Gimmelwald - Relaxing in the Swiss Alps

To reach our destination in Gimmelwald, we had to use a cable car. Here is what it looked like as we took the cable car up the mountain...


Here is a street scene from Gimmelwald. It is a very small alpine village that lives on tourism - hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.


And here is Ester's Guesthouse, the B&B where we stayed. This was the perfect place to unwind after our travels over Europe, and catch our breath for the trip home.

For the two evenings that we stayed in Gimmelwald we ate (and drank) at the hostel next door. It was a real treat to spend time with the young people who were using the hostel system to tour around. What a great experience for them! Perhaps our kids will realize what an opportunity this would be, and take advantage of it... We also enjoyed the company of "Jeremiah" - Shootist and Chronicaler - and his wife "Prairie Rose" who were touring from Australia and staying at Ester's Guesthouse with us.

Outside the Hostel they were flying the flags of the guests. As you can see, they were gathered from all over the world!

We happend to see a "Mock Hummingbird" moth eating at some of the mountain flowers.

A couple of cable car rides from Gimmelwald takes you to the Schilthorn. This revolving mountaintop resturant is famous because it was featured in a James Bond movie. And of course, the panoramic view is spectacular!

Click on this panorama for a larger 360-degree view from the deck around the Schilthorn. This image was stiched together from about 20 high resolution images taken while walking all around the observation deck.

Of course, the revolving resturant is designed to allow diners to enjoy the whole panorama. Graham, Barb, Audrey and I had a very nice meal here and just watched the world go by for an hour or so.

It didn't take Audrey long to find a friend! These hardy crows kept everyone entertained by swooping in to eat bread out of thier hands, or catching it when it was thrown to them. They clearly knew the routine, and were playing it for all it was worth!

Here is a nice picture of Graham and Barb Skjenna at Schilthorn.

And a nice picture of Audrey and me also. We look pretty good in our new leather jackets from Florence!

While we were walking down the mountain from the town of Murren to the village of Gimmelwald we came across this lovely moss covered rock wall.

We stopped at a little bar about 3/4 of the way to Gimmelwald, and enjoyed a bit of refreshment.

The next morning, Audrey and I took a hike down the mountain to the valley below. It took us about 2 hours to make the trip, and of course we took the cable car back up. If you look closely at the cliff above Audrey, you can just make out some of the roof tops of houses at Murren.