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Published: November 29th 2008
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(November 23rd - 24th) Arriving at 1AM in Interlaken was not only exhausting after our 16 hour day of train rides, but it was also a bit of a culture shock. Only that morning we watched the sunrise on the beach in Barcelona, and now here we were in the middle of Switzerland with snow falling all around us. Unreal! Brian and I decided to have a quick late-night snowball fight before turning in, to thoroughly celebrate our victory in making it here without having to sleep in the train station. Unfortunately there is a 10PM noise curfew in Switzerland, and its next to impossible not to giggle and scream in delight as you’re being pummeled with fresh-fallen snow made snowballs. About five snowballs in and we called it a truce, laughed, and made our merry way to dry clothes and a warm bed.
Now, the hostel we stayed at in Interlaken is called Balmers and is famous for being Switzerland’s oldest hostel. Geoff recommended it to us so we knew we would not be disappointed. Our room was on the top floor of a cute little Swiss cabin and overlooked the snowfallen street. The rest of the rooms contained
4-10 beds and many college students traveling for a quarter just to get away. Balmers is definitely the frat house for travelers as we learned watching several of the rooms getting cleaned out with trash cans full of empty alcohol bottles, candy wrappers, and contraceptives. Still, there are two game rooms, a hammock room, a movie room, a grocery store, a kitchen and dining room, a bar, and a quiet room with a fireplace. So all in all, way to go Geoff! If they served fondue for breakfast I’d give it all five stars.
We spent our one day in Interlaken exploring both the town itself and its snow-covered neighbor Thun. Once again the Eurail pass has outdone itself. We hopped on the “scenic train” this morning and road alongside the Alps next to a beautiful lake down to Thun. Cory (girl Cory for those of you who know both), loves trains! She has always adored them and thinks they are utterly romantic. When we lived in London together she loved visiting the different stations and taking train rides when possible to other areas of England. This train ride is dedicated to her. Not only was it in the
country of her birth, but for those of you who have seen the Harry Potter films (I’m a nerd and damn proud of it!) it was like the train ride to Hogwarts. Absolutely stunning! I actually expected the guy coming through with the trolley full of snacks and drinks to offer me some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (again . . . damn proud.)
Thun was like walking into a Christmas card. Lights hanging off every store and across every street in the shapes of stars and snowflakes. Quaint little Swiss houses with snow covering the roofs and icicles hanging down reaching towards the street. And looming in the back of it all was the humbling majesty of the Swiss Alps. For probably the third time in my life, I felt so incredibly small. At some points we couldn’t even see the tops as they reached further and further up towards the sky. We walked through one of the covered bridges that crosses the river running through Thun to suddenly find an immense amount of birds. They seemed to follow us as we moved along the bank, so we inched closer for further inspection. Apparently previous travelers must have
fed them because as soon as we stepped forward about 70 pigeons, swans, ducks, geese, tiny little brown birds, and several types of water birds I couldn’t identify flocked to within inches of our feet. So what should we do with this odd phenomenon? Buy bread of course! We spent the next thirty minutes tossing bread into the air, across the water, and holding it in the palms of our hands as the birds gathered once again to eat right out of our fingertips. (Just like San Marcos Mom and Cher!) Brian and I seem to always find little side adventures on our big ones, that’s what I love so much about this trip with him.
After cleaning off, we decided to warm up in the community indoor swimming pool that has glass windows looking out on the Alps. I found it quite ironic and snickered to myself several times at the fact that most travelers come to Interlaken to ski, snowboard, night sled, bungie jump, sky dive, or dog sled and here we were swimming in an indoor heated pool. Nevertheless, it was marvelous!
We finished the night by engorging ourselves with cheese and meat fondue. Being
the only customers in the well-recommended fondue restaurant, the chef brought us side salads, rice, and a second helping of cheese fondue on the house. I can’t remember the last time I was so full, and yet I continued to consume the delicious melty cheese. We downed the fondue with a beer at “Buddy’s Pub” (the nickname of one of Brian and my good friends), and rolled ourselves home through the snowy streets and back to our warm cozy cabin.
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