Interlaken, Switzerland
Jan 2
The train ride was about two hours long to Interlaken. A town between two lakes nestled in the mountains. The ride was lovely with beautiful green valleys with farms, tree covered hills, and the tall snow covered mountains in the distance. When we arrived we checked in at our hostel, Happy Inn. It was a quaint chalet style building with a cafe on the first floor, and dorms on the second and third. We had a 6 bunk bed dorm which we shared with 3 other girls. 2 of them happened to be from the US as well. It was very plain with just a sink and lockers but quite cozy. Down the hall are bathrooms and a shower rooms. Downstairs is a hangout room for all the hostel guests with a kitchen and tables. Also this sounds like Switzerland is primitive. It is definitely not. It is incredibly expensive and we are budget travelers. I definitely did not mind as this place was cozy, the staff were the sweetest and we had so much fun with the other young people staying there.
We left our luggage and then decided to walk around and see the sights. We walked the narrow cobblestone streets looked at the beautiful old buildings. Did some laundry at a laundromat. Someone thought it was a good idea to only pack 3 outfits. It kept the backpack lighter but is quite unhandy to always be doing laundry. A festival was going on in town so the streets were filled with people, bands and people ringing cow bells that were over a foot across. We stopped at a restaurant that serves the traditional cheese fondue. It came with brown bread chunks, boiled potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Very yummy. We walked around the rest of the evening exploring all over the town. We found a little chocolate shop that served coffee and Swiss hot chocolate. I had an espresso that was put in a cup where the inside had been coated in warm chocolate, and topped with steamed milk. Fabulous. The hot chocolate tasted like you were drinking almost straight milk chocolate. Afterwords we walked back to the hostel. In the evening we hung out in the kitchen\dining area with a bunch of young travelers from India, Korea, Australia, and Canada. We talked and had such fun. We can all share ideas of where to go and the best things to do. And someone always has been to your next destination so you can get ideas of the activities that are worth it. We headed to bed early so we could get an early start tomorrow. But. There was a live rock band performing in the cafe below us because of the festival. And the floor shook. And so we went to sleep listening to rock music. The party in the cafe lasted till 2am.
Jan 3
The next morning we had an early start. We got breakfast at a cute coffee shop. We took the train to the town of Grindelwald which was about 30 min away. Every direction you look you see the tall majestic Swiss alps towering above. The town of Grindelwald is known for sledging (tobogganing) skiing and snowboarding. The plans were to take the worlds longest sledging trail which is 15km long. First we took a Gondola to above the tree line. We passed over chalets and farms and a pen of the cutest alpacas in all colors of white and tan and brown. They were so fluffy. Next was suppose to be a 2.5hr hike to the top of the mountain, then the sled ride down. At the gondola however, the sign said that trail was closed. But determined we were to complete our bucket list so we hiked on past the sign. 30 minutes up and we were in snow above our knees and it was almost impossible to go on. So we decided to just sled down from there. But there was no sledding track at that point so we just took off down the mountain on what looked like a closed ski trail. Apparently I should have taken into consideration the slope of the terrain and the fact that I was on a sled, not skis. So careening down the hill I went. It was all fun until I realized my heels were definitely not stopping that sled. The harder I tried to dig them into the ground the less it helped. In the end I did not die. We eventually found the actual sledding trail and had absolutely a delightful time sledding down the curving trails and around the trees. The snow was perfect for sledding and so the sleds were easy to control on the narrow trails. We stopped at a chalet cafe for lunch and ate in the sunshine. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining brightly. Except we found out perhaps too brightly. The sun had melted the top of the snow on the trail on the way down from there. And it was extremely slick. The trail was about 6 foot wide. With a straight down drop of on one side, and the mountain going up on the other. And there were hairpin turns. And because it was slick ice and we had no way to dig our heels in to stop, we ended up walking, or just sitting down and sliding with our sled behind us. We screamed and laughed and overshot into some snowbanks where it was not a sharp drop off. Also lost control and bailed off and frantically tried to grab at the icy terrain to slow down. We had a couple from UK as well with us which we made friends with as we tried to both stay alive and get down the mountain which was hard to do both at once. But it was totally worth it. Because the trails wound in among an occasional chalet barn or house, by rushing streams all while having a gorgeous view of the Jungfrau, the tallest mountain in Europe, in the distance! These chalets did not have roads and there only way out is skiing down or walking. Unless they have a snowmobile, but I never saw any. Maybe they are just summer houses. We were able to sled to a gondola station and caught a ride the rest of the way down as the trail was turning to mud. The weather is quite mild down in the valleys and so the lower you got down the mountain the less good snow there was. All in all we did not sled 15km but we did to a few miles and it was totally worth it. When we returned our sleds, I asked the lady if she knew of a place we could see a farm and some cows. I told her Stephanie and I had both grown up and farms and we wanted to see a Swiss one. She was so excited and told us she had grown up on a farm too. She told us to get off at a train stop between Grindelwald and Interlaken. She gave us directions on how to get to a barn where she said a farmer would be milking his cows at 4:00. So we left and hopped the train for that town which was not far. It really was not a town. Just a settlement of houses. We seen where the barn was but we were abit early so we decided to hike up the green hills. Also how is the grass so green in winter? We seen a path and took it. Traipsed through someone’s backyard and up a little path which happened to be a cow path up to a barn. From there we seen a water fall that we hiked to, then followed the stream down and hiked through some fields along the river. One had been freshly spread with manure which we walked through and smelled on our boots for the rest of the day. At 4pm we headed to the barn. We could see people through the windows but did not know how to open the door which was a little split wooden door. We also did felt like we were trespassing a little and did not want to bother the cows they were feeding. A little bit later a little old Swiss man came and talked to us and let us come in. He let us see his beautiful brown and white cows he was feeding. The barn rang with the sound of cowbells as they were munching there supper. Meanwhile we talked to him in English and he talked to us in his language and neither of us understood each other but that did not matter. We caught the train back to Interlaken. By this time we were exhausted and I did not think I could walk much more. When we arrived back we got food at the grocery store to eat for breakfast and lunch on the train to Venice tomorrow. At the hostel we met our friends from Ontario that we had talked to the night before and shared stories about our day. In the evening we ate at a cafe. Chicken wraps with curried vegetables was on the menu and I did not hate it. For dessert we got something that is similar to crime brûlée but is infused with oranges. I could have eaten 3. Delectable. We booked our train tickets to Venice for the next day. Also. If you are traveling to Europe please book your longer distance train rides ahead of time. Most times were booked and we are getting to Venice way later than planned with several extra train switches. Or whatever train layovers are called. Not ideal. Anyhow. Interlaken was gorgeous and the lakes were as blue and crystal clear and the snow capped mountains were white as can be and the brilliant green of the grass hills and the dark green of the trees just makes me so happy. The colors were just so intense and looked just like a beautiful painting. God did make a beautiful creation for us. Too soon it was time to say goodbye to Switzerland. Next destination: Venice, Italy.
