Even When It's Bad, It's Good

Yes, the past couple days of our trip have been kind of like pizza (or other things, if you prefer). We're here in the Swiss Alps staying in a town called Gimmelwald (near Interlaken). The most notable activity here is to go up to Jungfrau, the highest peak in Europe. Unfortunately, the weather has bit quite cloudy and a bit wet, so we've passed on that because views of the clouds are quite good from our hotel/guesthouse. However, none of this prevented us from having a great time out here. Even the partial views of the mountainside are breathtaking and I would have no problem adding to the population of 100 (especially since they have internet). Gimmelwald is a pretty small town up above 4000 feet and we took a cable car up from the town below. They have several cable cars up here and I'm guessing some of them double as chair lifts (or rather, giant gondolas) during ski season.

Anyway, we spent yesterday hiking down into the town and finding shelter from the rain (sort of) at Trummelbach Falls. Basically, there are a series of 10 waterfalls, many of which are inside the mountain, that they've made accessible for viewing. With the glacier melt from three large mountains funnelling through here, it's amazing how much water rushes through in the summer. I couldn't help but think how much hydro-electric power they could collect from this place (at least I didn't see much evidence of it). Oh well, I suppose it's easier to charge admission instead.

Today, we had slightly better weather (well, less rain), but still not enough to justify the trip to Jungfrau. No worries, though. We just took a couple cable cars up a bit and did a nice, leisurely hike (mostly downhill). I'm sure pictures can't do justice to the wonderful feeling of being up here along the green rolling hills and mountain peaks (not that this keeps me from trying).

So, we've had a great, relaxing couple of days out here. We'll shoot for Jungfrau again on our way out of town. If that doesn't work out, we'll just have to come back. :)

-Manish