Day 20: Trummelbach Falls and a Swim in Wengen

 Day 20: Trummelbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen and Wengen

There aren’t words for how bad my legs hurt today.  The boys hit their breaking point when we were in Annecy. Today, I hit mine. From the downhill hike, I’ve inherited a rough case of shin splints and it hurts to put my legs to pavement. In spite of this, we simply had to maximize our time here, so we decided to make it a lighter day of walking and visit an area on our to-do list, Trummelbach Falls. A place I visited when I studied abroad, I was sure the boys would marvel at this majestic wonder.

Today’s journey took us by train into the Lauterbrunnen Valley, the opposite side of the mountain from where we’re staying. We took the Grindlewald Terminal train to Lauterbrunnen, then stopped off to grab a bus down to Trummelbach Falls. As we looked out the bus windows we saw waterfalls cascading across the cliffs throughout the valley.  The scenery was just stunning.

Starting our day a bit later than usual, we were hungry as soon as we arrived, so we visited the quaint cafe and the boys had fresh sandwiches while I enjoyed a bowl of homemade Tomato Soup. It was so delicious I asked the Chef for his recipe, and he obliged! 

We walked down to the falls, and slowly trekked up the stairs.  Within minutes, our ears exploded with sound from the rushing waters. The falls are unique because they cascade inside of a mountain, creating crevices of spray, loud rushing waters, and sunlit rainbows if the light catches the water in just the perfect way.  The contrast of the hot outdoor hike up the stairs with the dark, damp and cold sprays indoors was refreshing, and once again, the waterfall was just as majestic as I recollect. Aaron was amazed as well, admiring one more element of creation that is new and unique from what he’d experienced prior to this trip abroad. 

We bussed back up to Lauterbrunnen, hopped a train into Wengen, and decided it was time for a rest beside some water. A revelation since we’ve been here is that each community has a public pool that you can pay a small fee to visit. We’d discovered this pool when visiting Wengen yesterday, and given the state of our exhaustion, felt it would be best to swim and lie around a bit. 

It’s almost laughable how gorgeous this place was, with mountains all around, views of the gondola coming into town, and the views of Wengen right outside. Shortly after we arrived, a kind couple gave us their chairs, sensing our exhaustion. We overheard them speaking, and I remarked to Aaron, “They sound Midwestern!” We soon discovered that not only were they Midwestern, but they are from Grand Rapids, and as if that isn’t enough, Jason and Stephanie Doublestein both graduated from Hope College, and Jason is a Cosmo fraternity brother of Aaron’s. They greeted each other with their infamous handshake, hugged and laughed at the sheer coincidence. Living in East Grand Rapids, we have many mutual friends, and Jason and Aaron recall each other from Hope. 

After twenty days alone with just our family of four, it was a joy to sit for an hour and visit with another family.  Like us, they are on an extended trip to Switzerland, and we exchanged travel stories and ideas.  We stayed into the early evening talking, and quickly realized we needed to hop one of the last trains out of Wengen. This decision turned our evening on its head, as we accidentally took a train into Interlaken, having missed our connection back to Grindelwald. We then wandered the streets of Interlaken attempting to find a reasonably priced dinner. At this point, my legs ached so badly I could hardly speak. A winner at last, Aaron found a locally owned Mexican restaurant with good reviews, and it provided a much-needed change from the same food we’ve been eating. 

While Swiss travel is most often flawless, this particular evening the trains stopped in downtown Interlaken. We had no idea this would be an issue, but thanks to locals who redirected us, we hustled (I hobbled) to catch a bus, plus another connecting train, to Grindelwald. We arrived just before 10pm, navigated the parking garage to find our car, and made it home for a 10:30pm bedtime. I passed out by 11pm and we all had an excellent night of sleep, mountain air wafting in through our window as the lights from downtown Grindelwald at night flickered in the background.