National Parks

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland: The Land of Many Fountains, Cows with Bells and Epic Food

June 3, 2016 by Shelli

Oh. My. God. We have arrived. Today we rode many trains from Munich to arrive here, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Immediately it was evident why this place is called Lauterbrunnen –- which means, “Many Fountains.” In the Swiss Alps, Lauterbrunnen is set in a valley featuring tall cliffs, and waterfalls, including the roaring Staubbaach and Trummelbach and the many other tall, ribbon-like and tumbling waterfalls.

(By the way, this is my 5th blog post published so far during our 29-day “Epic Europe Family Adventure.” If you’re interested, all previous trip reports from this Epic Family Adventure include are listed and linked to at the bottom of this blog post.)

Jerry and the boys lead us to our accommmodations in Lauterbrunnen. — Jerry and the boys lead us to our accommodations in Lauterbrunnen.

Waterfalls were tumbling off high cliffs above us and all around us. Below is a lush, green valley with few buildings. We walked in a light sprinkling of rain about one-third of a mile to find what would be our favorite accommodations so far, a really neat cabin in the Jungfrau Campground.

We got settled in our cabin, and then headed for a quick walk. We had been sitting in trains all day so wanted to stretch our legs and check out our new destination. We ventured to the nearby showstopper of a waterfall, Staubbach Falls. With a height of nearly 300 meters, Staubbach Falls is the second highest waterfall in Switzerland. It is one of 72 waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen Valley.

Did I mention how awesome our accommodations were?!! Check out the video I snapped on our first morning waking up. And enjoy the bird songs in the background:

We woke up early in Lauterbrunnen because we had big plans, and wanted to get an early start. Today we would hike the Lauterbrunnen-Murren-Gimmelwald-Trummblebach Falls loop hike.

We’d do it without using any lifts, so it would be a big, long day. Why would you not take the tram lift up at the start in order to remove the several thousand feet of vertical uphill hiking, you ask? Well that is a good question! The reason is Jerry and I mistook meters for feet. What we thought would be a 1,000-foot vertical gain in the beginning of the hike was really 3,000+ feet. Oops. Thankfully we hike a lot with the boys in Wyoming, and they’re used to climbing lots of vertical feet. But, despite what our boys think, ours was an honest mistake!

Add to that it was raining when we started, so we had had on rain jackets, and each of us carried our own umbrella. Our sons are such troopers. And so is my husband. I am so blessed that to have a family of troopers, because today’s outing pretty much required that!

Here are some photos from the first part of our epic hike:

It was during the grunt of uphill through the lush and wet forest, when I was gasping for air and the miles of uphill were so never-ending that I realized that we had forget to convert meters to feet. Jerry and I would pay for this… We were certainly not winning parents-of-the-year honors this morning…

We had heard that Winteregg would be a stop we could make after the first five or six miles of hiking, and that we may even be able to enjoy some hot chocolate there. Thank God it was true.

After about 2.5 hours of hiking, we spotted it and it just opened as we arrived. Jerry and I enjoyed coffees and the boys had hot chocolates.

My guys, getting a hard-earned rest and beverages from Winteregg, during our hike.

The woman who waited on us was so kind, she offered to take our photo outside under three giant mountains, whose tops were obscured by clouds but whose presence could still be felt. The mountains we stood under are the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.

After warming up and getting rested, we snarfed some special Swiss chocolate bars we brought. (We are now in love with Milka bars, and of course Toblerone, which are in abundance here.) We loved the next part of the hike becasue it was flat, and led us to the awesome – and car-less – town of Mürren.

According to Wikipedia, Mürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m (5,413 ft.) above sea level and unreachable by public road. Tourism is popular through the summer and winter; the village features a view of the three towering mountains: Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Mürren has a population of just 450, but has 2,000 hotel beds.

Our boys, sitting in front of Jungfrau in Mürren.

