Land Between the Lakes

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The Land between the Lakes—Interlaken, Switzerland. Interlaken is located right between the lakes of Thun and Brienz in the Swiss Alps. WOW, what a spectacular place.

Prior to deciding on going to Interlaken, we had read countless journals, stories and guidebooks about this fantastic destination. Many people complained about how expensive it is and that if you weren’t into extreme sports you would not be happy. Guess what folks—Interlaken is our second favorite stop on the tour so far.

We spent 7 days in the Interlaken area and every day was action packed for the both of us. For those of you who are keeping track, we spent from the 25th of July through the 1st of August. In lieu of giving you a daily blow-by-blow account of this remarkable leg of the trip, I will hit the highlights and let the photos paint a picture in your mind. Any words I could muster would not do justice to the sheer beauty of this spectacular gem.

The train ride from Brussels was the most scenic train ride we have had so far. The splendid scenery as we approached Interlaken was incredible. Once we arrived in Interlaken, we got our bearings and checked the directions to the hostel. Once again the directions sucked and we ended up taking the long way around the town. Our destination was the Funny Farm, yes you heard me right. The Funny Farm-- where life is beautiful all of the time. We arrive at the hostel which is a converted Victorian style hotel (formerly the Park Hotel) which served the traveling elite in days gone by. The grounds were just as spectacular as the facility itself. We would stay at the Funny Farm for the first two and the last two days of our visit to the Interlaken area. The staff at the Funny Farm was top notch and special thanks go out to Carrie our new friend from New Zealand. Thanks for all of your assistance.
We arrived in town too late to catch the co-op market. It closed before we could stock up on groceries. We opted to get a simple hamburger at the hostel. That’s when the cost of living in Switzerland smacked us right between the eyes. We paid $42.00 for two cheeseburgers, two French fries, and two Cokes. We determined right then and there that our first stop in the morning would be to the grocery store.

The next morning, we headed to the market and picked up some essentials for lunch and dinner. We spent about $50.00. Thank goodness for Knorr and Maggi packaged dinners. Pasta is becoming one of our staple meals on the road. I’m considering writing a feature titled “50 ways to Love Your Pasta”, but requires a little more research (testing).
Naturally, being in the Switzerland, we had to head out and do some hiking in the Alps. We boarded the Jungfraubahn, the regional train, and headed to Grindelwald. We cruised through town and headed uphill. It was amazing how the trails were maintained. Most were paved and intersected with many other footpaths. You could spend a lifetime just exploring all of the summertime hiking trails.

In Mitten, each Thursday and Saturday, they parade cows through the streets. The cows are on their way to the William Tell Story. This is a massive outdoor theater production featuring amateur actors and live animals.
On Saturday the 27th, we took the bus to Iseltwald located on Lake Brienz. The lake is a glacier fed lake and has a turquoise blue/green appearance that rivals the beautiful beaches of Northwest Florida. We arrive at our hostel, The Lake Lodge which is located right on the lake. We will be staying at the Lake Lodge for 3 nights. Iseltwald is a small community with very few locals. The primary business of this small village is farming and tourism. There is no market in the town with the exception of a tiny expanded bakery which also sells a few essentials. The closest grocery store is the Co-op back in Interlaken. We take advantage of our rail pass again by using the ferry services on the lake. We jump on the ferry and head back to Interlaken for some more groceries and also explore the other lake villages while we are there.

While hanging out at the Lake lodge, we meet a group of great folks. Fellow travelers are always great to chat with. We share stories and tips and have some great conversation.

We luck out and get a lake view room on the 2nd floor which has a balcony. Location wise, this turns out to be our best accommodation so far. The balcony gives us the opportunity to fire up the camp stove and cook dinner. The only drawback to staying in this hostel is the noise factor. Our room was located right above the bar, but the crowd below sounded like they were right in the room with us. The party noise was not a huge issue for us because we visited our friend Ambien and settled in for a good night’s sleep. A fact of life in staying in any hostel is to exercise an extra level of patience. We are actually getting pretty good at it. Our stay in Iseltwald proves to be a great choice in destinations and we would recommend it to anyone. Our stay in Iseltwald is from Saturday, 27 July through Monday, 29 July.

