CH - Gimmelwald

The day was dreary right from the start. When you cannot see the tree outside the window and even the flowers on the windowsill are hazy, you know you’re going to have a quiet day to spend in a location whose draw is its long-distance scenery.

After lounging around a bit, bidding farewell to some outgoing travelers, and eating a Toblerone for breakfast, I made my way toward Trümmelbachfälle, a series of waterfalls generally inside of a mountain. That latter item makes it particularly handy for dreary weather; and as it was in the valley, it was located beneath the clouds that I awoke within. The waterfall actually was not that fascinating, though the stream exiting the falls was very pretty with its glacier-blue hue.

The travel to the falls was the best part, with the cable car ride down epicly breaking through the clouds (for several seconds prior, we were eerily suspended completely within a uniformly light-gray purgatory) and the pleasant walk along the river, where I belted out Genesis tunes until I realized three girls from my hostel had caught up behind me.

On my exit from the falls, I ran into the same family I had chatted with for an hour or two the day before. I had initially reacted with more surprise than was probably necessary, as I initially forgot where and when I had met them. I thought I ran into them in Austria or something and was astounded that, of all the times and places, we’d reunite here. A moment later it hit me that our first meeting was not even 24 hours prior, was in the town pretty much right on top of the cliff facing us, and we were both visiting the only attraction which was attracting anyone, given the weather. So it wasn’t that surprising.

After the falls I returned to Mürren for lunch. I then lounged about the hostel for the rest of the cloudy day. For dinner, I prepared pasta and made a stab at sauce / gravy with limited ingredients: tomato arrabbiata purée as a base; fresh, diced, red & green peppers, fresh cheery tomatoes sliced in half, dry garlic powder (didn’t have a mash available for fresh garlic nor did I feel like chopping it up), oregano, and crushed red peppers. Thanks to the arrabbiata sauce, crushed red pepper, and my decision to leave in most of the pepper seeds… it was hot. I broke out in a sweat with the first taste, but oh my was it good. I shared the wealth with the other travelers and the food was gone within minutes. My first attempt at a vegetarian dish seems to have been a success!