Our first guest, Francisco, fell victim to the sun. We walked around in plus 95 degree weather and watched our guest melt into a puddle. Thankfully, they let that puddle fly back to the states and after a long, cross-country journey, Jessica revived him into a normal boy again.

Our second guest, Sarah, didn’t have that issue at all! In fact, as we headed to Wengen, a little village you can reach via Interlaken and then via Lauterbrunnen, the temperatures dropped and the clouds came in. Fortunately, our first day allowed us a mostly dry and only partly cloudy kind of hike. It was easy to see we’d picked the right place, a beautiful spot at the very foot of some of Europe’s tallest mountains. Here are some of our pictures from the trip:

A picture of Wengen from the Gondola.

Jungfrau didn’t peek out from the clouds all weekend, but that didn’t mean we were without beautiful sights as we hiked around the mountains..

Cows! They were everywhere. Katie and I joked that successful Chickfila cows take their vacations here for time away from the job.

And really, clouds or no clouds, any time with this one is going to be heavenly anyways.

Although this is unfashionable outside of winter time, we dipped into our first cheese fondue at the restaurant attached to our hotel. Herbs and mushrooms were a good addition to the fired cheese.

Kind of amazing, isn’t it? (Photo cred: Katie Reintgen)

On our two hour hike, here’s a picture of Katie and Sarah doing their best Sam and Frodo impression. I guess… that makes me… Gollum?

As Katie has been fond of saying on this trip, if you’ve gotta be a cow, you want to be a cow here. I think she got it right… Although, said cows were a little indignant of humans in their personal space. The nearest one whipped some mud my way.

We did find ourselves wishing the second day had provided similar views, but that’s just one of the things you risk out here. You get better prices by booking in advance. But if you book in advance, you’re at the mercy of the weather. That’s the way it goes. Fortunately, we’re taking another crack at Wengen when my mom and Aunt Donna visit. You two can treat this like a glimpse of what you’ll get to see, but hopefully with more mountains looming in the backdrop!