The Schilthorn summit stands at 2,970 meters (`10,000 feet) offering a commanding view of the surrounding Bernese Alps including Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. It is the site of Piz Gloria, a revolving restaurant, featured in the 1969 James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and our destination for this morning.

I shot the self portrait below by using the glass windows of the restaurant as a mirror which reflected the mountains surrounding the summit.

Mürrenbach Falls, according to a sign at the base, claims to be the tallest waterfall in continental Europe by virtue of a recent reclassification of the top section from a cascade to a portion of the falls. I have not been able to substantiate this assertion elsewhere but the falls are most impressive and beautiful in any case. They are located in Stechelberg where we descended from Schilthorn as did the many paragliders which launch from Mürren.

After collecting our bags from our hotel we took a train to Grindelwald where our stay coincided with an evening street festival featuring local food, entertainment and even fireworks in celebration of the 4th of July.

When I die, it is my wish to be cremated and have my ashes scattered in a place of beauty.  A visit to the immaculately groomed Lauterbrunnen Cemetery this morning had me considering a change of plans. Each grave is artistically adorned with a micro garden of brilliantly colored flowers. Each marker is distinctively designed and speaks to the loved one who rests there. It is located at the entrance to a valley which most reminds me of Yosemite.  Jeanine and I were amazed by the number of people interred here, mostly women, who lived past the age of 100, a testament to the healthy life style of the people of this region.

Traveling further down the valley we visited Trümmelbach Falls, a series of ten glacier-fed waterfalls inside a mountain made accessible by a tunnel-funicular, built in 1913, and a series of passages and stairways carved into the rock. The sound of 20,000 litres of water per second carving its way through the mountain was deafening and it was easy to imagine how this wonder of nature was created over the millennia.

Further still up the Lauterbrunnen Valley we boarded a cable car which took us to the quaint little town of Gimmelwald, easily the most authentic Swiss alpine village we visited.

Another cable car delivered us to Mürren, where we paused for coffee and snacks. An upscale and beautiful town with dozens of restored and modern hotels it was less appealing to us than Gimmelwald and after a brief tour we continued up to Allmendhubel where we began our hike of the Mountain View Trail to Grutschalp. Walking the trail normally takes 2 hours but with so much to see and photograph it took us closer to 3 hours.

Our hike ended with a symphony of cow bells by the happiest orchestra ever to play the instrument. If you believe nothing else about Switzerland, know that it is home to the most content cows on Earth.

Located in the picturesque Lauterbrunnen Valley, the city of the same name is home to some 2,500 residents and 72 waterfalls. It will be our base of operations for the next two days. Our hotel is located a stone’s throw from Staubbach Falls, the 2nd tallest in continental Europe with a drop of nearly 1000 feet.  After checking our bags at the hotel, we set out for our first hike.  We rode a cog train and then a cable car to ascend more than a 1.2 miles in altitude to the top of Männlichen. On the way up we got a close look at the avalanche fencing used to protect life and property below.

We also witnessed the arrival of a helicopter which made numerous subsequent trips, shuttling construction supplies between improvement projects. In the Alps, these are the equivalents of construction pickup trucks.

Snow at our altitude was still present in areas shaded from the sun. Jeanine posed me on a large mound for a nice portrait.  I posed her in a field of wild flowers which were in abundance everywhere.

We hiked at a leisurely pace to Kleine Scheidegg enjoying magnificent views of the mountains and lakes along the way. Jeanine stopped to photograph every new wildflower she encountered (at least twenty by my count) and I for every gorgeous mountain vista. Although it was forecasted to rain all day, we were fortunate that it did so for only a short while.  It started as hail before turning into the biggest raindrops I have ever seen.  Click on the image below and see how many people you can find in the photo.  This should put the scale of the mountains into perspective. Rain may not be so great for hiking but for someone who likes to photograph waterfalls it is a welcome thing.

Before we knew it the rain was over and the sun was out. Jeanine and I both love to be in nature and to exercise. It doesn’t get much better for us than hiking through the mountains in the midst of such grandeur.

After completing our hike we took a cable car down to the cute town of Wengen where we stopped at a bar for food and to watch World Cup soccer.

Jeanine and I arrived in Zurich, Switzerland just before noon and promptly made our way to Lucerne by train. There we  hopped on a boat tour of the famous lake at the foot of the alps and learned about the history of the city and life in the region.

We tried to dine at a hotel overlooking the city only to discover it was booked for a special event. Nevertheless, we were treated to a fantastic vantage point from the hotel’s bar where we enjoyed a commanding view of the city as well as a World Cup match on their big screen television.

Although we were a little jet lagged, we managed to tour quite a bit of the city on foot before settling into our hotel for the night.