So, Monday morning the skies seemed pretty clear, although there were some ominous clouds in the distance. We thought we'd try for our fourth mountain top in four days. So we set off to make the trek to the top of the Schilthorn.
It's a fairly long and somewhat complicated trip. First we take the cog rail from Wengen down into the valley to Lauterbrunnen. Then we walk across the street to get on the cable car up to Grutshalp. From there we get another train which takes us to the tiny town of Murren. We have to walk across town, which is very pleasant, as this town, like Wengen, has no cars so it's incredibly quiet. At the other side of Murren is another cable car which will take is to Schilthorn in two stages.
Here's the cable car at the station in Murren.
Looking out from the cable car:
When we get on the cable car, they start playing the 007 them music. Why? Well, at the top of this mountain is the revolving restaurant, Piz Gloria. The restaurant was in the process of being built in 1969 but was in financial difficulty. Then the James Bond production team came along and decided it was the perfect location for Blofeld's lair in the next Bond movie...it was "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", the original one with the awful George Lazenby as Bond, Diana Rigg as the future Mrs Bond and, yes, Telly Savalas as Blofeld. Worst Bond movie ever....but a most excellent location.
Unfortunately the clouds rolled in about the time we were walking across Murren. By the time we reached the peak, it was completely encased in fog, with visibility about 8 feet. We stayed and had lunch at the restaurant, it revolved, but one couldn't really tell since the view stayed uniformly white. We visited the James Bond exhibit, which was actually kind of fun, and we hoped the cloud cover would blow over, but it would not cooperate. We finally headed down the cable cars back into the now grey and overcast day.
The "viewing platform" at Piz Gloria:
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