I was very sad to leave La Vecchia Posta, and I will admit that a few tears fell when I said my goodbyes this morning (and I wasn't the only one). But when else in life will I have a chance to hop over to Switzerland for a short weekend?
The train ride from Milan gave me a hint that the weather was going to be less than ideal during my time in Switzerland as grey clouds hung around the mountain peaks and rain lightly pattered on the windows. I've definitely been rained on here more than even in Ireland (more in that it's more consistent and heavy rain than Ireland had) But the sights are fantastic! Waterfalls amongst jagged cliff walls, lakes after every other tunnel. And mountains jutting up in every direction.
I could tell when we had crossed the Italian/Swiss border due simply to the fact that the houses changed from the yellow/orange Italian style villas to the idyllic image of a Swiss cottage. Wooden paneling outlining squares of white for the walls, a sloped roof, and always green shutters opening the windows to the world.
Interlaken is in between two great and gorgeous lakes named Thunersee and Brienzersee. The town is known as the extreme/adventure sport capital of Europe and many of the guidebooks one can find talk of skydiving, canyoning, and bungee jumping.
I stayed in a lovely B&B called the Rugenbacher, run by a man, woman, and their dog. I don't know what I would have done with my time in the city without their advice. From the moment I walked in the door of the office Ursula made me feel at home with a nice cup of tea and then started to rattle off all of the priority spots to see...in 24 hours.
Right off the bat she sent me running to catch a boat that would take me across one of the lakes, stopping off at various little towns and providing a great spot to see some amazing views, I stalled a minute to search for my camera and then ran 2 blocks to catch the boat. On board though I realized something...my camera was nowhere to be found though I had thought I saw it in my purse. Definitely not good. On board the boat I focused on the amazing views, I even bared sitting in the chilly rain for about 45 minutes so I could see up to the tops of the mountains. Breathtaking.
I noticed that the boats half way point was the station was where my train began that I lost the camera on. (I remember distinctly that I took it out for a picture from Spiez to Interlaken) The station was about a 25 minute walk from the ferry dock, but I enjoyed the walk (even if it was raining). I got to the office and inquired about a camera, figured out the train I was on, and found out that my best bet would be to fill out a loss form online. So I road the train back and stopped at my hotel to get recommendations for dinner.
Swiss food. Definitely. Ursula sent me to the Baron, a traditional Swiss restaurant where, I found out on arrival, their local specialty is horse. I definitely couldn't do that, so I ended up with a local sausage and some delicious hashbrowns (a Swiss specialty, found in almost every meal). Ooo it was delicious and warm and the service was so wonderful and friendly! And Swiss beer is delicious (it didn't have a name on the menu, just beir).
The next morning I got up early and went down for breakfast. There I got talking with the other owner, Chris. Originally from Virginia, he came to Switzerland about 20 years ago and 2 days before he was set to return to the States he tore up his ticket. For the first 10 years he would spend six months working (usually doing dishes at a local ski resort) making $16/hour, for the last 6 months of the year he'd go traveling with his savings. What a life! About 7 years ago he settled down with Ursula and the B&B, promising himself he'd stay settled for 10 years before jetting off again. His brother is a professional glassblower in San Francisco. He had great stories.
Then I hopped on a train, then bus, to go visit the Trummelbach Falls. A series of 10 glacial waterfalls inside the mountain. It was pretty spectacular. Just imagine the amount of noise that you'd be surrounded by in a cave with 10 gigantic waterfalls crashing down around you. It was spectacular! I made friends with a few Australians here to hanglide (but were grounded due to rain and so being tourists) and battled my way through a gigantic flock of Indian tourists to stand near the edge of a few of the falls. Fortunately I was the only one to think to take the stairs back down after about an hour inside the caves, so I was on my own to see the lower 4 falls, one of which was the "corkscrew", so cool!
When I got back to town I had about an hour before I had to catch another train, so I went souvenier shopping at the local specialty chocolate shop. I'm sooo glad they let you have tasters before buying!
So with chocolate in my belly sufficing as lunch I'm on the way to Milan where I'll fly to London for a night with the English boys (Matt, Tom, Ed, Phil) before flying back to the US Monday!
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