Day 5 Munich to Gimmelwald, Munich/Switzerland, 2024

I had a nice final morning in Munich. Delicious breakfast at the hotel and a nice stroll to the train station in Marienplatz.

I accomplished what I’d set out to do with my time here. I’m very pleased I got to do all of the Willie Wonka stuff.

Munich is an interesting city. Its reputation as a place to go drink lots of beer makes for a a crowd and a nightlife that is absolutely not my taste. I’m really glad I visited and did what I did. I don’t feel like I have to ever go back.

A 55 minute flight, 3 hours on trains, a bus and a gondola and I was back in Gimmelwald, Switzerland. I left my coat on board one of the trains (I’ve since filled out a lost and found report and hopefully will pick it up when I fly out of Zurich in a few days) so I stopped in Interlaken and picked up a new coat, gloves and a hat. A hoodie and jeans would not have cut it.

It’s a brisk 28 degrees as I write this at 6:45am. That’s very cold for this California boy.

During the trip into the Lauterbrunnen Valley you’ll see some really beautiful mountains and think, “Hey! These are pretty mountains and pretty big, too.” and then you catch site of the mountains behind the mountains. The real behemoths. I’ve been here several times but I still let out a quiet stream of shocked awe struck obscenities when I saw the great peaks. Christ they are big.

Anyway, as I exited the gondola into Gimmelwald I felt a lot like I feel stepping off the plane in when we go to Maui. It’s a deep feeling of peace and feels like being home away from home in one of my favorite places on the planet. Do you have a place you feel that? I know I’ll be likely be ready to leave when it’s time and I’ll eventually get a little bored and be ready to be home with my family, but for now I’m eating it up.

My arrival time was near perfect to get some pictures and video right during sunset. Here’s a little video iMovie put together for me with some of my pics and videos.

And here’s a video from my 360 camera.

This valley is so beautiful and perched in a little village on one of its cliffs is a perfect place to enjoy it.

I stopped my favorite barn to grab some alp cheese, fresh eggs, and smoked sausage so I could make myself a little snack for dinner. This village has several self serve places where you can take what you want and leave the right amount of Swiss Francs. When in Interlaken I grabbed a chocolate bar so I couldn’t have a few squares of it for my dessert.

A few more items. I saw some sort of deer grazing and a few alp kitties during my sunset walk. I am the only one staying at Esther’s Guesthouse at the moment so I have the place to myself. In fact I don’t think any other tourists are staying in Gimmelwald. Not that there’s a lot of places to stay here, I’ve just never experienced this. I guess it’s the off season. I love it.

That’s it for now. That’s for following.