Becoming a tourist for a weekend in Switzerland is actually sometimes necessary to remember how priviledged I am to live here. This weekend we’ve planned a two day trip to the swiss german part of the country. Some of you might know these places: Spiez, Interlaken, Brienz and Ballenberg. It’s been years since I have been to this region.
The train ride begins in Geneva and moves to Lausanne-Fribourg and Bern. In Bern we mingle in the with crowd heading to a new track to take a connecting train onwards. This time we are following the lake of Thun to Spiez. Everything looks so lush and green here. Spiez is an cute little town with a harbour, castle and 10th century church. After a visit we head to the harbour and watch the boats come and go and talk with the person in charge. He explains that only 1 old paddle wheel boat still circulates on the lake of Thun instead of 6 on the lake of Geneva! The more modern boats look huge in comparison, but apparently accomodate the same amount of people. We take the next one leaving for a 1 ½ hour trip to Interlaken instead taking the train. The lake is surrounded by mountains and there are even caves to visit!
After a nice time enjoying the view and the sun the boat slowly moves into a long canal that connects the Lake of Thun to the Lake of Brienz and get off at Interlaken. Here we mingle into the crowd of foreign visitors from mostly from the Middle East and India. Numerous hotels and restaurants line the road to the look out point of the famous Jungfraujoch, highest mountain in Switzerland at 3471 m. Today it is exremely clear and we can get a perfect view from the center of town.
Soon it is time to head on to our final destination of the day, Brienz, where we have a room booked for the night at the youth hostel. The train ride along the Lake of Brienz is very nice. Luckily on the regional trains in Switzerland you can still open the windows, compared to the fast trains. Nothing is more pleasant on a hot day than to hold out your head and feel the wind on your face as the train is moving. Soon we are in Brienz, a tiny village near the end of the lake, also surrounded by high mountains all around. The setting is quite magical by the lake and the mist. It is extremely calm and peaceful here, as if time had suddenly stopped…
The train ride begins in Geneva and moves to Lausanne-Fribourg and Bern. In Bern we mingle in the with crowd heading to a new track to take a connecting train onwards. This time we are following the lake of Thun to Spiez. Everything looks so lush and green here. Spiez is an cute little town with a harbour, castle and 10th century church. After a visit we head to the harbour and watch the boats come and go and talk with the person in charge. He explains that only 1 old paddle wheel boat still circulates on the lake of Thun instead of 6 on the lake of Geneva! The more modern boats look huge in comparison, but apparently accomodate the same amount of people. We take the next one leaving for a 1 ½ hour trip to Interlaken instead taking the train. The lake is surrounded by mountains and there are even caves to visit!
After a nice time enjoying the view and the sun the boat slowly moves into a long canal that connects the Lake of Thun to the Lake of Brienz and get off at Interlaken. Here we mingle into the crowd of foreign visitors from mostly from the Middle East and India. Numerous hotels and restaurants line the road to the look out point of the famous Jungfraujoch, highest mountain in Switzerland at 3471 m. Today it is exremely clear and we can get a perfect view from the center of town.
Soon it is time to head on to our final destination of the day, Brienz, where we have a room booked for the night at the youth hostel. The train ride along the Lake of Brienz is very nice. Luckily on the regional trains in Switzerland you can still open the windows, compared to the fast trains. Nothing is more pleasant on a hot day than to hold out your head and feel the wind on your face as the train is moving. Soon we are in Brienz, a tiny village near the end of the lake, also surrounded by high mountains all around. The setting is quite magical by the lake and the mist. It is extremely calm and peaceful here, as if time had suddenly stopped…
