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Published: August 5th 2006
Murren, Switzerland
Kate Gamble Dickman is my go-to travel girl. A friend from high school, she’s traveled extensively throughout Europe and has been spot on when I need some advice on where the heck to go when “I want a place where I can cook”, or “somewhere near the water”, or “I want a place with outdoor exercise, not hot and crowded and I can read a book”. She had mentioned the Swiss Alps in one of her emails, so with her description, and the fact that I’ve always wanted a Bernese Mountain Dog, here I am in the Berner Oberland. In this small town (about 500 people) called Murren you can hike, hang out and drink a beer outside while enjoying the scenery and reading your book. This ranks in my top three places on my trip with Santorini and Riomagiorre. It’s magnificent! One of the chefs at the hotel I’m staying at broke his leg hiking and I seriously considered asking if I could stay and take his place helping out, but, I’ve already planned the rest of my trip. I’ll just have to come back and check it out during the ski season!
The traveling and
Welcome to Murren
The first beer I've had in months. (I've been in wine country!)the altitude must be getting to me. I arrived in Murren, had lunch and then took a nap . . . for 14 hours! I woke up the next morning having no clue where I was. But boy was I refreshed! I haven’t slept that long since I moved to Sun Valley, ID many, many years ago.
Now, caught up on sleep and raring to go, I spent four days hiking the beautiful mountains with jaw dropping scenery everywhere. Each day I channeled Maria Von Trap as I hiked the hills of Switzerland (sort of like Austria, no?) singing “The Sound of Music” and “The Lonely Goatherd”. (And yes, I do know all the words by heart and yes, I have seen the movie one too many times.) Each day on my hike I would run into cows, Bernese mountain dogs, and local farmers. It was SO peaceful to be in the mountains and the only thing you hear are cow bells or the thunder rolling in signaling a weather change. The weather changes on the hour here and the locals DO know what the weather will be at any given moment.
On my first day I met
More Berner Shots
On the farm after a day with his owner milking cows. a couple from San Francisco that actually used to work with my friend Shawna. Then the next day met a couple on their honeymoon, Alex and Catherine, who live in San Diego and used to live in San Francisco. It is still a small world after all even in the small towns in the Swiss Alps.
Up next, Prague!
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Jen Venezia
non-member comment
Hey Christy, Glad to hear you are having such a great time! My dad is actually in Prague right now with a big group on a biking trip. Maybe some cute biker guys? I don't know; he didn't know the group he was going with... he only knew that he was the oldest one:-) But if you want to meet with a random group of bike people for a beer, I can give you contact info. Jen V.