Today we decided to venture to Schilthorn. But first a trip to the bakery was in order. We visited Backerei Wuethrich at 2 p.m. yesterday and missed out on some of their delicious treats because they were sold out for the day. We wanted to make sure to get there early, stock up and then have treats for later. We bought vanilla schnecke again, and we also got me a salami sandwich for later and Jacob an apple strudel.

We returned the apple strudel and sandwich to the apartment and then headed back out. We were trying to beat the 9 a.m. crowds and failed. However, we had no trouble catching our first train to Zweiluetschinen. From there we got off the train, walked down the platform to catch another train to Lauterbrunnen. From there we got off the train to catch a cable car to Gruetschalp. Then we got off that cable car to catch a train to Muerren. From there we walked all the way through the town to catch our cable car to Schilthorn. It took us almost two hours.

Most of our cable cars were packed today. We have been wearing masks on the crowded cable cars, trains and in grocery stores. Although they are no longer required except for in Italy on public transit and on our flight home. There is a mix of people still wearing masks but I would say, at least here, the majority do not. However, I noticed a definite increase in people wearing masks while we were in Italy.

We are still healthy *knock on wood*. Except for sore muscles from our strenuous hikes, we are doing well!

I’m also surprised by the variety of tourists here. We’ve seen more Americans, Indians and Asian tourists here than anywhere else. It feels so diverse. I’m constantly hearing a new language. And we are rather surprised by the number of American tourists, we are hearing Americans everywhere. Whereas in Italy and Slovenia that was much less common.

Which I find really surprising because while yes, it is so beautiful here it is also so much more expensive. In Slovenia, we could go to the grocery store and get everything we needed for the week for less than $25. Here, our last trip was $45 and that was basically dinner and a few snacks. (Ok, we splurged on chocolate ice cream, but come on!). Also, the train tickets and cable car tickets are expensive (for example, our $270 four-day passes each to save money). Gas is also more expensive, so we made sure to fill up the car before we entered Switzerland.

And Slovenia was just as beautiful and worthy of visiting! Why is everyone here?

Anyway.. back on track!

We were both excited to go to Schilthorn because we have been watching all the original James Bond movies in order starting with the 1962 classic Dr. No. We made sure to get through all the films before traveling here.

In the 1969 film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the evil villain Blofeld’s secret lair is Piz Gloria in the Swiss Alps. That is where we went today! There is a building at the summit of Schilthorn and this is where parts of the movie were filmed. They had a small museum with information about the film and other signs throughout that had information about the actors or other people involved with the movie. It was all very interesting, but the main reason for coming up to 9,744 feet was for the views.

We have had clear skies every morning this week and today was no different. We were excited to venture out only to discover once we finally got to Schilthorn there were clouds hanging out right at Piz Gloria. We decided to try and wait out the clouds. So we sat and had a snack at the summit. We watched the clouds slowly roll by all around us. Every now and then we’d get a peek of the mountains through the white puffy clouds. We waited, and waited and finally!

Our patience paid off!

After taking in the sights and viewing all the Bond memorabilia we were ready to head down to Birg. Birg is at 8,783 feet and we only really felt the altitude when we climbed back up the stairs of the Thrill Walk.

First we saw there was food. So we both got a sausage and shared some fries. You couldn’t beat the view!

My sausage was not very warm so if I get horrible food poisoning later, we will know why. The fries were good though!

After eating we decided to venture along the Thrill Walk! This is a metal grate walkway over the mountainside. It is only open for a short portion because part of this area is closed for construction. They are building a new cable car. In fact, we got to ride up our cable car with a giant bag of gravel that they were delivering to the construction site. And yes, I thought we’d be over the weight limit and plummet to our deaths yet again.

After Birg, we had enough sunshine and mountain views so we decided to begin our long trek back to our apartment. Cable car to train, to cable car, to train, to train again. Two hours later and both of us falling asleep at different times on the train, we made it back to Grindelwald.

We stopped by the grocery store and picked up our dinner and ice cream. The walk back to our apartment in the afternoon heat was a struggle but I am delighted to report we only walked 5 miles today!

Tomorrow is our last full day in Switzerland. Our time here has really flown by! We are going to take the First cable car right next to our apartment up to a mountain to do more adventuring.

Until then!