We head back to Interlaken for the nights of the 30th and 31st of July. We stay at the Funny Farm. This time we get a room with a balcony overlooking the Jungfrau summit. Jungfrau is the highest mountain in the region and measures up at 13,642 feet. Its claim to fame is the cog railroad which climbs (sometime up to 25 degrees in slope) to 11,332 feet. This is why they call it “The Top of Europe”.

On Wednesday, we just chill out in the hotel and take a walk through town. This is a very upscale touristy location. We stop by the Green Park which is the primary landing field for the paragliders who launch from nearby mountain peaks. I consider doing a tandem paragliding ride, but opt against it because I am not willing to spend the $150.00 for the ride. Paragliding in the Alps would have been a real rush, but that will have to wait for a future trip when I have the money to enjoy luxuries like this. My buddy Ray in Utah would be in heaven with the paragliding in the Alps. Ray, if memory serves me right, Interlaken was one of those locations you talked about years ago.

On Thursday, Lynne and I purchase tickets for the Jungfraubahn to take us to The Top of Europe. On the way up the mountain, we pass a pretty notable mountain, the Eiger. The Eiger gained fame from the Clint Eastwood movie “The Eiger Sanction”. The train makes its way through the Eiger via a tunnel carved through the mountain. The train reaches our final desination and we depart the train with the sea of inconsiderate tourist who want to push and shove their way to the summit. My patience is growing thin. We decide to hang back and let them move on. We work our way to the Ice Palace. This is really a winter wonderland featuring tunnels in the ice and a vast selection of ice carvings with brilliant light displays. After marveling at the ice sculptures for a while, we head to the glacier ice field outside.

We were really blessed that today was an absolutely crystal clear day. This is rare at the summit on a summer day. We walk around the ice filed for a while and take some really awesome photos. I spend some time taking photos of tourists with their cameras and line them up to get some great shots. Some of them joke that they want to hire me to follow them around and take pictures of them on their trip. I spend some time to pass on some photo composition tips I have learned along the way. These encounters give me a few potential thoughts for the future.

After an action packed day, we decide to relax after our Jungfrau experience. Lynne and I both have headaches from spending such a long time at the high altitude without adequate acclimatization. We were both suffering from mild acute mountain sickness. Unfortuantely, there was no opportunity for us to properly acclimatize, but we did super hydrate prior to going up, which reduced the effects. We awoke the next day refreshed and ready to head back to Germany to visit some dear lifelong friends.
The following information is provided to future visitors to the Interlaken area. These are valuable budget tips on how to stretch your budget while visiting this pricey location.
1. Hike on some of the abundant hiking trails.
2. Sit in the Green Park and watch the Paragliders landing.
3. Swim in one of the two glacier fed lakes.
4. Ride the ferries on the lakes (free for rail pass holders).
5. Ride the local busses (hostels give out free ride passes).
6. Fill your water bottle in the city fountains (go green and save on bottled water).
7. Hike out of the city at night and star gaze.
8. Watch the cows parade on the streets in Matten every Thursday and Saturday evenings.
9. Check out the free orchestras at the casino (free with rail pass).
10. Watch the sunrise over the mountains or lakes.

Marianne, the Egg Man is coming.

Please make sure you check all of the photo pages on this update. Our next post will feature our visit to dear friends in Germany. Be patient with updates as we continu to Live the Dream.

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Photos

Enjoying a GREAT day at Jungfrau
Top of Europe

Comments

[Dave Black]

Cowbell Heaven
John and Lynne, What a beautiful place. Glad to hear you're both doing well and continuing your "adventure of a lifetime". John, you should have left a picture of Christopher Walken (aka; Bruce Dickinson) next to those cowbells, lol. Stay safe and healthy as you continue to travel. Dave