Basel to Muerren

Our weekend's adventures were so amazing and plentiful that it's going to take at least a couple of separate blog posts to cover it all.  Let me start by saying that if you are ever in Switzerland with two kids under age 5, and you want to "do the Alps", then I highly recommend the exact weekend that we just had.  If you are lucky enough to have more than 2 days, then lucky you!  We are all wishing we had another night in Muerren, but the 48 hours that made up this trip were truly spectacular.

Despite the early morning wake up, the kids are excited for their mountain adventure!

There were 5 legs to this trip, and we started with 1) a bus to the train station at 7 a.m.  At the SBB we boarded a train for a 2) a 2 hour ride to Interlaken Ost.  From there we 3) transferred to a 20 minute train ride to Lauterbruennen.  In Lauterbruennen we 4) rode a large gondola (or "flying thingy" according to the kids) and then 5) finally transferred to our mountain train to Muerren.  We arrived in Muerren a bit before noon.

At the SBB waiting for the train to Interlaken.

On board the mountain train to Muerren.
Already the views are amazing!

Muerren is a small town with a population of fewer than 500 people, but there are tons of tourists and the town actually feels quite a bit larger than you would expect from a car-less village situated halfway up the Alps. The town boasts amazing views of the three big peaks, the Eiger, Moench, and Jungfrau.

Downtown Muerren.

 We stayed at the Hotel Alpenblick, which is the first building you see as the train pulls into the town, so we knew exactly where to go.  We had big plans for the afternoon but first it was a lunch picnic on our porch, enjoying these views:

After lunch we strolled through town to get to the cable car that takes passengers to the top of the Schilthorn.  The mountain and the revolving restaurant on the top were made famous in the James Bond film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".  As the cable car begins its journey up the mountain, the Bond theme music plays.  At the top of the mountain, in the building with the cable car station and the restaurant is also an interactive "Bond World".  The kids had no idea what it was all about, but Chris and I enjoyed reading about the movie and seeing "artifacts" from the filming.

This is not my pic, but here is a great image of the restaurant:

Getting onto the cable car.

Riding the cable car to the top of the Schilthorn.

 

Views from the top. The pics don't do it justice.  Mountians all around.  Simply breathtaking!

The best pose we could get with Mr. Bond, James Bond.
You try getting two kids under age 5 to pose for a shot
when they've been traveling for half a day to get to the top of the world (or close to it!).

So many paragliders.  This guy came super close to the viewing platform.

 

After hanging around outside for a while and the checking out the revolving restaurant (we weren't hungry and it was pricey, so the kids just had fun seeing how it was spinning) we went inside to see the Bond World exhibit.

Flying the helicopter.  They did NOT want to get out!

A portion of the original movie script.

After the thrill of the Schilthorn it was time to head back into Muerren for ice cream (for L) and beer (for us).  Josh fell asleep and missed it all.  I think the late Friday night, the early Saturday start, and the thin air really did him in.  He slept away most of the afternoon. While he slept, Layla and I checked out the playground near the Sportszentrum.

For some reason the pics that Chris posts of his beer on our patio
back home just won't seem the same after this!

Amazing views everywhere. We couldn't stop taking pics!

When Josh finally woke up we put on swim suits and headed to the amazing Sportszentrum facility.  Because we were hotel guests in town we had passes to use the center.  I advise clicking on the link to look at the pictures of this place.  We only really checked out the pool, but that and even the changing rooms were top notch!  The pool provided water wings, so Layla was thrilled to be "really swimming".  They had a small slide that the kids enjoyed, too.  Once we finally pulled the kids out of the water we played a free round of mini golf that is set up on what becomes the outdoor ice rink in the summer.  No pics because we didn't bring our camera or phones to the pool with us.  

After dinner at the hotel, the kids were excited to go to bed.  I'm not sure what they were more thrilled about, the mountains or the bunk bed!

A few evening shots of the mountain. 

It was such a great Day 1 in Muerren.  We were already wishing we could stay longer.