Entries about monc

The other great moment was going up to the Schilthorn which is one of the peaks where you can get a 360 degree view of Switzerland!
Pat and I went up early one morning with the plan to have brunch at the restaurant at the outlook.

We took a Bahn, which had one stop on the way, to get up to the top of the peak of the Schilthorn. I am a bit afraid of heights so it was quite an adventure in itself. Unfortunately when we got there we learned that the restaurant was closed for a 'private party'. Yes, IBM AGAIN! The followed us.. LOL We finally learned what their whole take over of Murren was about. They were hosting a Qiskit 2019 Europe Camp for people involved in the public Quantum Computing 'thing', Those involved were all over Murren with their lanyards.

I looked it up. It is quite mind bending what is going on.. IBM's Q Website...

This was in the lobby of the Gloria Pia (at the top of the Schilthorn).

Also.. if you didn't know the Gloria Pia was the film location for the James Bond movie (definitely not on of the best). It was Blofeld's secret lair.. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". There is a museum there about the film, as well as a 'walk of fame' where actors, etc put their hand prints. There was a film running which showed the bits at the at Gloria Pia.. hmm.. its no wonder that George Lazenby did not continue on as Bond... but as Pat noted 'whoever hired that director also shouldn't have continued on' (or the writer for that matter).

Anyway... the view was tremendous. The sky crystal clear! It was actually very warm up there too! I took off my jacket and was just in my t-shirt! We could clearly see all three of related mountains - The Eiger, the Monc and the Jungfrau.
We were up around 12000 feet, and you could feel the air was thinner up there. So we didn't run around...
But it was tremendous!

So the story goes that the Ogre (Eiger) was after the Young Girl (Jungfrau) so the Monk (Mönch) stepped in to save her. Hence the three of them are forever saved in the three mountain peaks of the Oberland area.

And from our balcony .. we looked up at the Jungfrau... I mean I felt like I could reach out and touch it !!! The geology was so amazing too. There was yellow rock that would 'glow' in light of both the sunrise and sunset. We could also see the Iger from our balcony! We could not see the Monc, but we could see so much more than just the mountain tops. From Nick's chalet we could see down to the valley floor.
Also parasailing is very popular here.. so they would fly very close to where we stayed as part of the take off... and then we could watching them glide over the valley floor (it would have freaked me out!) but it was beautiful to watch them.. and so quiet. They would fly over to the walls of the Jungfrau and get so close to catch the hot air uplifts.

Image THAT as a job!????

Nick's chalet was such a dream place.. with the only draw back was NO road access! LOL Yes, Dr. Walker.. my knees are coming to see you! But I made it up that hill (which included a dirt trail with some wood that made kinda of a stair and MULTIPLE flights of cement stairs -- that includes lugging LUGGAGE both down and back up. Nick is my new hero though cause he took pity on me and helped us both ways with our luggage!! He admits that living there (cause there are no cars) he is acclimated. He is like a mountain goat now. And I was SO grateful for him and his help!

In case you might want to stay there: https://www.vrbo.com/1621194ha

After three days of stairs (and I thought the St. Beatus Caves were the most stairs I would have to conquer!) and long inclines my knees were doing sorta better - and I wasn't as winded.

What I loved most about the Chalet was the privacy. We had the TOP FLOOR (yes three flights of stairs to get to it) apartment. We were the only ones in the whole chalet! It was in the quiet part of the village - and it was dreamy quiet while sitting on the balcony. There was only an employee/supply transport bahn that flew by, along with a paraglider, now and then - and both were very quiet.

So I spent a long time soaking in the color, the smells, the sounds (mostly of birds), and the majesty of the alps. That was my heart's desire.
The pictures really do not capture the strength, and impact of being there. But it's all I have cause words also do not do it justice.