Grindelwald - not just a character in Harry Potter

Hello again!
It has been a long break, but moving to Geneva has occupied my time in a big way, recently.  In any case, I thought I’d highlight a place in Switzerland I got the chance to visit a second time this summer, causing me to fall head-over-heels for it one more time:  Grindelwald.

Grindelwald

In the above picture you can see that Grindelwald is a mountain village, situated in a valley in the Alps.  The hiking in this area is fabulous, and there are also numerous cable cars and little red mountain trains that you can take as well – the typical Swiss experience!  The town itself is very pretty – slightly on the touristy side, but I find it still retains its charm.  The mountains dominate the landscape, and these are not just any mountains.  The three largest are none other than the Eiger (one side of which is the North Face), the Monch, and the Jungfrau.  If you feel like forking out the dough, you can take a train from Grindelwald to the “JungfrauJoch”, which is the highest train station in Europe – situated on a high pass between the Jungfrau and Monch.

This was the view from our hotel window – I couldn’t believe my eyes!

Here are a couple shots from hikes and train rides around the area.

The path…

Glacier

Alpen flowers – so pretty!

Thistle close-up

The Three Sisters (in the background): Eiger (North Face), Monch, Jungfrau

If you come in the wintertime, you are in skiing heaven – and also not far from Wengen, which hosts the World Cup slalom ski race if I’m not mistaken.

If you take a short (breathtakingly gorgeous) train ride from Grindelwald, you pass through Wengen and end up in Lauterbrunnen.  This is a village that seems unreal – it has a huge waterfall (Staubbach falls) right above it.

Lauterbrunnen

For those in Canada, I hope you enjoyed your August long weekend.  Have a great week,

northkate

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