Lauterbrunnen

The little jaunt down to Interlaken was a warm up for yesterday's hike up to Wengen. The only breaks in the uphill climb were the ones where we stood slanted and paused for a look at the scenery. I found out I am not in such great shape.

Two hiking girls

We made lunch, maybe the best sandwiches ever, near a church with a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. I think we were at an altitude of about 4,000 feet at this point. We took a little siesta, hung out, and then walked back into town.

Beatiful view: the brownish blob near the center by the waterfall is Lauterbrunnen. We hiked up from there.

Mmm...sandwiches. Note the fresh avocado.

Love photos with the timer. R.O.B. is the guy with the thumbs.

Here we were trying to jump at the right time. Only Vu was successful.

The town is really cute and slightly larger than Lauterbrunnen. Rob stopped in a pub for some fish of fish and chips and we all ate a little of it. We wanted to board a train up to Jungfraujoch, "the Top of Europe." But it cost 145 Swiss francs, so we decided to continue our free hike instead.

We love the Hammonds

Wanderweg = hiking path

I'm glad we did. We found this beautiful little hillside where we sat and played cards with a great view. Paragliders kept swirling near us. We played Indian poker with punishments for the losers. We all narrowly missed having to exchange pants (Casey's crazy idea) by guessing our correct order. It was our first time to all guess correctly.

Punishment example: you have to play the next round with grass stuck in your teeth

We walked back and picked up groceries at the CoOp. Casey and I made salad for dinner, and Rob made a brie thing. So far, Rob wins the culinary award for the trip. We played Yahtzee the rest of the night and ended up getting shushed by the hostel owner when we got a couple of Yahtzees and Casey went crazy. We headed up to the mountains the next morning...to be continued.