All we knew was that it was a beautiful town and soon, we could see it. And more importantly, soon we’d be eating at a restaurant there. By now the boys, and Jerry and I, were famished!

We decided on the Eiger Guesthouse for lunch, and it was an exceptionally good pick. Jerry and I shared cheese fondue and a basket full of fresh baked bread, along with a pint of beer for Jerry and a glass of red wine for me. The boys shared a pizza and also ate some of our fondue. Never has a meal hit the spot so well! Here are some photos:

OMG, we finally got to experience firsthand, Switzerland's cheese fondue. It was worth the wait! Incredibly yummy. — OMG, we finally got to experience firsthand, Switzerland’s cheese fondue. It was worth the wait! Incredibly yummy.

After a filling, delicious and long lunch break, we continued down the trail. Next stop: Gimmelwald, a smaller car-less village that Rick Steves recommends. Gimmelwald is a small village situated at about 4,000′ feet elevation.

Gimmelwald also won us over. It’s another charming village. We especially loved their “Honesty Shop – Europe’s First Unattended Self-Service Village Shop.”

And, then, out of nowhere, we stumbled onto the Pension Gimmelwald Biergarten. Can this hike get any better??!! I don’t think so. It’s epic for so many reasons, most of which I’m including here. 🙂

Jerry, two thumbs up for the biergarten that was not a mirage, but a reality!

We loved this part of the hike, where we walked past big cows with their jangling bells around their neck, and views of the green lush valley below, toward which we were descending, and of course, waterfalls everywhere around us.

These cows with bells are everywhere, and you can hear their jangling bells as you hike.

See for yourself what this stretch of hike was like:

Jerry and the boys, marching at this point. :) About 2 miles left in the day's trek! — Jerry and the boys, marching at this point. 🙂 About 2 miles left in the day’s trek!

LOL. We think "wanderweg" means wandering. When this photo was taken by my husband of our two oldest sons, we had been wandering all right. All day long! :) — LOL. We think “wanderweg” means wandering. When this photo was taken by my husband of our two oldest sons, we had been wandering all right. All day long! 🙂

We continued down to the valley floor, and another 1.5 hours from there to one of the area’s most famous waterfalls, Trümmelbach Falls.

According to MySwitzerland.com, the Trümmelbach Falls are the world’s only glacier waterfalls that are accessible underground by lift, galleries, tunnels, paths and platforms. They alone carry the meltwater of the glaciers from the Jungfrau down to the valley – up to 20,000 liters of water per second. The water carries with it over 20,000 tons of boulders and scree per year and causes the entire mountain to shudder and make a thundering noise.

We paid to see what all the fuss is about, and it was worth it! Here’s a video:

The boys and I in front of Trümmelbach Falls.

When we got back to our cabin, we had hiked 16 miles, including 3,400′ of gain. We were all completely fulfilled and exhilarated, despite being worn out. It was such a fantastic day that included so many highlhights. I’ve tried to list most of them, but trust me when I say there are even more. I simply need to end this blog post so I can get a little shut-eye before we ride a train tomorrow to Zermatt, Switzerland.

Thank you for following along with us on this Epic Adventure. I hope you’ll stay tuned for our upcoming posts.

Next up: Zermatt, Switzerland (including the Gornergrat train ride and views of the Matterhorn and a report about another epic hike we’ll do in that region.)

If you’re interested, here are all of my previous blog posts about this Epic Europe Family Adventure so far:
• From Wyoming to the British Museum and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew in 24 hours
• Big Ben, River Thames, Tower of London and Ice Cream
• Munich Day 1: Glockenspiel, Deutsches Museum, Englischer Garten and Beirgarten
• Biking in the Bavarian Alps, Exploring Neuschwanstein Castle, Epic Beer & Food

Biking in the Bavarian Alps, Exploring Neuschwanstein Castle, and Epic Food and Beer

June 3, 2016 by Shelli

Hi! We were so excited for today! For it is a day we’ve been looking forward to since we started planning our itinerary 7 months ago. The day would include riding bikes in the countryside of the Bavarian Alps, and we’d get to see two famous and spectacular castles – Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.

