Chilling in the Swiss Mountains

"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivtalent of churchgoing." - Aldous Huxley

I couldn't agree more with your father, Mr. Huxley.  There is something spiritual about being in the mountains.  When I am there, I am simultaneously in awe of my God who created these magnificent masterpieces, while also in a state of complete peace & gratitude.  I feel more connected to God when I am in the mountains (or at the ocean) than when I am at church, in fact.  

We spent last weekend in the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland, in the traditional Swiss mountain village of Adelboden.  Randall left on Monday for 2 weeks of work in the US, so we decided to spend the weekend with him "chilling" in the Mountains before he had to go.

We had such a fun time hiking, swimming & relaxing!

On Saturday we drove to Kandersteg and took the lift up to Oschinensee.  Talk about a spiritual place ... this spot was amazing.  Following an easy 20 minute hike from the lift you round the corner and see the most beautiful turquoise blue water surrounded by lush green mountains with snow covered peaks.

We took a row boat out on the lake ...

And then hiked up along the side of the lake, to get even more amazing views from up high ...

We spotted several cows along the way (somewhere there is a picture of me at about age 3, in Adelboden, pointing at a cow just like this ... need to dig that out).  It was so funny to see people swimming in the lake with cows drinking out of the lake just a few feet away.

After our hike we rewarded the girls with a ride on the mountain coaster.  These things are so fun ...a little bit thrilling & a little bit peaceful.

Once we got back to the hotel, it was time to head to the pool to enjoy the amazing view!

That night we had a fabulous dinner at Restaurant Schoenbuhl, which is a 15 minute walk from the center of Adelboden.  We were not expecting to find a gourmet meal in the mountains and were very impressed with the beautifully presented & delicious food.  It was an inventive take on more traditional Swiss food and the service was so friendly!  Highly recommend to anyone visiting Adelboden.

The next day we took a lift from Oey up to Sillerenbuehl, and this place truly was my church on this Sunday morning.  It was so beautiful with tons of hiking trails.  The girls were most impressed with the mountain playground that had a zipline with amazing views, as well as a fun ropes course.

What a wonderfully relaxing weekend we had in the Swiss mountains!