Switzerland // The Hike to Gimmelwald

When we started looking around at the amazing, dramatic mountains we kept noticing something - the Swiss didn't just settle in the valley, they also built little villages right on the edges of cliffs, high in the mountains. From down below, these villages didn't look real. We needed to see some of this firsthand. We pulled out the map and saw that one of these villages, Gimmelwald, was only accessible by trail (or tram) so we ditched the car at the end of the valley and started hiking.

The hike up was gorgeous, with lots of waterfalls, dense forests, and glimpses of the towering mountains hidden in clouds. When we got up to Gimmelwald we were surprised by an adorable inn with a beer garden where we relaxed with some well-earned beers and took in the view. The "town" was made up of a handful of small homes, a hostel, and the inn, which had an "honesty shop" attached to it. It was filled with candy bars, ice cream, trinkets and post cards, all with recommended prices with the expectation that you would put the money in a box with a note. Right when we were finishing up it started to pour, so we ran like crazy back back down the mountain, soaked to the brim but grinning like crazy from an amazing afternoon in the mountains.