(By the way, this is my 4th blog post published so far during our 29-day “Epic Europe Family Adventure.” If you’re interested, all previous trip reports from this Epic Family Adventure include are listed and linked to at the bottom of this blog post.)

We set up the tour via Viator with Mike’s Bike Tours. We walked 20 minutes from our flat to Mike’s Bike Tours office, which is conveniently located near Hofbrauhaus and Marienplatz. Along with about 25 other people, we boarded a spacious, air-conditioned bus. By the way, also check out Bus Bavaria. This is a partnership with Mike’s Bike Tours that makes for an even more awesome overall day tour experience.) The bus has a bathroom in it, and we were treated to a DVD and much “insider information” from our guide, Ryan, Mike’s Bike Tour. In addition, we could buy a water, beer or pop during the 2-hour road trip. Don’t fret about the time on the bus during this full day activity. It allowed for us to catch views of so much more beautiful country that we would have missed otherwise. Also, we ordered our food for the lunch we’d have later, which meant our food would be ready for us as soon as we finished our bike tour, and just in time to refuel and enjoy before starting the hike to the castle. And, like I said, the bus ride was pure comfort!

We did have one brief traffic jam, that made me think, juts for a split second, that we were still at home on the frontier of Wyoming:

Ha! A Bavarian traffic jam. Our Wyoming traffic jams often have cows in them, too.

After enjoying sights out of the bus’s huge windows of the green hillsides and the snow-covered Bavarian Alps, we got off of the bus and quickly selected bikes and hit the trail with our wonderful and fabulous guides from Mike’s Bike Tours, Brad, Mica and Ryan.

We LOVED riding bikes in the Bavarian countryside!

As we biked, there were wildflowers everywhere, and often, we could spy the spectacular fairylandish Neuschwanstein Castle, which we would hike to and tour after lunch, and also we could see the Hohenschwangau Castle.

Check out this video — it sums up how awesome the biking and the tour was more than any words I can use:

Group photo during the bike ride. That’s Neuschwanstein Castle in the background.

After biking for 2 hours in beautiful weather and few people, we went to the restaurant where our lunch was served immediately to us. Oh. My. God. Lunch. About that. Our meals were to die for. Absolutely delicious. And, the setting was unbeatable. Bavarian Alps with a view of Neuschwanstein Castle in sight. To get a better idea of the epic food, check out the photos I captured:

Hayden, about to eat his pork roast and dumplings and cabbage.

Jerry's German sausages meal. — Jerry’s German sausages meal.

Fin's rump steak and "chips." (He was off climbing on a homemade wooden jungle gym.) — Fin’s rump steak and “chips.” (He was off climbing on a homemade wooden jungle gym.)

Jerry and I, enjoying the local braumaster's private, small batch of beer. — Jerry and I, enjoying the local braumaster’s private, small batch of beer.

Jerry, getting a tour from the restaurant owner and brew master.

Another thing we loved about this particular tour provided by Mike’s Bike Tours, is that they gave us plenty of time to enjoy our delicious meal and relax and enjoy the scenery before hauling us off to hike to and tour the castle. There was plenty of time to really immerse ourselves in the scenery, the biking experience, the delicious meal, and still have plenty of time to hike and enjoy the castle, too.

After getting our fill of great food and beer (and for the boys, Orange Fantas — which were described as “orange juice with gas in it”), we rode the bus for a few minutes and then started hiking a short steep hill so we could enjoy a guided tour of Neuschwanstein Castle.

We are from Wyoming, and we hike a lot, so the short hike to the castle, although steep, was nothing for us. Here’s a short video. It was a beautiful hike up through a lush forest of trees:

At the start of our hike, we could spy Hohenschwangau Castle, which was a treat since we had chosen to do a bike tour rather than also explore that castle. Hohenschwangau Castle (High Swan County Palace) is a 19th-century palace that was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria.

