It is almost exactly eleven years to the day that we arrived at the aerial tram station in Stechelberg just in time to catch the last departure up to Mürren. The trip from Montreux took much longer than I had anticipated. Not that the scenic route up through the Jaunpass was excessively long, it was the number of stops for photos that slowed our forward progress. Had it been up to me, we would have arrived a couple of hours early at the station. However, my wife reminded me that this may well be a once in a lifetime trip. We should savor every moment. I’m glad we did.
We were in such a hurry to get our tickets at the station that we left our son’s hiking boots in the rental car. We also left behind the phone number for our hotel. Unbeknownst to us, both errors would prove to have memorable consequences on our trip.
The cable car rose roughly 2700’ to the car-less village of Mürren. Although daylight was fading, we could tell that that the cloud layer was increasing with altitude. By the time we arrived at the Mürren station, it was a steady rain. That’s when we realized that we had left the hotel phone number in the car. We were told to call Hotel Eiger at our arrival at the station. They would dispatch a golf cart to pick us up and the porter would drive us the ¼ mile to the hotel. Instead, we ended up on an impromptu hike, each with two weeks’ worth of baggage, in what grew to a full downpour.
My wife, son and I arrived at the hotel lobby looking like a trio of drowned marmots. We were soaked to the skin, tired and hungry. I know that these three Americans were not in a mood to make a very good first impression. I think we were all surprised to be greeted with the welcoming Swiss hospitality of the owners and managers, Susanna and Adrian Stähli von Allmen. They graciously apologized for not being there to pick us up at the station even though it was totally our fault. The next thing we knew were each provided with a warm towel. As we buried our faces into the posh warmth, the stress of our arrival began to melt. I think out of pure pity they offered us a room upgrade. I now realize how bad we looked because they gave us one of the best suites in the hotel.
Mürren is as close to heaven as I have ever been on earth. Not only is the village at an altitude amongst the clouds, the cowbells echo off the hills as if the angels were calling. As you peer across the Lauterbrunnen Valley, it feels like you can simply reach out to touch the peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. The air is pristine and the water from the melting snows of the Schilthorn are piped directly to your room faucet. We were always greeted with a hearty “Grüezi” from the locals. By the end of our stay, we had formed a bond with Mary, our waitress in the hotel. I guess it was no surprise that Mary was married to Joseph, who also worked in the kitchen. Fitting names considering that we were in heaven.
Like many tourist destinations, the novel coronavirus has been hard on Mürren. I know. Ever since our return to the realities of home, each week I religiously start the day with a peek at the hotel webcam. The throngs of tourists that usually make the day trip up from Stechelberg on sunny days have largely disappeared. The hotel rates have dropped from those we paid eleven years ago. I have noticed that the snow starts later and melts sooner. The last vestiges of snow would normally disappear from the shaded corners of the village in early June. This year the last drift disappeared in late April. This village, also famous for skiing, is dependent on voluminous snowfall. I am afraid that without snow and the summer hikers, the village will not be able to sustain itself strictly on the dairy cows that supply their raw product to the local cheese makers.
There are a handful of places that I have visited that were absorbed into my very soul. To this day, I still crave the hospitality of the people, the sound of the cowbells and the purity of the land. It has always been my intent to return to Mürren. It is my hope that I will be able to once again stay at Hotel Eiger, enjoy a warm croissant with local Alpkäse and ham for breakfast, then hike into the Alps with my wife and son, and if so blessed, with his wife and children. Truly heaven on earth.
