Another Heaven on Earth

We made it Switzerland!

Thats right, we finally worked up the courage to leave our beloved Cinque Terre, and now we camp peacefully a stone's throw from a four hundred foot cliffside waterfall and a view away from God's version of Renaissance art: the Swiss Alps.

Right now I (Austin) am sitting restfully in the dense green forest that we temporarily call home, watching my wife of three years twitch and turn through dreamworld in our tent, even though it's almost one pm. Now call us lazy, but afternoon sleep ins are not the norm, she has a lasting cough that needs less hiking/adventure and more rest (I hope my herbal tea concotion of garlic and honey does the trick!).

Yesterday was adventures aplenty, we hiked the ridgeline above our sleepy waterfall valley, with drool inducing views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, three famous alpine peaks. It was like stepping into heaven. We yodeled and laughed on the trail, ate wild raspberries next to us, and went snap snap! with our camera aplenty. The mountain view looked just like my dream of the Alps; it was powerfully surreal and confirming, it felt so right to be in this place.

Our amazement expanded to bursting as we entered the small, picturesque Alpine village of Murren, where the tourist information desk attendant was the kind, older Swiss MC from a folklore music show we saw the night before! He gave us the inside scoop on the best local hikes, and to out delight told us wifi was free there. Free wifi?! It's the little things that make this trip, and a TI center with free wifi and a power source for charging our wimpy MacBook battery is like winning the lottery for us. We smiled big and plotted moving our campsite to Murren. As if things couldn't get better, we met a young engaged couple, Stephanie and Tyler, in nearby small town Gimmelwald who happened to be UCSB alums and attendees of Reality Carpinteria, our old church. This is unreal! We had dinner with them and exchanged stories and laughs. They not only share our Alma mater and faith, but are also super passionate about healthy eating and responsible agriculture. Tonight we rendezvous with those two again; I am on overload at how amazing this time in Berner Oberland is turning out.

Kindra is awake now and full of garlic breath from my herbal tea, it's time to make something of this day!

Ciao for now!