As we were almost to Neuschwanstein Castle, we were rewarded with one of the best views of the trip. Check it out:

Neuschwanstein Castle (“New Swanstone Castle”) is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. According to Wikipedia, the palace was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune, and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.

The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Great Escape and serves as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

The tour of the castle lasted about a half hour. The castle did not disappoint. It was beautiful and magnificent. The murals were out of this world amazing. We felt privileged to be inside of such a magnificent palace that is situated in such an awe-striking setting.

We returned to Munch by 7:30pm, and couldn’t believe how fulfilling and exhilarating – and perfect – the day was for us. As a family, we’re keeping a journal of our trip. Every night we each contribute to the journal, and record our individual thoughts and highlights of the day. As we all took turns writing in the journal, we shared out loud that this was one of our best and most unforgettable days yet.

We all give Mike’s Bike Tours a 10 out of 10. It was worth every euro and then some… We’ll never forget the day, and all that came with it.

Next up: Switzerland!

Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned for more posts here as we head next to Lauterbrunnen and Zermatt, Switzerland, Italy’s Cinque Terre National Park, Pisa, Florence and Rome, and Lisbon and Lagos, Portugal.

Big Ben, River Thames, Tower of London, Beers at a 401-Year-Old Pub and Ice Cream

June 3, 2016 by Shelli

Hello again! As I mentioned in the last post, my husband, Jerry, and I and our three sons, Wolf, 16, Hayden, 14 and Finis, 9, are on a 28-day dream-come-true “Epic Europe Family Adventure.” Our itinerary includes London, Munich, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Portugal.

After a full first day in London, we slept in on Day 2. We enjoyed a breakfast provided by our hotel, Regency House. Given we were in England, Jerry and I did what any wise visitor would do and ordered the “Full English Breakfast.” Oh. My. God. Absolutely delicious. Bacon lovers, our sons each opted for the “bacon sandwich,” which was a piece of thick toast on which a huge heap of cottage bacon was piled. Epic to say the least.

Yum. "Full English Breakfast." — Yum. “Full English Breakfast.”

We were well rested and fueled for the day’s adventure, which would include a tour on the River Thames, and an afternoon at the Tower of London.

We set out to practice our public transportation skills by using our “oyster cards” and the Underground to get to the Westminster Pier. As soon as we walked up the stairs out of the subway station, we were surprised when we looked up and right in front of us were Big Ben, and the spectacular Westminster Abbey palace. We also saw the Eye of London as we found our way to the pier and onto our City Cruises boat.

Big Ben, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London.

With the boys in front of the Eye of London.

The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England. It is the longest river that is entirely in England, and it is the second longest river in the United Kingdom. (the longest is the River Severn.) According to Wikipedia, the River Thames gets its name from three sources: the Thames Valley, a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway; and the greatly overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself.

Our river cruise’s guide was informational and also very funny, making our tour a wonderful experience. In a short ride, we learned all about London’s major attractions, including some of the most prominent buildings, old and new, the London Bridge(s), the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the Eye of London, Big Ben, Westminster Palace, and much more.

Jerry and the boys on our River Thames Tour.

We disembarked the boat at the Tower Pier, and headed, eagerly, to start our exploration of the Tower of London. We were mainly excited about exploring the White Tower.

The boys and I in front of the White Tower.

