The Hills Are Alive!!!

Interlaken, Switzerland

I am going to start this post by saying that it's a bit lengthier than the others, as I am putting our entire weekend into one, and we really did a lot during our stay here.  I would rate this leg of our trip as the most picturesque, by far.

Interlaken is "locked" between two beautiful, glacier-fed lakes and is close to the top destination in the world for extreme adventure sports, second only to New Zealand. Here, you can go canyoning, hiking, sky diving, bungee jumping, white water rafting and paragliding. It's all within your finger tips right from this small town nestled in the Alps.

I was so incredibly excited about this part of our trip, mostly because I love food (I think I may have mentioned this before), and I had been reading over the past few months how well they do cheese and chocolate here.  Considering how well all of Europe creates (note the word CREATES, not just cooks) their foods, however, we had been spoiled with heavy breads, fresh meats, and delicious cheese that whole week  previous, so Switzerland had a lot to live up to.  

It may have been the vast difference in landscape that did it for me (after being immersed in castles, towers, row houses, etc).  Or maybe it was the fresh mountain air (cheesy, I know).  It may have very well been the relevance to home I felt (believe it or not), or just our ability to go outside and PLAY.  Whatever it was, this long weekend we spent in the mountains turned out to be our adult playground.....

Our first evening in Interlaken, we decided to head to a restaurant that was highly recommended.  It took awhile to find our way on foot, but we found the place we were looking for along one of the many canals connecting the lakes within Interlaken.  I was SO EXCITED to try fondue.  I admit---I had never eaten cheese fondue before (yes, I am sheltered) and it was delicious.  

I cannot remember exactly what Brian ordered, but I know it involved veal with some kind of mushroom sauce .  This was also yummy.

Neal is very much enjoying his pasta with cream sauce and zucchini.

 The small square in the quieter part of town.

We only have one regret of this entire trip together.  For 12 days of traveling, I would say one regret is pretty damn good.  I don't like to dwell on the negative, but I must take a moment to caution anyone who is reading and may someday got to Interlaken to not make the same dreadful mistake we did---Heidi's Hostel, or the place we have infamously renamed "The Piss Hostel".  Take it from us, if you arrive at your lodging and you get that not-so-easy feeling about it, WALK AWAY.  Don't feel bad about turning away from the 82-year-old (sweet but crazy) owner and saying "NO" to the lobby that smells like cat urine, or the bath towels that are as stiff as cardboard.  Don't shy away from saying "Neh" when you hear skittering across the ceiling at night and small black pebbles fall from cracks into your water glasses.  Stay strong and announce "I will not!" amongst the cluttered hallways and dank, dusty staircases.  That is all.

Now on to the better stuff.  In an effort to escape Heidi and all things smelly, we intensely researched our first night what to do with the remainder of the weekend. The word "random" shows up frequently in my posts, and is probably the mantra of our trip, as little was planned ahead of time, other than our lodging (not so well planned out in this case---OK, enough!).  

One very tempting but expensive option that was on the top of our list was to buy a tram ticket to climb the JungFrau (Young Frow), the highest climbing train in the Alps, complete with an Ice Palace and restaurant/viewing area to welcome us at the top.  This is a HUGE tourist attraction and the feat of building a railroad in the Alps alone was something of interest, not to mention the promise of seeing the largest intact glacier in all of Europe. Our main reservation (other than the expense), however,  was that it would be an entire day dedicated to this one activity, with a five hour train ride and another two to explore at the top.  Loving our freedom and fearful of commitment, we reluctantly moved away from that idea to instead pick random country mountain roads to climb into the Alps ourselves, and see just what Fifi could handle.  Again, we WIN and here's why.

 I am not even sure why we chose this road to climb, but we knew there was a waterfall somewhere along this way.  About halfway up (maybe 20 minutes' drive up), among the clouds, we came upon this beautiful restaurant, clinging to the side of the mountain.  We stopped for coffee, played a couple hands of cards, and talked to the two ladies who worked there.  

Some of the prize-winning bells of the herd of cows they own.  We looked through photo albums of this family-owned business and inferred that many a winter have been spent here with neighbors, drinking and talking together.  It came across to us that this place is somewhat of the area's village hangout, away from the tourists of Interlaken. 

Once the clouds baked off a bit, there was a beautiful view of the lakes below.

Chalets with cows grazing along the road.  Each cow wore a huge bell of a different tone around their necks (I thought that was just a myth!) and so the hillsides would be ringing in chorus! 

Isn't that just gorgeous!?!

Me saying "hello" to one of the ladies.  Brian told me not to touch her, or I would be quarantined at customs.

We went up as far as we could go, to the point where the road didn't look much like a road anymore, and found this bench.  This is a picture of our lunch.  Earlier in the morning, we found a baker and bought a baguette, bought some goat's cheese and fresh yogurt from the local farmer at the market, and brought along a bottle of wine from the Alsace region.  While restaurants have their place, I have never enjoyed a lunch so much as this.  

The view from our bench.  See the chair lifts?  I hear people like to ski here in the winter :-).

These bad boys were discovered when I went for a potty break across the hill.  I have never seen snails so huge!!  They were scattered all over. Again, Brian was quite nervous I would be quarantined, but I just couldn't help myself!!

 Neal and I went for a short hike and came upon this.  Considering we were walking along a ski lift, it's possible that it's some kind of emergency shelter.  Neal's guess is that it's a hobbit's vacation home.  Ever watch the TV show LOST?  Yeah, I think we may be on to something.

We made our way back down the mountain and along another road to find the waterfall we were looking for.  

We are damp.  And we are happy.

A beautiful hotel is situated just off the waterfall.  We wandered around and pretended we were guests there for a bit.

At the end of the day, we descended back into Interlaken and made plans for the evening.  Paragliding was on my agenda, and it turned out to be a fantastic experience.  

Landing.  The boys didn't know which one was me in the air, so there are no shots in the sky.  There can be  anywhere from 6-10 paragliders in the air at one time when the conditions are just right.

Can you say adrenaline rush?!?

Our view of Jungfrau from our outdoor deck.  

Do I look happy?  Yes.  Yes, I am.  Thank you Switzerland!  It was a blast!!