Weekend in Berner Oberland Switzerland

A few weekends ago we decided to head out to explore what I now think is the most beautiful place I have ever been! Located right in the middle of Switzerland is a region called Berner Oberland. A lot of people have heard of the town of Interlaken, which is a large resort town in this region. We decided to forgo Interlaken and explore the little town of Murren. We parked at the base of the mountain, grabbed our backpacks, threw on our hiking boots and took a cable car up to this rugged, traffic-free village deep in the heart of the alps. Murren sits on a ledge 2,000 feet above the valley, surrounded by snow capped mountains and green pastures full of cows. For the first time ever, the boys absolutely loved hiking. It was so fun exploring the area, looking for mountain goats and marmots and listening to the cow bells in the distant. This is actually the time of year the cows make their annual trek up the Alps with their ceremonial bells. They stay up in the mountains for 100 days to make cheese. Most of the cows in Switzerland are dairy cows and therefore are used for cheese in the summer and milk in the winter. Each fall, the cows then make their trek back down the mountain, again dressed in ceremonial bells with wreaths of flowers. Unfortunately, we missed the parade this spring but do hope to go back in September to watch them come down. We finished the trip off with another cable car ride up to Schilthorn's 10,000 foot elevation, revolving restaurant. This is where one of the old James Bond movies was filmed so the restaurant had 007 literally everywhere. This was worth the ride, once. Glad we made the trek up there but the real heaven was down in the rugged valley amongst the serious hikers and backpackers (we were by the way, the least serious hikers there). Once Kevin bought his fancy Swiss backpack, we really fit in but then there was still me, in my petal pink izod shirt and hiking boots. Anyhow, another highlight of the trip was watching the dare devils sky dive and free fall off the alps. They landed in the field down by where our car was parked so that provided great excitement to all on Sunday. It truly was an amazing trip and just a 2 hour drive from our house. It was great to see "true" Switzerland. This is what I had always envisioned. You really felt like you needed to sing, "the hills are alive with the Sound of music" from every hilltop. It was also interesting to see how the "true" Swiss really live. Geneva is so french influenced, from the language, the food and basic culture. You drive 2 hours east and everyone is speaking German and eating potatoes and mountain cheese! Even the bread is different. Anyhow, check out these pictures and be sure to visit this beautiful area is you ever find yourself in Swissy land.