Located in the center of the Inner Ward, the White Tower – so named due to the white stone it was built from – was begun in 1078 and completed about 1100. It is four stories tall with walls up to 15 ft thick. The boys loved looking at the armour. By the way, King Henry VIII’s armour weighed up to 90 pounds at times! Can you imagine riding a horse, or going to battle with armour that weighed that much? According to a guide that we talked to at the exhibit, only one knight was known to ever die while in such armour, and it wasn’t from a weapon but rather from a heart attack, probably from being unfit and out of shape, and trying to move around in such heavy attire…

We enjoyed the Line of Kings, which displayed armour of all kinds. Here is King Henry VIII's armour. (At times, the king's armour weighed 90 pounds!) — We enjoyed the Line of Kings, which displayed armour of all kinds. Here is King Henry VIII’s armour (At times, the king’s armour weighed 90 pounds!)

The boys also loved seeing the assortment of ancient weaponry, including mace pistols and swords and spears and mortars and cannons. Some of the cannons reportedly weight 36,000 pounds.

MacePistols

Of course, the torture exhibit also intrigued us, particularly our sons. We all got a kick out of an ancient torture advice called the “Scold’s Bridle” Here’s the description for it: “The Scold’s Bridle was a popular local punishment throughout Europe, the scold’s bridle publicly humiliated women accused of gossiping. Locked around the woman’s head, the spring mounted bell alerted everyone to her approach.”

A "Scold's Bridle." — A “Scold’s Bridle.”

Next, we headed to The Jewel House to spy the Crown Jewels. I quickly embarrassed the family, and was embarrassed and humiliated when I tried to take a photo of a jeweled crown. I was so enamored by the jewels, I didn’t notice all of the signs saying photos are not allowed. Oops. So I didn’t get any photos, and of course I understand and support why photographs are not allowed. We were mesmerized by all of the jewels on display.

As we left the Jewel House, we watched the guards in front of the Jewel House. Guarding the Jewel House is serious business. The guards are not there for visitors’ display and delight, but rather to keep the order and seriously protect the jewels, and access to the jewels. Some rowdy, misbehaving youth were antagonizing one guard and we saw him come unglued, and rightly so. At any rate, seeing the guards was also thrilling for us. We are not accustomed to seeing such sights on the frontier of Wyoming!

A guard in front of the Jewel House, at the Tower of London.

We then left the Tower and enjoyed a walk over the beautiful Tower Bridge, and then along the walking path along the south bank of the River Thames.

We stopped to enjoy sights like Hay’s Galleria, which includes offices, restaurants, shops and flats. Next we marveled at the replica of Frances Drake’s sailing ship that circumnavigated the globe two times, and is set to do it a third time.

The boys, at Hay's Galleria. — The boys, at Hay’s Galleria.

Jerry and the boys at the Golden Hinde II, a replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship. — Jerry and the boys at the Golden Hinde II, a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship.

Jerry and I got particularly excited when we arrived at a place called the Anchor, a pub that is 401 years old – Europe’s oldest pub. We all sat and enjoyed cold ones – Jerry and I had pints of 1730 and London Glory, respectively, and the boys had Fantas. It was a wonderful day of immersing ourselves in some of London’s culture.

Jerry and I, in front of the Anchor Bankside, a pub in the London that is 401 years old!

We met up with Antonia for dinner, and then finished with an ice cream treat. We are ice cream eating fanatics. Our family has enjoyed a tradition of eating ice cream every Friday after school for years now. Since we’re on vacation, it doesn’t matter what day it is, and we may even eat ice cream every day, and in Italy we hope to eat gelato on a daily basis. But I digress.

What I want to emphasize is we fell in love with Jude’s ice cream. The founder of the ice cream company wanted to create the world’s tastiest ice cream with milk from local cows. In his barn at home he set to work and soon the whole family joined in. In the winter of 2002 he carried the first tubs across the field to the village pub and Jude’s Ice Cream was born. The ice cream is named it after his wife.

Our youngest son, Fin, upon tasting the ice cream, remarked: “This is the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted in my whole life.” We all concurred.

Thanks for reading. Please stay tuned for more reports from our Epic Europe Family Adventure. Next up: Munich, Germany!

Europe or Bust!

