Lungern, Switzerland

Group tour usually are known to keep a tight schedule. After all, there are a lot of moving parts in organizing a long trip for dozens of people. It's nice, then, when the tour director decides to make a little stop along the way.

Our bus filled with Americans certainly knew about the concept of the highway overlook. Such stops break up the long drive a bit and provide some unexpected moments. It's difficult to imagine that any of them topped this view from the roadsize in the middle of Switzerland. You might want to click on the photo to expand it.

Lungern was very isolated until 1861, when a road was built that went over the Brunig Pass. A railroad out in 1888 followed. The population currently is said to be a little more than 2,000. The demographics skew old, as you might expect. The unemployment rate at last count was 0.6 percent. 

We didn't get any closer to the village than this. But you can. Beware of the spelling error at the beginning.