Blogs from Interlaken, South-West, Switzerland, Europe - page 21

And so after being made to wait outside the terminal at Heathrow for half an hour in a marquee before being allowed in to check in, and then a 40min wait in line to fast check my bag (i had express checked for a boarding pass) and then another 20min wait to get through passport control (and having an unopened NZ marmite and marmalade confiscated due to new handluggage rules....mad), and then delayed for 40 odd mins due to the knockon effect of the fog that closed the airport just before christmas, i eventually made it to Zurich thinking where am i going to find Daniel and Leeza, but as it turns out their flight was late also. When they eventually come through they are in shorts and singlets and jandals while everyone else is all ... read more

It was relieving to pick up the pace a bit in Switzerland after the dozy French regional cities (although we were in those places on a Sunday and Monday). We arrived in the Swiss capital, Bern, on Tuesday night and were lucky to get out of the train station without any bruises! The nightlife here was more exciting, with an old world feel around the town. The next day, we wound our way around the River Aare - I haven't seen a river as clear as this for a very long time. The air was also so clean and wonderful to breathe. On Wednesday, we moved on to Interlaken, at the foot of the Alps. Again, a lively place but heavily fogged in. Cans of VB were on sale in one of the local pubs, but ... read more

After a wonderful stay last year, we returned to the Hotel Rugenpark in Interlaken with BK and CK. We were thrilled to see our buddy again! We spent the afternoon exploring town on a walking route suggested by our hostess. Then we returned to the wine bar, Benacus, for a terrific dinner. We were able to choose our own cheeses from their vast selection for our fantastic cheese plate appetizer. For the main course, J had venison, CK had lamb and BK had the "wildschwein" (wild boar). We are not vegetarians. Dessert was chocolate mousse with chilies.... read more

Geo: 46.948, 7.44815My slow descent into insanity continues ... despite somehow going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and returning with both of my shower sandals, I woke to find only one of them. The other? It was nowhere to be found. This is getting to be too much ... it must be a conspiracy!!! They stole it from me .... the bastards .... I'll kill them all!!! Of course, I did dream about eating some really funky-smelling blue cheese ... maybe I ate the sandal?Crappy hostel breakfast - I expected more than instant coffee and muesli. I assumed incorrectly that the German influence in the region would mean that there would be a hearty breakfast with cheese and cold cuts. Wrong!!! It's a good thing that I ate my shower sandal last ... read more

Unspunnen is a Swiss Festival that takes place every 12 years. This year was the 200 anniversary of the event. It began as a way to unite the various Cantons when Switzerland became a unified country. The festival runs for 3 days and includes a variety of activities. There are fantastic fireworks, flag throwing, Alphorn, and jodeling competitions, Swiss wrestling matches, stone tossing contests, and the costume parade. The stone tossing is called Unspunnen and is the major event of the weekend. There are various weight categories of stone thowing, but the Unsprunnen stone weighs 167 pounds!! The object is to see who can throw it more than 3 meters. Believe it or not, several men actually were able to do that. The costume parade displayed the traditional dress of all the Swiss cantons. It was ... read more