Advertisement
So, if you didn't pick it up in the previous entry, the Swiss Alps are pretty breathtaking. It's great to be back in the mountains.
Also, when we got back in Switzerland, the railway announcements were in German, Swiss German, Italian, French, and English. It was pretty wild. Also, when the French announcement was made, it was the first time we'd understood a language other than English in a couple of weeks, and it felt pretty good.
Interlaken is a pretty small city that lives because of tourism. In the winter it's a hub for skiing, and in the summer there are companies offering adventure sports everywhere.... expensive adventure sports. Activities include parasailing, canyoning, and skydiving, and most of them cost well over 100 swiss francs. No thanks. We'll stick with the free hiking.
And I don't think we could have picked a more rewarding hike from the area. It took us up to Schznige Platte which is high atop a mountain (2100m) with a near 360 degree view overlooking a few valleys. One containing Interlaken and the two huge, blue, mountain lakes that it is nestled between, one leading towards Grindlewald, and one leading towards Gimmewald, which
is our next destination. We also had an amazing view of the famous Jungfrau mountain range. Very nice mountains. Even though it's late June there is still quite a bit of snow an ice on top of the Jungfrau, and it makes for some breathtaking scenery and great photos.
The whole trip took us about 8 hours, including walking to the base and back to Interlaken, so it was a pretty full day. We felt pretty good after, so we decided to stick around and watch the big Euro Cup game that was on that night.
Now, at this point of the day, my memory gets a little... intoxicated? I partially blame the two for one happy hour, but here's a summary of what I can remember:
- Germany upset Portugal 3-1
- Some guy from New York invited us to his hostel bar for drinks
- Guy from New York told us a hilarious story about how someone (that he did not know) tried to "fly kick" him, but he dodged it and they whizzed right by him (it would be a funnier story if I could remember it)
- Some bar outside with a beach
Crossing the Funicular Track
The Funicular would have saved about 5 hours, but we would have missed an incredible hike. volleyball net
- Pieces of a conversation with a Swiss woman who works at another (allegedly better) hostel nearby
I don't know how we got back to our hostel, but the room was spinning pretty good.
I also, somehow, dodged the hangover.
We're really looking forward to Gimmelwald, because apparently the scenery is even better, it's smaller, and it's quieter. Our hostel in Interlaken was ok, but it was kind of "Hundreds of US college students travel to Switzerland" so it was a bit difficult to relate to conversations about "Division 2 schools" and how their team I've never heard of beat another team I've never heard of.
There was also a baby in my room... as in a small child. So it was 8 US college kids, a mother, a father, a baby, and me. Interesting dynamic. As strange as it was to share a hostel dorm room with a baby, it was actually no problem. He was pretty quiet, and I had earplugs in anyways.
Gimmelwald should be nice and relaxing, and include some more hiking. We've got three days there, and we intend to make the most of it.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.044s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.025s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb