Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Interlaken, Switzerland So after our Rhine cruise, the very next day we packed up and head south to Switzerland.  Specifically the small touristy town of Interlaken.  But, there were two problems. First I'm going to reveal something that loyal readers will find unfathomable, unthinkable, and basically unbelievable.  I forgot to take something.  My camera. So any pictures in this post will be ones I found off the internet.  I didn't take them. Secondly, and much worse, the weather down there Monday and Tuesday wasn't the best.  Especially Tuesday when the thick clouds rolled in and the rain came down hard.  So that washed out any chances of heading up into the mountains.  I mean, we could have gone up into them, but we wouldn't have been able to see a damn thing. But the trip wasn't a total waste.  We did get to have a nice time exploring Interlaken on Monday after we'd checked into our hotel.  As the name suggests, Interlaken is situated between two lakes, and you wouldn't believe the color of the water.  It's a sort of turquoise color, which the train tour we took of the town told us was the result of the mix of glacier water and... well, I can't remember the rest.  Was very neat to look at.  The downtown area is small enough to learn quickly, though finding our hotel took some exploring.  The map I'd printed off the internet wasn't much help once we got down into the middle of the place.  Note for the Interlaken town leaders:  street signs are meant to be easy to find and read.  We eventually stumbled across our hotel, the aptly named Hotel Splendid, after much neck-craning and turtle-pacing through downtown.   It's the hotel on the right in this picture.  So after getting settled at the hotel, we took a walking tour of Interlaken for awhile, trying to figure out how one catches a train or whatnot to go up into the mountains.  You can see mountains all around Interlaken.  Snow-capped and everything.  There's just the problems of not only getting up into them, but alse having decent enough weather to make it worth your time and money.  We had both problems in spades. If we'd arrived earlier in Interlaken and known what we were doing right away, we could have probably caught one of the last trips up to Jungfrau, which boasts the highest train station in Europe.  We desperately wanted to experience the view from up there, but it was not meant to be.  By the time we figured out how to get there, it was too late to squeeze in the three hour trip up and the three hour ride back.  At least that's what the ticket person at the train station told us. So instead, we took a touristy mini-train ride through Interlaken.  Then we had a nice dinner at the hotel and then walked around some more.  The scenery is just stunning and one of the most relaxing places I can think of to just sit in a park and stare at what's around you. We hoped the weather would improve for Tuesday, but overnight the weather grew much worse, so we decided to have a decent breakfast and then make our way back to Germany.  A big disappointment not to get to see the mountains from above, but at least now we know not only how to get to Interlaken, but also what to do once you get there. The Hotel Splendid in Interlaken, by the way, was great.  A small, family-run hotel rightsmack in the middle of Interlaken.  Great location and very friendly people.  I'll definitely try staying there again on my next trip. Hopefully I'll get another crack at Interlaken and the allusive Jungfrau later this year.  Maybe in just a few weeks.  This time I'll remember my camera, or buy one there, damn it. Related links: Interlaken Tourismus:  Click on the British flag at the top for the English version The Hotel Splendid:  Stay here if you ever go to Interlaken Jungfrau Railways:  the site with info on how to get to the "Top of Europe."  Includes live webcams from the peak. 8:43:02 AM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.