer' attached. It was packed with people heading up for a day of hiking.
Last view of the church and falls as we headed out of town toward Trummelbach falls.
The image is a little small, but this is the area we explored today, starting in Lauterbrunnen. You can see the dark patches on the topographical map above and how they correspond with vertical cliffs in the picture below.
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