Grindelwald: Lauterbrunnen Valley Circuit and a visit to an old friend

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After Brendan and Tracey's long trip to Milan yesterday we figured on keeping to something shorter and easier and the Lauterbrunnen Valley Circuit is always worthwhile as it can all be done on the Swiss Pass for transport. A walk up the valley is always lovely but this time we took the bus to Stechelburg well up towards the head of the valley. At the Seilbahn Station we got the cable car straight up the cliff to Murren where we had a slow wander through the car-less town looking across the valley towards the high alps and Wengen. This is a great area for hiking as it's well away from main routes. It is also the link station to the Schilthorn cable way.

We had a picnic lunch in the middle of town (Swissies lose out big time with us on food) then caught the train to Grusalp and finally the cable car back down to Lauterbrunnen. That completes the circuit.

The family headed back to Grindelwald and we for Interlaken where we were catching up with Mariann after 3 years. We bought her some roses and spent a really nice 2 hours with her at Unterseen. As always, despite saying not to go to any trouble we were welcomed with a freshly baked nectarine tart. She no longer thinks about the old house Uf dr Ofni in Grindelwald and thinks that Grindelwald has gone to the dogs a little as it has continuously developed to cater for tourists. It is far different from the Grindelwald she brought her family up in and it's not the quieter place that we knew 30 years ago. It's now a focal point for all manner of sports and adventure activities. That's progress.

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