Greetings...

...from a happy little hostel,

on a steep green ledge,

on the side of a really tall cliff,

above a flat, wide valley,

far below snow-capped peaks,

tucked into the Southern end of the Alps.

…and it kind of looks like Leavenworth, but better.

After four trains, one bus, one gondola, and one currency change, Lauryn and I made it to Gimmelwald, Switzerland. We booked this destination as our final resting point to reflect and regroup before we go home… but I’m finding it terribly hard to remember Italy 24 hours ago because this place is stunningly beautiful and so very different from its Southern neighbor. We bought groceries at a COOP in Murren which was a short hike up from Gimmelwald and cooked a very decent meal in the hostel’s well equipped kitchen. We are sharing a kitchen, a bathroom, a pool table, a bar and a dining room with about 6 young traveling couples… ironically Lauryn and I will have the most privacy in the all-female dorm (just the two of us) and all the couples are bunked up in the mixed 12 bed dorm. Most everyone is American and we’ve had fun swapping travel tips and stories. An intense game of Jenga just ended in a magnificent crash one table over.

Tomorrow, we rest and finish up our Italy journal entries which are due this week. Sunday, we hike. Monday, we leave… maybe :)

Jenny