It's a Wonderful Life in Europe: Great Friends, Great Mountains, Great Times...

OMG...Where do I begin? Our good friends Mike and Brenda Andersen and Keith and Cathy Rounds came to visit us a few weeks ago. Let's just say the words "Fun & Fantastic" describe everyday!

While waiting for the Rounds to arrive, the Andersen's and us took a day trip to Heidelberg to seek out the infamous castle and old town. The bridge of the Neckar River is crossed by many tourists including us. And the castle is perched on the hill above the river like a fortress.

One day after picking up the Rounds, we traveled with 2 cars to the pristine oh-so-swiss town of Lucerne, Switzerland. We were in search of the fantastic views, fondue and rosti's. We found them all !! The wooden covered bridges in the old city are one's to remember. In fact, I remember vividly the main bridge from my first trip here 35 years ago. The flowers along the entire span of the bridge are full and gorgeous. We took a cruise on Lake Lucerne to enjoy the amazing vistas and homes along the lake. The day was perfect for taking in the view and enjoying a cold beer on the boat.

A short trip from Lucerne is the beautiful town of Interlaken... named because the town connects two long. crystal-clear lakes together. From there, we had a great view of the 13,640 foot tall Jungfrau peak from our hotel room and fun Italian food for dinner. The town is quite inundated with tourists with cameras (oops, maybe that was us), so we moved a short distance into an incredible valley below the town of Murren. On the way, we stopped at Trummelbach Falls (Mike had this on the "must-do" list). It's a meandering falls that moves inside and outside of a mountain cliff. The path to view it up close and personal is in itself a marvel of Swiss engineering.

This area is called the Bernese Oberland - home of Eiger and Jungfrau mountain peaks. From just beyond the falls, we parked our cars below the town of Murren - it's only accessible by cable car. Murren is perched on a ledge above the town of Lauterbrunnen and because there are no cars, it's extremely peaceful and quiet - and only a few miles from touristy Interlaken. We stayed at the delighful Hotel Bellevue. Checked in, threw our bags in the room, and immediately ordered beers on their patio terrace that was to die for. After only about 2 beers on the terrace, it was so breathtaking, we all decided to stay an extra night there. We found a little paradise, made even better by the uber-friendly Bellevue owners, Oti and Ruth.

We did some short hikes in town and after seeing hang gliders running off the mountain, Pete and Keith were enticed. They both decided to try a paraglide flight over the cliff into the valley. Thank god they were with professionals. They can now knock this off their bucket list: Jump off mountain with thin piece of fabric and some twine overhead.... Check!

That night we finally had our authentic Swiss Rosti - a skillet of potatoes, cheese, veggies. And Andersens shared a cheese fondue - that made our day. The next day we woke up to cloudless skies. After coffee on the terrace and more pictures, we almost decided to stay another day. But, a Rhine river cruise was awaiting us back home in Germany. That episode next...
Tschus!