5 Passports: To the Mountains!

Next it was time to head up, and by up I don’t mean north. Our next stop took us to the Berner Oberland region in the heart of the Swiss Alps. We based ourselves in Lauterbrunnen and from there went in all directions. We booked a great chalet, with the help of our Rick Steves' guidebook, called Im Rohr. Out our front door we had the church bell ringing hourly, a raging river of fresh mountain water, and snow-capped Alps in all directions. But one of the best parts was the communal kitchen where we met all kinds of people while having dinner. The Alps really attract a broad audience and at one meal we talked with people from Thailand, Australia (more on this guy later), New Zealand (another round-the-world couple who will be staying with my sister when they get to LA), Germany, Isreal, Canada, USA, and South Africa.

The hiking was great and we even found a kids' adventure trail full of challenges to keep them excited throughout the hike. Angie and I just enjoyed the amazing views and fresh mountain air.

Our Chalet

The valley was home to 72 waterfalls, and this one you could even hike behind.

All the kids were kind enough to entertain the dinner crowd.

A little card game on the front porch before dinner.

The kids found these guys and decided they should have some snail races. A snail's pace pretty much sums up life in these parts.

This is a shot from in the cable car heading up to Gimmelwald.

This one is taken in the village of Murren, which sits right on the edge of a cliff almost 3,000 feet above the valley below. There are no roads to these towns, only the lifts and cable cars. We told Cole, if you kick your soccer ball a little too hard, you might not get it back.