Today dawned with the sounds of rain falling and loud trucks driving on the small slick road outside of our room. Not sure how the trucks get up here, and they aren't very big but they are definitely loud. We slept well, but were still a bit tired from our hiking the past two days.  Our legs were sore and walking down stairs took a significant effort, however if we were to get breakfast we had to brave them.  
 
Since Kyle and Carl were leaving today for Munich, they needed to be up and heading to the train station by 10am. They were all still asleep at 945, so we decided to ring the wake-up bell in case they wanted a bit of breakfast before leaving. While they were packing up, we decided to do some reading, which ended up to be a 2 hour nap. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do, since we were still jet-lagged and the rain wasn't letting up.
 
When we woke up, the guys were gone, Paige was also sleeping and sun was once again shining on the mountains. It was almost noon and with the change in weather, we could take the gondola's up to Schilthorn, the 9800 peak behind Murren. At the top is Piz Gloria, a revolving restaurant and a James Bond exhibit, as they filmed part the movie In Her Majesty's Service back in the late 60's. To take the two gondola's is crazy expensive, but we decided we didn't want to look back and regret not going up.
 
The ride up was spectacular with mountains in every direction, but the gondola was packed and unless you were the first or the last to board your view was of someone's back. Luckily on the first leg, we were first and had a good view...on the next leg, not so much and we were stuck in the middle limited view. When we arrived at the top we headed to Piz Gloria for a light lunch and to watch the mountains as we revolved 360 degrees. After lunch we went out to the viewing platforms, but it was very cold and windy so we didn't last long. We also did a quick visit to the James Bond exhibit which featured clips from the film with scenes shot right outside where we were standing.  
 
The sun was still shining, but the clouds would move in and out quickly so that one minute you had an amazing view and the next it was all covered. We saw the three largest mountains in Europe right across from us...Eiger, Monch and Juongfrau, which is the tallest at 13,500 feet. I am not sure that I have been anywhere with such dramatic views and scenery.   
 
The ride down was as packed on the way up, but when you are focusing on what is outside, it was trivial. Once back in Murren, Paige went back to the hotel, while Ken and I decided to explore the little town a bit more. We were happy to find a laundromat, as with the hiking some of our clothes were in need of some soap. So, the rest of the afternoon was spent doing the mundane chore of laundry, but at least we would have clean clothes for the next leg of the trip!
 
Ken had seen a group of guys heading down to the cliffs and we thought they may be some basejumpers. So while waiting for the laundry to dry, we went over to behind the post office, where we had been told many go to jump. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes 3 guys headed down a small path towards the cliff. Ken decided to follow them and check it out. From where I could see, they started to get suits and helmets on, all the while chatting with Ken. One guy had gone in a different direction, and was going to jump just wearing the "squirrel suit"...meaning no parachute. The two guys by Ken both were using parachutes. After about 15 minutes of preparation, they walked onto a small metal grate (the diving board) and jumped off the mountain. CRAZY.  Ken got some amazing pictures and since we didn't hear of any casualties, we assume they made it down safely. As we were going back to get the laundry, 4 more guys went down the path to jump, so it is obviously a popular activity!
 
After finishing our laundry, we decided to try the Eiger Guesthouse for dinner. It is more casual and specializes in pizza and pasta. Even though we are going to be eating Italian for the next 10 days, we decided it sounded good and had a wonderful meal. We toasted to our next phases, Paige in Barcelona and Ken/I in Tuscany.  
 
While walking back to the hotel, we couldn't help but still be amazed by our surroundings. The mountains, waterfalls, deep green valleys, cows, colorful flowers and local swiss homes all contributed to a wonderful 4 days.  Next stop....Florence!!