Switzerland

Our drive into Switzerland started with a 40 Swiss Franc (CHF) road tax, which we thought was high at the time, until we drove through France on our way home and paid almost double that on tolls.  The Swiss money was colorful and a pleasant change from the normal Euro we had been using; it exchanged almost even with the US dollar.  We stopped at McDonalds on our way to our destination and ordered a combo meal, one cheeseburger and one order of fries.  The total came to $19!!!  We knew then that our trip to Switzerland was going to be a little expensive.

We drove to a small village named Lauterbrunnen, which was located at the bottom of a huge gondola that lifted groups of people to the villages located in the nearby mountains.  We braved the gondola, dangling from a cable which only had supports at the very bottom and very top.  Our stop was Mürren, a small village on the edge of a cliff with no roads whose economy was mainly supported by tourism.  The paths were well-paved and bustling with foot traffic.  We wheeled our luggage to our hotel where we found our room to be decorated with cows, lots of cows.  You’ll see the reason for this later in our post.
Gondola coming down the mountain:

Riding the gondola up:

We spent time touring the town, sampling the food, and shopping in the small, family-owned stores.  There was a rustic look in all of the buildings, something about the moist air in the Swiss Alps that made this mountain town picturesque.  The surrounding mountains were snow-capped and had alpine glaciers seeping through the crevasses.
Walking around Mürren:

From our hotel's patio:

Alpine Glaciers:

The next day we headed out for a hike in the mountains, despite the pouring rain which seemed to linger most of the morning.  Equipped with rain gear, we rode a funicular up the mountain to our start-point.  The rain was still coming down hard, but we heard rumors that rain clouds pass quickly at higher altitudes.  About 15 minutes into our hike, the rain stopped and we had beautiful weather the rest of the way.  It turns out that when you’re over a mile above sea level on the side of a mountain, the clouds move around you, not above you! 
Hiking in our rain gear:

Clouds passing around us:

Awesome clouds in the valley:

Remember those cows in the hotel room?  Well, turns out they are all over the mountainsides.  Each one had a cowbell (yes, more cowbell) that we could hear from a great distance away.  We also had a close encounter with a few along the trail.  For some reason, Lindsay wanted to pet one, then it got a little friendly and starting licking her hand, then proceeded to eat her jacket… crazy Swiss cows!  The hungry cow followed another group of hikers while we picked up our pace to gain some distance.  Later, another group of cows blocked the path and we had to go off-road to avoid them; there’s no way I’m “pushing” a cow off the path.
Cow tongue:

Curious cow:

Cowbells decorating a mountainside lodge:

After several hours of amazing scenery, we made it back to Mürren, where we had more Swiss food, including cheese fondue and Toblerones.  We also watched a parade from our balcony, where locals marched while ringing giant cowbells.
The descent back to town:

Plenty of sunshine now!:

Almost back to town:

Cowbell parade:

The next day we descended back to our car and began the long drive back home.  We toured a little on our way out of Switzerland, passing by some beautiful scenery, and then crossed into France.  Not a whole lot to say about French roads; we mainly pushed through to Calais, where we boarded the train to go through the Chunnel.  It was quite nice being back on English roads again.  A few hours later we arrived back home in jolly old Huntingdon.  Our European road trip had concluded.  It was an amazing experience and would do it again in a heartbeat. 

~Blake