INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND
13th May 2002 to 15th May 2002
It's Hans and Heidi here...
Ice creams at the top of Harder Kulm mountain
Our next stop was Zurich but we decided to detour via Interlaken which was supposedly absolutely beautiful and shouldn't be missed. Interlaken is an Alpine mountain village situated between two rivers and surrounded by mountains.
Interlaken map -(in centre of map) Interlaken
So being the intrepid explorers that we are, we booked ourselves on the Golden Pass Panoramic Express train and prepared ourselves for some action. Now, for those of you who get carsick, take tablets because this is a trip not to be missed.
The carriages affords almost 180 degree views as the windows reach right around the roof... it's like being in an open air ride. The 1st class carriage provides superiorly comfortable lounge like chairs with bar facilities and service... it's a great way to travel. In fact Rob tried to convince me that he saw Heidi leaning out of a window as we went past one mountain village, but I'm sure it was just his wicked imagination..:)
Interlaken took about 4 hours to get to and I must tell you, it is the most breathtaking place that I have ever been to. In fact...it was gobstoppingly beautiful.
You truly have to see Interlaken for yourself to believe it. It is exactly as one would imagine Alpine villages to be. It is quietly nestled between two lakes who's waters are soo clear and clean you find yourself wanting to jump in and lap it up, the houses dot the mountain side as well as the lake front and the town is surrounded by emerald green mountains with snow capped tips. In the background, looming over the mountains are the massive snow covered southern mountains which reach an altitude of over 4000m.
View from our Hotel Room, Interlaken
The river meanders almost constantly through all the villages that we passed and carries on into the various lakes. It is hard to believe that Switzerland looks like this in the spring time, we were expecting cold and snow, in fact this weather brings on a new meaning to the joys of spring!
We spent 2 days in Interlaken and if we could, we'd spend a whole lot more time there. There is something for everyone there. Skiing is still available as there are mountains that are covered in snow right throughout the year, one of these mountains in called Jungfrau and you can take a train to the top of it (about 4000m high). The train trip itself is very expensive (about A$500 or €300 for 2 adults) and has to be done on a clear day to truly appreciate the views and sights. Under the peak there is a whole ice palace sculpted in ice, one can have husky rides, ski etc etc. Rob and I did not go to Jungfaujoch but it is high on our agenda for next time More Junfraujoch
We did go to Harder Kulm though, which offers spectacular views on Interlaken, Jungfrau, the surrounding mountain ranges and the lakes on either side. We took a funicular (cable car) that makes and almost vertical incline to the top and watched the highly skilled operator manually wipe the windows whilst going through a tunnel. ( the whole thing is mechanical). We sat at the top for a while, eating ice-cream and watching the paragliders lazily drift through the sky... we also heard the Swiss air force break the sound barrier a couple of times with their jets and watched in amazement as they zigzagged the sky with their vapor trails. Panoramic views of mountains
Hang Gliders floating past while we lunch on Harder Kulm mountain top restaurant.
Having had enough of staring deeply into my eyes, Rob suggested we go back down and go find the "Solar system walk", now no... for those of you who have your minds in the gutter, that is not what I mean.. although it could be fun.
View of Interlaken from Harder Kulm mountain
Interlaken has a scale model of the solar system that is 1/billionth scale of our solar system. It is called The Pathway to the Planets. To put that in perspective: the sun in the middle was about 4 foot high, with earth being about 300m away a 13mm dot on a metal pole. The walk itself led us through some steep inclines in the mountains whilst constantly walking by the river, it took us over an hour to walk the trail. The last planet we saw was Saturn (about 3km from the sun) and we gave up after we searched for Uranus and couldn't find it:) Pluto was 6km away from the sun, we decided that we were not space exploreres and left it for another day!
We spent the next few hours relaxing in our apartment, (we could see the mountains from our window). Our hotel is # 20 on this map of Intelaken city. We then had a leisurely dinner and some Swiss beer. My golly...have I become a beer drinker in Europe..!
Speaking of food, there are a wide variety of cuisines available in Switzerland however they do test the pocket a bit. A normal dinner for two, with appetizers, mains, dessert and a bottle of wine would easily test the CHF200 mark (A$250 or €150), now this is is an average restaurant not a top end place. One seafood restaurant in Geneva was charging a hefty CHF100 for a dozen oysters from Britain!!!!!!!!!(A$120 or €75)aaaaaaaaarrrrrgggggggggggg....beat that! Us plebs had Burger king one night and paid CHF35:) (A$42, €25) ... now how many burgers would that buy in Oz?:)
We left Interlaken and made our way to Zurich via the panoramic express again. We spent 2.5hrs playing chess (bought after our inspirational chess garden visits in Geneva), instead of watching the scenery. Rob was taking advantage of my motion sickness and beating me 3 - 0..:( ..soooo I object and demand a replay!