Instead of lying in bed with coffee and tea, we got up and drank them on the balcony watching the sun rise and spread it’s happiness over the lake and the mountain. We ate a quick breakfast, packed the car and made our way to Wengen. My Uncle Paul, Aunt Nadja, Sox and I were going up into the Alps for a night.Wengen is a car-less mountain village, located 400 metres above the Lauterbrunnen valley. People flock to take in the sights, especially The Jungfrau, one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern.

The drive there alone is breathtaking. 

We passed the statue in honour of William Tell…

As we got closer to the mountains, we could see the tips of the Alps dusted in icing sugar.

Trickling waterfalls of melted snow…

We stopped at one of the look out points…Arriving in Lauterbrunnen, we parked the car and then made our way to the cog train to take us up to Wengen. 

Wengen is absolutely gorgeous… Swiss chalets, souvenir stores, restaurants offering all the traditional food, a bakery making the freshest breads and pastries and of course the views.

We walked through the small village up the hills to our hotel, Alpenruhe. Travelling with our sturdy Samsonite luggage made a world of difference this time. Pushing the luggage along, (instead of dragging it behind me), thanks to the 4 wheels instead of 2, which is what I’ve always had, was a true game changer. 

After settling into our hotel room, we opened up our balcony door and gasped at the view. 

We set off back to the train to go further up into the Alps to Kleine Scheidegg, a mountain pass. The train left the station and we slowly climbed the mountain, winding through the trees, passing small waterfalls of melted snow and reaching Kleine Scheidegg.

If I say so myself, I am beside myself with excitement over my photos! I’m so proud of them and they’re not photoshopped at all. In fact, the only thing I did is straighten some of the horizons.

We had such “pinch me” moments as we breathed in the sweetest cleanest air, listened to the cow bells ringing and took in our surroundings. I felt like I was in a dream, on a movie set; like I was Mary Poppins stepping into a picturesque calendar.

In Winter, this is a skiers dream. The restaurant serves gluhwein, hot chocolate and warms you up after your time on the slopes, but in Summer, you can enjoy the sunshine with something refreshing and their freshly baked Apfelkuchen (Apple Cake) after a hike.

After our coffees and apple cake, we followed the sound of the cow bells and found these beauties…

We continued on with our small hike, leaving our moosical friends behind (see what I did there?)

We were going to take the train even higher to Jungfraue, but the tickets were really expensive and we didn’t have the time (daylight) on our side, so we got the train back to Wengen.

This Bernerhof restaurant has all the traditional Swiss meals

We got a cosy table inside, opened a bottle of wine

Shared Bratwurst and Rösti, which means crisp and golden – it’s a potato fritter.

We dived into the cheese fondue and stuffed ourselves with molten cheese, until we were scraping the bottom of the pot, ensuring not a string of cheese was left behind.

The Wengen streets at night with the twinkling lights and the moon lighting up the snow capped mountains is magical and I kept imagining this place covered in snow in Winter.

There is something about the fresh air that makes you really sleepy, well, that and gorging yourself in cheese.

The following morning, we said goodbye to the view…

…ate breakfast in the hotels dining room, checked out and stopped at the little bakery walking on our way to the train. Sox and I shared a freshly baked apple strudel, still warm from the oven and cherry pie.

Not to be a buzz kill, but we sampled the traditional foods Switzerland has to offer and while it was all delicious, it made me feel really ill and bloated. I have been sugar free for quite some time and follow the Banting lifestyle and it was almost impossible there.

We made our way to the Zurich Airport where we were catching a flight to Greece.

We did a little stop at Lucerne and walked around for about 30 minutes, not really having time to see much, but we took a stroll along the Lucerne lake and saw the flower lined restored wooden footbridge, Kapellbrücke. It runs diagonally across the Reuss River. The bridge is unique because it contains a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with most of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire.

Good bye Switzerland, our 4 and a bit days were absolutely magical and again we got to experience so much, in such little time! I’m also so glad I got to introduce Sox to my Gran and got to show him a part of my heritage.From my heritage to his… We whisked off to Greece and landed in Athens.

PS. If you have missed out on the other Swiss posts, I’d suggest you go back. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

PPS. If you want to read about our London adventures, here we go: Day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5