http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Switzerland , South-West , Interlaken en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:06:14 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:06:14 +0000 As we've seen I found the spring hatmaking course at Ballenberg to be superb. This summer at home in western New York State I located a farmer who was growing an ideal stand of winter rye. In mid July before the seed heads filled I got permission to harvest enough straw to stock my greenhousestudio for hatmaking over winter. The greenhouse lends itself well to plaiting as I've configured it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-460490.html I'm hangin it Switzerland st the moment in the beautiful city of interlaken. Its a bit touristy but surrounded by crazy mountains and lakes and theres a few chill hostels. Since I last wrote I went through Belgium Luxemburg and France. It took me a long day of hitching to get from Brussels to Nancy in France. Met a few cool people most of whom I couldnt really hold a conversation with my mini http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-431090.html Luzern We only stayed one night in Luzern. We arrived at about midday made our way to the hostel to drop off our bags then went out and about. Luzern was very expensive in comparison to any other place we've visited but we enjoyed it We walked around town there wasnt much to see in Luzern unless you were interested in buying a Swiss watch or army knife but we saw the water tower in the midd http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-426641.html Wed 29thI left the mess that is Milan behind on Wednesday and started a much anticipated train ride to Switzerland. The train from Milan to Interlaken was not that long. A few hours maybe. I knew as soon I looked out my window and saw the valley the lakes and the snow caped alps I was going to love my 6 days here.I checked into The Funny Farm hostel where I would be staying just for the one ni http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-426406.html Final Leg You can read the last two blogs by logging on and finding our header.Getting up early is not the best practice of the younger Quigley teens however it was necessary on our journey to Switzerland. We reserved a train out of Vernazza at 600am and arrived in Interlaken around 4pm. Let me first say that this country is the cleanest I have ever encountered. There must be some mandat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-422033.html How could 3 weeks slip by so quickly I guess we just hiked it away. This incredibly beautiful area is always a highlight of our time spent in Europe. The trains lifts boats towns local festivals and hikes keep us busy every day. The very efficient Swiss transportation system delivered us to various peaks valleys or lakes throughout the Bernese Oberland area. From there we hiked 18 dif http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-416076.html Well very interesting 4th of July last night at Balmer's. They were celebrating the 4th and there are a ton of Americans here. I ate a brat because it was only 4.50 while the burgers were 12.50again I am wasting away on this European dietbudget Had a few beers during happy hour and talked to people from all over. Not too late a night though and I was up early today for a 3hr hike to som http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-415429.html Wow long day so far and it is only half over. Got to Interlaken at 1100am after a 2 hr train ride and I trained to a nearby town deeper in the Alps and hiked 2 hrs up to a mtn town with amazing views. The toughest hike I have ever done and only 2 hrs but it was constantno flat areas to take a break and I was on my own and pushing hard. Definitely worked up a sweatNow I have most assuredly http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-415093.html Anyone visiting Switzerland should not miss out this beatiful heavenly village Wilderswill in Interlaken. Check photographs I took when I was in Wilderswill in June 2009. GS RAJAN http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-413872.html Hello allWe wanted to inform you that we have decided to sell our house and move to Switzerland Anyone else in Just kidding But as you can tell it is amazing here. We have done a lot since our last update so I will try to make it as brief as possible.Munichgt Our second day in Munich brought us to Dachau. The memorial concentration camp just outside Munich. It is a very hard experien http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-409874.html Interesting fact The Swiss invented LSD and Absinthe not bad for a country of bankers and neutralityWhilst aboard the TGV train from Dijon to Bern we are confronted with the sound Click Ching Click Ching Click Ching wondering what the bloody hell that was we notice this chap sitting alone in his in his seat looking into his mobile phone camera striking a pose and taking a snap of himself C http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-409786.html yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh were in interlaken switzerland and it is amazing AMAZING here. we can skate everywhere again but instead of buildings we get to see the fucking swiss alps. THE SWISS ALPS. its amazing so fucking cool. tomorrow were either going to go climbing through waterfalls or paragliding through the swiss alps. havent decided yet. these are pretty big decisions. and were about to go http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-408156.html Well I had a fantastic final day in Munich. In the morning I went for a really long walk along the main river in the city and stopped at a few parks along the way. I made my way into the city center for a free walking tour that was set to begin at 3. Before the tour started i met a few aussie friends at the Hofbrahas for a beer. It is such a cool atmosphere in there. It was sunny in the beer gar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-406925.html Switzerland 28th May 6th June 2009We weren't supposed to go to Switzerland but a few days before we left Florence it seemed the right thing to do. We found an apartment in a chalet near Interlaken in a small town called Aeshi set among a dramatic landscape and beautiful lakes. We knew immediately that it was a nice place because there were plenty of senior couples seated on park benches bl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-405295.html On Monday I got to see Katie for the first time in nearly five months and I got to reunite with her in the absolutely beautiful country of Switzerland. After graduating at the beginning of May Katie has been traveling Europe for the past couple of weeks with her friends Emily and Annie. The original plan was for me to travel with them for a week or so and then fly with them back to Alicante for http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-403514.html Not much to say for today. We visited the VictoriaJungfrau hotel which is one of the best hotel's in Switzerland. I believe it is a 5 Star hotel. We got a back of the house tour and we were able to see the kitchens all 3 restaurants 3 different classes of rooms and the conference center. We also got to have lunch at the Pasta restaurant. The food as always was awesome We had an antipasti sele http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-402297.html Another beautiful and rigorous day in Switzerland. Unfortunately Irsquom having real trouble going to sleep still and this was exacerbated last night by the fact that I could not get my nightstand light to turn off. The lights are hard wired into the wall and mine decided that it would not go off. I finally put a dark shirt over my eyes around 3 a.m. and slept okay until the wake up call at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-402111.html It may not come as a shock to anyone that I laughed until I cried today. However I don't remember the last time that it happened about seven times in one day not to only just me but everyone who I was with. Our first activity of the day was traveling to Interlaken a city nearly two hours away from Engelberg. Lucky for us we had two busses so there were no disturbances like the ones yesterday http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-402099.html This morning we started out in Interlaken for a tour of a the Grand Hotel a 5 star hotel in Interlaken. It was a gorgeous hotel but it confused me because it was grand and luxurious and old on the outside but inside it was updated and modern in parts it just didn't seem like anything really went together. It was interesting to me how they had 2 small beds then pushed them together to make a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-402065.html PROMPT Describe the level of service at the hotel we visited. How was your dining experience at lunch Discuss the zero star hotel concept. If you observed students at the hospitality school did you notice any differences than the students at SFAThe level of service at the VictoriaJungfrau hotel was clearly a very high caliber. All of the dining rooms featured real silver utensils which are no http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-402063.html