grindelwald, switzerland

the morning after our dday tour, we hit the patisserie one last time, piled into big bessey and hit the road. hundreds of dollars later {literally} due to pricey gas and heavy tolls, we found ourselves in switzerland. 

our first stop was bern to see the lds temple there. a sweet missionary couple spending a quiet, warm sunday evening on the front steps of the temple helped me avoid catastrophe by letting me use the bathroom in a vacant missionary apartment. after some relaxing time on the grass and a few snapshots, we continued on to grindelwald. 

just before we arrived, it started to pour - and i mean POUR - down rain. we expected much colder weather in switzerland and were relatively prepared but as we neared our quaint mountain destination, the rain cleared, the sun shone and a gorgeous rainbow appeared. an hour later, after getting lost and receiving directions from multiple friendly onlookers who only spoke swiss/german, we finally found our hotel. 

grindelwald is, quite honestly, straight out of a storybook. our hotel was clear up a tiny dirt road {remember our not-so-tiny van and the muddy roads!} with an awe inspiring view. 

i could not believe my eyes. 

our entire stay, we wandered through some of god's most beautiful creations as we listened to cowbells chiming on the hillsides. we spent an incredibly relaxing day meandering through flowers and fields, immaculately manicured cemeteries, quaint shops {that close for 2 hours at lunchtime} and - most importantly - patisseries and chocolate shops. the food in general wasn't as mouth watering as france, but the chocolate and pastries were equals. yum. yum. yum.

tuesday we took a train to jungfraujoch in the alps. i haven't seen snow like that since i lived in utah and it was actually kind of exciting {new hampshire here we come!}. the one thing i neglected to pack were my gloves. i thought for sure i could find a cheap throw-away pair for purchase at a grocery store or somewhere in town, but i never did. so, i settled for a pair of my socks instead. so, so glad i did. these picture taking fingers sure thanked me. 

we saw incredible views and an ice palace built into the mountainside. we even fed some birds right from our hands. lindsey seemed to be the bird-whisperer as they kept coming back to her and stayed put.

we headed back down the mountain, hit up the chocolate and pastry shops one more time - obviously - and made our way back to the hotel to pack for our final destination...