May 21, 2016 by Shelli

Hi there! I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I have not forgotten about you, or this blog. It’s just that a lot of my attention has been on developing my work and mission at Epic Life Inc.

This post is an effort to revive this blog. And I’m going big. It has been a dream for our family of five to take a big international trip. I am ecstatic to report that we’re making the dream come true. As of today, these country bumpkins are en route to Europe. For a month! (Gulp.)

Rich. Passports in hand... — Rich. Passports in hand…

We will explore 7 countries, and our itinerary includes world-class cities, cultural and historical attractions, awe-inspiring hikes and scenery, some ocean and beach leisure, and of course lots of epically delicious foods.

Our itinerary includes London, Paris, Munich, Switzerland, Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome, Vatican City and Portugal. The trip planning process is a meaningful part of this journey we’re about to take. Many of our dinner and hiking conversations these days are centered on the destinations we plan to visit. The boys have researched activities and attractions, as well as populations for all of the cities, and countries we’ll be visiting. It’s been a great, “new” conversation we’re all enjoying.

Fin, our 8-year-old, was tasked with researching the number of people in the cities and countries we will visit. This research is a little mind-blowing for our family, since Wyoming has only 500,000 people in all of it.

Following are some the highlights of our upcoming Epic Itinerary. (We have 28 days for all of this, so there is a lot of space and downtime built in for each of the destinations. We plan to immerse ourselves in each of the places we visit, at a pretty slow pace, before moving on to the next…)

LONDON, UK: The Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the British Museum, Thames River Boat Cruise, Tower of London, and the British Museum. We also may check out one of London’s escape room experiences on the tail end of our trip.
MUNICH, GERMANY: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles, Dachau Concentration Camp, Beer Gardens, Marienplatz, and Deutsches Museum.

SWITZERLAND: We have 4 days of epic hiking planned – 2 in the Lauterbrunnen area and 2 in the Zermatt area – that will provide views of the Matterhorn, the Eiger, several waterfalls, and more. We are really looking forward to hiking in the Swiss Alps!
CINQUE TERRE, ITALY: We will enjoy one day on the beach and exploring this coast, and another day hiking the famous, 13-mile hike through the five villages that make up Cinque Terre, which since 1999 has been designated as a national park. The boys hike 13 miles every now and again in Wyoming, and there are no villages offering gelato and genuine Italian foods every few miles! For once we probably won’t have to pack our pockets with treats to spur the boys along. 🙂

ROME, ITALY: We are so excited for Rome! We’ll tour the Colosseum, including the arena and underground areas and the Forum. On another day, we’ll have a private guide to tour the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, etc., and on another day, we’ll take a small group tour of the Crypts and Catacombs. We plan to eat lots of epic pasta while in Rome, too.
PORTUGAL: We’ll spend time in Lisbon, and Lagos, where we’ll get some rest and relaxation on the beautiful, low-key beaches and go kayaking through caves, heading back to London and returning to the U.S.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll check back now and again. I will be blogging and posting photos from our Europe Epic Adventure over the course of the next 30 days.

By the way, if you’d like to read some other posts I’ve written in the last several months, here are some of the best ones:

To Discover and Know Yourself, Go Hiking

Mother-Son Rite of Passage Expedition — One of My Best Ideas, Ever

My Most Spectacular Failure Was A Gift

Daring To Climb Mountains

Whew! We Survived Our Epic Wellness Week!

When Plan A – And B, C & D – Don’t Pan Out

Muir Beach Bliss

May 10, 2012 by Shelli

I was in the San Francisco area all last week for meetings and a presentation. It was a treat to return to the Marin Headlands, and area I fell in love with during my frequent trips to the area in the past for mycoaching courses.

Last week I was headed to the hotel gym when I remembered where I was. Why would I spend time on an elliptical trainer when Muir Beach is 20 minutes away? Duh.
I enjoyed a 6-mile trail run to start the day. I love being in the presence of the ocean.

Here’s a short clip: