Trip report: Two weeks near Interlaken
 

The travelling party comprised myself and my parents (late 60s). I received a certain amount of polite disbelief when I admitted when posing certain planning questions here, that I wasn't that keen on spending time in the mountains, and in the event I spent even less than my original plan entailed, partly because of the weather. After we booked, it became clear that Dear Father would require a hip operation, which he duly had, and we spent some time agonising whether the trip would have to be cancelled, at least for my parents, but fortunately all went well, and he was largely recovered and walking fairly well without any aids so we went ahead.

We flew out from Heathrow to Zurich on Monday 7 July. I picked a Monday to travel because it looked to me (and proved to be)to be the least flexible day for sightseeing, so the best day to "waste". We sent our check-in baggage by rail-air, which was completely painless, and saved a lot of effort in Switzerland. We knew we wouldn't get it until next day, so packed some overnight requirements in our carryons. The restrictions on liquids were a particular and unavoidable irritation here.

We left an England drenched with rain, but with depressing forecasts of similar weather or worse in Switzerland. Happily, our arrival found very pleasant, dry weather, if slightly overcast skies.

We had got the Swiss Card comprising half price card plus the full cost of the transfer from airport to Interlaken. DF had worked out the train times to Interlaken, and rushed us through the airport to the train. The first, Zurich-Bern, leg was th first time I had seen a double decker train, and I managed to get lost on it looking for the drinks trolley; or rather, having successfully found it and bought some for the group, forgot which direction I'd come from, and spent some time traipsing up and down steps finding them again. I should note that this would probably not hapen to anyone with any sense of direction at all; I can get lost turing a corner and retracing my footsteps.

We had picked on a hotel in Bonigen on Lake Brienz, just outside Interlaken, and we understood the easiest way to get there from Interlaken Ost was to get the bus. Howvwer, my parents had packed rather substantial carryons, and were rather tired by this point, and DM insisted on getting a taxi. While this wasn't really necessary, it did mean we didn't have to stress over getting off at the right stop, and also didn't have to wait at the bus stop.

We got to the hotel around 6. We had picked the Seiler au Lac, and we were very happy with it, and with the location. The bedrooms were IMHO not quite as nicely appointed as I personally would expect from a 4 star, and the views weren't great (both our rooms looked out over the rather small garden). If they went again, my parentsd would probably go for a lake view instead. There wasn't much choice for a single room. However, everything else was exemplary. The public rooms were attractively furnished; everything was clean and comfortable; the staff were very good; and the food was EXCELLENT. We had opted for half board because we were staying out of Interlaken and there were few eating choices in the village of Bonigen itself beyond our own hotel. It would have been possible to eat in Interlaken and get one of the late busses back, but were were glad we picked half board, partly because the chef was very good indeed. There wasn't a vast amount of choice (usually three choices of main course, of which one was usually fish, one meat and one vegetarian; two choices of dessert, of which one was almost always some kind of ice cream gateau; a couple of choices of starter, at least one being a soup, and one entree, but it was all beautifully cooked. I probably would not recommend it for vegetarians, because the veggie option was usually cooked-vegetable based, or for anyone with very picky eaters in their party.

The location was also perfect for us (more on this later).

The first evening, after dinner we wandered out for a peaceful walk along the lake, and were distracted by an outdoor performance by a local brass-and-percussion band. They would perhaps be best described as enthusiastic rather than good, but they were very entertaining, and we enjoyed it. The only fly in the ointment was the frequent divebombing by some insects subsequently described to us as "Julybugs". They looked like hornets, but didn't sting.

Tuesday 22 July
The day was lovely and bright. After breakfast I wandered into the village to buy some shampoo and toothpaste. Our luggage had arrived by taxi (organised by the hotel) by this point, but I had no intention of wasting good sightseeing time in unpacking so I just fished out my waterproof and then took the 10.48 bus into Interlaken. This was twice an hour (at ten minutes past and twelve minutes to teh hour), and took less than ten minutes to get to Interlaken Ost. All the hotels in Bonigen hand out free Bonigen Visitors' Cards to guests; these entitle one to free travel on this bus, and on (another) bus and train as far as Wilderswil, and were very convenient.

On this occasion I stayed on board to the terminus of this bus at Interlaken West. I walked over the tracks and three branches of the turquoise Aare to Unterseen, as recommended by Fodorites. I was charmed by the old town square, where I had a drink in the Cafe Treff. Inside smelt smoky (one of the few things I didn't like aboutr Switzerland was the fact that they still allow smoking in cafes etc), so as it was a lovely day I sat outside. Unterseen was lovely and peaceful and untouristed. I went into the church and picked up a free leaflet/guide in German. There was a pretty carved pulpit (I expect from the C20 restoration).

I headed back towards Interlaken, and just before the river took a 35 minutes marked walk to the Weissenau ruins. This proved to be a fairly substantial ruined castle just inside the Neuhaus nature reserve, built on what was once an island where the river enters lake Thun. I climbed around the ruins, but as I was alone, the ruins were unstaffed and there was a dearth of any passers by, I funked climbing up the slightly dodgy looking stairs in the tower. I was 99% sure it was safe, but caution prevailed. The walk back was mostly along the river, which was lovely.

I had a cheap lunch at the CoOp, then went back up to Unterseen to go into the Museum of Tourism (where I got a small discount from my Bonigen card). It was modestly interesting. I was particularly struck by a distinctly scary looking old cable car.

I then walked through Interlaken, and found the maion street pretty tacky. I was disappointed in the Hohematte, which for some reason I had expected to be more than a large empty field, but had a nice ice cream while strolling along. I looked around the outside of the Schloss Interlaken at the end, and its garden, and went into the old monastery church.

Heading back towards the station I ran into my parents, who had just been up to the Harder Kulm for lunch and the view, after wandering around Interlaken/seeing the casion and flower clock, and coffeeing at the Hotel Du Lac ("Loos to die for"). They were then going to walk back to Bonigen (they walked either in or back several times during the stay, and enjoyed the route, about 35-45 minutes depending on how fast you walk, mostly along the river). I had a quick look at the so-called "Wildpark" at its base (four small enclosures of two or three ibex each, and some invisible marmots), then got the bus back to the hotel to unpack and unwind.

Oops. Tuesday was of course 8 not 22 July.

Anyway:
Wednesday 9 July. I opted for a daytrip to Bern today. The 8.48 bus was very crowded. There is a youth hostel in Bonigen, and the busses were often busy with young people of varying nationalities with jaw-droppingly large amounts of luggage. Which they were occasionally inclined to place on seats while other passengers were standing. This is not acceptable behaviour.

I missed the direct train to Bern because there was a bit of a wait for my slot at the ticket office, so I got the 9.29 to Spiez and changed there. Unfortunately the 9.54 connecting train was 20 minutes late, and the drink and chocolate dispensing machine on the platform was (I assume) broken. It stole 5 francs from me, anyway.

I got in to Bern at 10.45. I didn't care for Bern station much -n it was really busy with enormous crowds of people. I bought a one-day Berncard (20 francs) at the station tourist info. In retrospect this wasn't worth it on a pure bottom-line basis, but I'm happy I got it, because if I hadn't, I would probably not have bothered with the tram at all, and would have been tired and irritable by the end of the day. It would definitely be worthwhile if one was staying a couple of days and visiting multiple covered attractions. I validated the ticket at a bus stop, and then walked around the old town folwing the route in my guide book (Bradt). (I also had a Rough Guide with me, but generally did the walking routes covered in Bradt because they were more clearly laid out.)

I really liked the Heiliggeist Kirche by the station - dignified and serene despite the heavy traffic noise and general hubbub outside. There were lovely original wooden pews with fascinating old labels identifying the sometime seatholder, some metal nailed on, some carved into the seat. I really liked it more than I did the cathedral.

I got a bit lost around the Parliament building, because it was closed and it wasn't quite clear which way I was supposed to be going, but I got myself sorted out and got a nice view from the terrace behind it.

I wasn't intending to look at the bear pits because the whole idea seemed so cruel, but on my walk I accidentally came across them, loked in thinking "what's here", and there was a bear at the bottom. Only one bear was actually in evidence, and he didn't seem actively unhappy, but it seems that the authotrities are in the porocess of providing better accommdation for them, which is good. I bought a punnet of bear food (fresh fruits and some nutritious sticks, 3 francs) and threw the pieces down. He caught most of them in his mouth, even the more wildly thrown ones.

I then had a drink and delicious piece of cake for my lunch at the Blue Cat Cafe-bar in Gerechtigegasse, a little way back up from the bear pits. I then resumed sightseeing. I admired the clock tower and thought the ogre fountain quite remarkably ugly.

I then made a little use of my Berncard by getting the tram (or is it a trolley bus?) to Helvetiaplatz. I would have been covered for the Historical Museum with my Berncard, but I really wanted to see the special exhibition on Charles the Bold of Burgundy, which wasn't covered, and the only ticket for the latter also included admission to the rest of the museum. I spent over three appy hours there, half in the special exhibition and half going round the permanent exhibits. The special exhibition was a model of what such a thing should be, beautifully organised and presented. There were a fair number of other visitors, but not nearly as many as one would get in London (exhibitions like this tend to be a horrible zoo of people there). I was strongly tempted by the catalogue, but (a) it was quite expensive (b) the English version wasn't yet available, although I could have managed the French one OK and (c), most importantly, it was really really heavy and would have weighed down my luggage going home, so I decided against it.

In the permanent museum I particularly liked the late medieval area, where the had some lovely wooden panelling and ceramic stoves. There were very few other visitors in this part, and most of the time I was looking at the exhibits completely on my own.

If I had more time, I think I could easily have done another full day in Bern, as there was loads I didn't have time to see, e.g. the Alpine museum next to the Historical obne, which I would have seen if not for the glories of Charles the Bold.

Another trolleybus/tram back to the station, which was horribly crowded. The train was Spiez was 10 mins late (this was the only day I suffered late running of trains), and I only just made the connecting train to Interlaken.

Dear parents had gone up to Wengen (recommended by a friend), but DM was disappointed in it, finding it lacked charm for her and was "too commercialised". They then got teh cable car to Mannlichen, lunched there, and did 1 1/2 hour's walk to (Grund?) along the bottom of the Eiger, which they enjoyed, and came back via Grindelwald.

After dinner, we walked along the lake, seeing the first few grey clouds... We also had a drink in one of the few bars in the village.

Thursday 10 July
The clouds had all disappeared, and the sky was a perfect completely cloudless blue. This would have been the perfect day for our trip up the Jungfrau, but my father was tired out after all his walking the previous day, so we deceided to put it on hold. After all, there was bound to be another good day over the fortnight, right?

So we split up again and I took the 9.30 boat over to Brienz (an hour). It was a bit chilly on board outside due to the breeze, but I enjoyed the journey. A large crowd was in evidence on the quay at Brienz, and several coaches rvealed that the town is well and truly on the tour party route. An initial walk through the town took me through a rather commercialised strip which was slightly disconcerting. There were definitely some attractive old houses, but not as many as I'd seen in Bonigen when looking for a chemist on Tuesday morning. I popped into a few of the wood carving shops, and was surprised by quite how pricy they were (and not really all that special imo, apart from the Nativity figures, some of which were lovely, but at several hundred pounds for one figure, well over my budget). The town got prettier (and the tourists fewer) the further I got away from the station. I got as far as the Reformed church (about half an hour walking fairly gently and including the shop-stops), and walked up some pretty steep steps from the lake front. The church was a great vantage point over most of the village. Several of the doors were locked, but I evntually found a way in. It was very plain inside, but there was an attractive carved pulpit and wall tablet, the entry into Jerusalem on the front of the gallery, and a pretty flower design carved on the organ, all modern.

I went down an easier sloping path into the tranquil back part of the village, and this was the most charming section of Brienz imo, with the prettiest houses. I was interested to see several signs forbidding smoking out of doors during the Fohn wind.

I had lunch in a bakery-cum-cafe (the Steininger) in the touristy lakeside street, as this was virtually the only area there were places to eat. I had a sandwch and a delicious apricot tart. I then wandered back to the boat station and caught the 1.50 back to Bonigen. There was a fabulous view of the Giessbach waterfall from this direction. It was now very hot - time to bring out the sun cream and sunglasses.

Back in Bonigen I went to have a look at the village museum, housed in one of the old wooden houses. The temporary exhibition focussed on Bonigen in the Belle Epoque (1872-1914), the period tourism started there, and it was very interesting. The captions were all in German, but although my German is pretty basic, I could make out enough to interest me, and there were lots of pictures. I spent around an hour here, and then needed an icecream from the boat station.

DP had been into Interlaken again today. They liked Unterseen less than I had.

That night there was a concert on the quay after dinner (a kind of yodelling choir, and an Alpine horn player who accompanied someone juggling the Swiss flag). We had drinks in the pizzeria attached to the hotel; this became a favourite haunt for us in the evenings, and we either popped in here for drinks, or had them while playing cards in the hotel sitting room. Fine evenings we usually had a little walk along the lake or into the village.

Friday 11 July

It was nice but a bit cloudy today, so we crossed the Jungfrau off our list again, and decided to try the opne air museum at Ballenberg. we got a combined ticket for entry and the bus from Brienz with our boat ticket, and got the 9.30 boat and then the waiting bus. We got to Ballenberg West around 10.55.

We all really enjoyed the museum, but only managed to scratch the surface of what was there. It rained a bit just after we got there, causing panic and alarm as some of us (OK, just me) hadn't bothered with a waterproof or even a jumper today and I only had a T shirt on. DM kindly lent me one of the three spare layers she'd brought, and fortunately it soon sopped raining. By the afternoon, it was positively hot.

The site is laid out in areas reflecting the different regions of Switzerland from which the buildings originally came. I can't recommend this a day out highly enough, and it would also be good for families with children. It would have been a good place to bring our own picnic.

The animals in the stables of many of the houses (horses, donkeys, cows, etc) were all amenable to a bit of petting (DF is fond of animals). There were some interesting demonstrations, too - in one house they were cooking, in another weaving, in another making pottery. I also spotted some cows being led back to pasture after milking in a sweet little procession.

We also found out that having bought your ticket in advance doesn't mean you bypass the longish entrance queue. We did (because there wasn't an obvious sign saying we shouldn't), and got a slap on the wrist at the other entrance. We stayed until closing, then got the 5.10 bus and the 6 pm boat (last of the day).

Just as we got into Bonigen at 7, it started pouring with rain, with thunder and lightning. We eschewed our walk tonight, and played cards instead.

I'm so glad you were able to take this trip with your parents! I'm enjoying your report.

Thank you!

to continue:

Saturday 12 July
We woke up to an extremely thick blanket of fog, so yet again we shelved the Jungfrau. Had we missed our one opportunity?

We decided to head for Thun today. As I was spending the day with my parents again, we got a slightly later start, due to certain members of the party requiring extremely large breakfasts. So we took the 9.48 bus into Interlaken Ost, and switched to the 10.31 train to Thun. It started to rain, and the lake looked grey and a bit depressing today (it was a pretty sparkling blue from the train when I went to Bern). We got there at 11.10, and donned waterproofs (I managed to remember it today), and decided our first stop should be for a morning snack in a cafe. I elected for apricot tart again. I managed to pick up a leaflet with a walk around the old town.

We walked (and almost swam) around the old town for a bit and made our way up to the castle. We got a small discount with our Bonigen card here. I was particularly interested in the spoils from teh battle of Grandson, which complemented the Charles the Bold exhibition I'd seen in Bern (the Swiss trounced Charles there, and the Thunese were instrumental in the fight).

We split up for the rest of the day. The rain had stopped for the moment, and it was pleasantly cool, if cloudy. DP went to walk around the town, and I headed for the Stadtkirche (civic church), following the leaflet's suggested route. It had a nice pulpit, but had largely been modernised. I liked the Thun flag paimted on the ceiling, which looked C18.

I then backtracked to the castle and went down a set of arcaded steps (the Kirchtreppen). The leaflet took me past some other interesting looking old buildings (towers and a building called the Knabenschutzenhaus, which looked ike some kind of almshouse or orphanage from the C16).

There was another brief shower, then as it stopped around 3 pm, I ran into my parents who were in a cafe overlooking the river having a very late lunch. I'd already had an icecream, so I just joined them for a drink.

We split up again, and I walked onto reach the art museum just as it starting really pouring down. The museum seemed to be closed, so I took shelter for a few minutes under a bicycle shelter, and rather regretted the fact that I'd chosen to wear a floaty skirt and sandals. I raincoated up as much as I could, and crossed the covered bridge which doubled as the sluice over the river (the Obere Schleusse).

I followed the map on my leaflet (or so I thought) in the direction of the Wocher Panorama. Remember I said I could get lost anywhere? Yes, that's right, I did it following a map and ended up at a dead end. Because the map was on two sides of the paper, and I didn't match the two sides up properly, and thought one sticky-out bit was another sticky-out bit. So there I was, pretty much soaked below knee level and anxious I wouldn't get to the Panorama before it closed.

But I did eventually get there at 4.30, half an hour before closing, which turned out to be long enough to get a good looke at it. For anyone who hasn't heard of it, teh Panorama is an etremely interesting and very detailed circular panoramic image of Thun and its people going about their lives, painted 1808-1812, which is now presented in a modern circular building, with a small selection of other smaller C19 pictures and prints of Thun on the ground floor.

After that I popped into the nearby Scherzligen church, which had some lovely medieval wall paintings. I think they'd just had a wedding there.

My feet were tired as well as wet by this point, so I got the bus back to the station even though it wasn't that far. A very kind old lady at the bus stop let me shelter under her umbrella while we waited.

I got the 5.22 train back to Interlaken. It was pouring harder than ever now, but eased off a bit later. We had a short walk after dinner in our waterproofs (we're English; we're used to rain, although that doesn't stop us moaning about it).

In general I thought the town of Thun had quite a bit of ugly modern development, but I enjoyed the day, rain and all.

Sunday 13 July.
It was absolutely pouring with rain first thing this morning. DP had been planning on Bern for a rainy day (mainly for shopping), but I told them the previous night that all the shops would probably be shut, so they opted to come with me again. I wanted to see the castle at Oberhofen and Schloss Hunegg at Hilterfingen today.

The rain had reduced to more of a drizzle by the time we got away the 9.48, and we switched to the 10.09 bus to Thun, getting tickets to Hilterfingen, the slightly further stop. You can get to both castles by boat, but it's nearly two hours each way, the boats only run every two hours, and we would have long missed the first of the day, so the bus was much more convenient, and it was quite a pleasant drive. Any day but Sunday we would have needed to do them the other way around, as Sunday is the only day Hunegg is open from 11 am (other days it's only from 2).

We managed to get off a stop earlier than we should have done (at Hilterfingen Kirche rather than Hilterfingen Dorf), but it was more or less dry by now, and not that far.

We all enjoyed Schloss Hunegg. It's more what we would call a stately home than a castle, having been built in the late 19th century as a home for a Prussian soldier/nobleman (we never found out how he was allowed to own an estate in Switzerland), and it was decorated as it would have been for the subsequent owner, around 1900. It was beautifully kept, although there were some signs of damp, especially in the cellar, which was positively dank. It took around an hour and a half to go round, including the fascinating temporary exhibition of old toys in the top floor. All the labels were in German, but some things, eg dates and names, are obvious, and there was a very clear route marked through the castle. There were a number of other visitors, but it was far less crowded than an equivalent property would be in the UK. A fairly limited amount of refreshments was available, and we had slices of cake and drinks, since it was obviously Not The Weather For Icecream.

We walked back to Oberhofen, partly along the lakeside, which was pretty. For some reason my DP seemed to think one castle per day was enough, so they sloped off to a cafe while I went into Schloss Oberhofen. It's a remarkably pretty fairytale like building, and the interior incorporated rooms decorated to reflect different periods of its occupation, ranging from a rather chilling medieval torture chamber to a late 19th century Turkish-inspired smoking room on the top floor. A nice temporary exhibtion showcased Bernese pottery, and another was on the career of one of the castle's medieval owners. One charming feature was that they had a music student playing on an old instrument in one room.

We got the bus back to Interlaken, getting off at West station so we could traipse through town looking for an open shop where DF could buy a new memory card for his camera. (We eventually found one.) We picked up the 5.05 bus from Ost station, and got back to the hotel around quarter past, just as it started to rain. It stayed raining all evening.

Monday 14 July
Another nasty rainy day saw DP head off to Bern. I had intended to go to the St Beatus Hohlen (caves once inhabited by a hermit), then across to Spiez by boat in the afternoon. but when I tried to buy a bus ticket, the driver told me they were closed today due to the bad weather.

I was a bit stumped as to what to do, as everything I had in mind was either closed on Mondays or needed decent weather. I ended up just getting the 10.21 train to Spiez, thinking I could wander around and sit in a cafe until the castle opened at 2.

There was a long walk down to the old town from the station (supposedly 15 mins but it took me about twice that; I suspect I didn't take the most direct route). I found the castle, and had a look in the old church next to it, which had some lovely frescoes. By 11.30 the rain had died down to a faint drizzle, and I walked down to the pretty little harbour, where I was taken aback to find all the cafes were shut. Apparently Monday was the day of rest in Spiez. This was not good.

I ended up struggling all the way back up the hill to the Migros supermarket restaurant for a meal. It did only take 15 minutes coming back down the second time, and the sky had begun to clear, so I walked around the castle garden, then sat on a miraculously dried bench for a while until 2 pm.

The castle was a very nice medieval one, which took an hour and a bit to see, skipping part of the tower which had scary looking steps. I then got the 3.54 boat back to Interlaken West (an announcement confirmed that the caves were indeed closed). My feet were still wet from the morning (yes, not learning from Thun I had worn my sandals again), but my spirits (nearly if not quite as damp) were lifted a little to see a fresh sprinking of snow on the mountains around me.

DP enjoyed their day in Bern. They did some shopping, saw a film at the visitor centre near the bear pits, and saw the poor bear (we debated whether there was just the one there).

Tuesday 15 July.
Yay, it had not only STOPPED RAINING, it was actually pretty nice. It wasn't cloudless, but the clouds were few and low, and it was clear on the Jungfrau. The hotel room TVs showed one channel of local tourist info, including morning feeds showing live images from the tops of the Jungfrau and Schilthorn, and updates on what mountain cablecars and paths were open, and we'd taken to checking regularly. So although not absolutely perfect, this seemed like our best shot at the Jungfrau. In fact, by the time we got to Lauterbrunnen (nearly 11) it was absolutely glorious.

The train was full going up, and I ended up sitting on the steps. (I can't stand for more than about twenty minutes without severe backache.)

I guess there's not much to say about the Jungfrau that others haven't on many occasions. I didn't think it was as cold on the Sphinx observation terrace as I had expected. The views were pretty spectacular, although we couldn't go all the way round the outside due to a fallen icicle, and of course we took lots of photos.

I posted my postcards from here. DP went round the ice palace and were unimpressed. I just couldn't bring myself to set foot on the ice (I have terrible balance; I once fell over the front doorstep).

Getting down was dreadful; there were just too many people. The 4 pm train left more like 4.25, but luckily we did all manage to get seats (together, too). We're pleased we did the trip - we would have felt we had missed out if we hadn't been, but it isn't really a highlight for us. The busy-ness wasn't/isn't really a surprise; it's the obvious day trip everyone wants to do in the Bernese Oberland; most people know you need to do it on a good day; many people were probably in the area for a shorter time than us; and it was the first decent day in the best part of a week, with a fairly gloomy forecast; so no wonder it was bad.

We got back to the hotel just in time for dinner.

On some past trips, I remember thinking how crowded that Jungfrau train was. I hope you also got a chance to spend some time just hanging out for lunch in Kleine Scheidegg.

Thanks for the reports of your journey.

Now playing:

The Moody Blues: The best way to travel

Wednesday 16 July.

Today was perfect weatherwise. We decided to go up to the Schynige Platte, and tbh we really enjoyed it more than the Jungfrau trip. We spent 2-3 hours in the Alpine garden (and saw some Edelweiss!). we chickened out of the walk to the Daube viewpoint because the drops were quite steep, but the parts we did had some beautiful views.

The trains were fairly full coming down, but we managed to grab seats in separate carriages.

The clouds gathered again that night...

Thursday 17 July
I woke early to a grey day, and decided this was the day to take a day trip to Lucerne. Optimistically (and very wrongly) I hoped I would be heading out of the way of the rain that was obviously coming today. I skipped breakfast and caught the 6.48 bus (no one else was stupid enough to be on it other than the driver who had no option) and the 7.04 train from Interlaken to Lucerne. The two hour train journey was very pretty.

Just as I got to Lucerne at 9.04, it started to rain. Heavily. Very heavily. What was I wearing? That's right, I'd opted for my summer things again. Oops. At least I had my waterproof, so I gritted my teeth and started following the walk suggested in my guide book.

I was impressed by the fine Baroque interior of the Jesuit church, and found a nice cafe-conditorei nearby (the Niederberger) for breakfast. What, apricot tartlets and Coca Cola Zero aren't a healthy balanced breakfast? Today, they were an absolute essential. Especially as the rain was getting even worse.

I loved the Franciscan church, and then took shelter for a while in the historical museum. They've obviously spent a lot of money on this, and in many respects the presentation is a paradigm of the modern museum. I was less pleased that they had also competely dispensed with such old fashioned things as labels; every item on display was identified with a barcode, and one could get the corresponding description by swiping it with a special reader. Unhappily they only issued the readers in return for holding visitors' passports in a not very secure looking box at reception. I wasn't happy about doing this, so I had to see things blind. Some things are obvious, of course, but with others one would like some context. OK, I was probably unnecessarily nervous about it.

The temporary exhibit on the history of lake bathing and swimming in Lucerne was pretty enjoyable, and this one did have actual labels (in German, but you can get the rough gist of things). Altogether I was there around an hour; it would have been longer if I'd had some idea what was what (g).

The rain had more or less stopped by the time I got out, and I walked along the old city walls. This route was pretty steep, and at one point I held on to an innocent looking wire fence adjoining the path to catch my balance. It turned out to be an electric fence, which gave me a little shock. A passer by then helpfully informed me that it was electric. This had already impressed itself on me. Further up, there was a warning sign, but Too Late.

It started raining again, and was pouring down in positive sheets by thetime I got to the Lion monument. I went into the cathedral, but the rain didn't let up for a second.

Having finished the basic walk round the old part of Lucerne I was in rare need of a hot midday meal, and I got some rosti with meat and cheese at the World Cafe attached to the Kunstmuseum (art gallery). After that, since nothing in the world was going to get me doing anything at all out of doors at that point, I decided to have a look at the gallery.

It was quite pricy (18 francs). There were two shows exhibiting, one of modern (some conceptual) art, which is not something I much care for; and one of pleasant but tbh second or third rate 19th century Swiss artists, which I did quite enjoy (a mixture of portraits and landscapes).

I'd had enough of Lucerne by then. I kind of enjoyed it, but I'm sure it's a lot prettier when it's dry. Or even raining just a little. So I got the 3.55 back to Interlaken, and the 6.05 bus.

DP had also had rain all day. They went to Brienz and Meiringen; originally they planned on going to the falls, buit it was so bad they just stuck around for meringues and came back early.

Hi Nonconformist,

I'm also enjoying this! Thanks so much for your detailed report!

s

I forgot to mention that I found the way out of Lucerne station very tricky. It wasn't clear which exit I needed, and I kept on coming up in the wrong place, deciding the traffic was too bad for me to want to cross the road, and going back into the station and coming up again.

Friday 18 July
I'd originally been planning a few mountain trips, but the dreadful weather had rather soured me on the idea, and I'd been reading my guide books again, so today I decided to pay a visit to Solothurn, noted for its Baroque architecture. I didn't regret it (although in retrospect I'd have done it on the Thursday or Sunday).

I caught the 7.48 bus, bought my ticket, just got the 8.01 train to Bern, and changed there for Solothurn. The Solothurn trains go from platforms 21-24 at the far end of Bern station, and it was a bit tricky finding them, but no real problem in the end. I got into Solothurn at 9.40ish.

It was grey when I left Bonigen, but in a reversal of the previous day, it brightened up once I got to Solothurn, and was nice the rest of the day. This may have contributed to the fact that I enjoyed the day so much more, but Solothurn is a genuinely nice place to visit.

I followed the Bradt walk into and around the old town, with a few detours when I saw something interesting. It was a great place just to wander, and I probably took more photos today than any other day of the trip. There was a delightful light and airy feel to the old part of town.

I couldn't go into the cathedral at first, because a service was going on (maybe a baptism, because when I did get in later, there was a lot of water on the floor at the front). The bells were also ringing in one of the least musical peals I've ever heard. Quite a racket they made.

I had ice cream in a cafe near the cathedral, then wandered around the town. The Jesuit church was beautiful if very elaborate Baroque, just the right side of being almost too much, but I didn't care for the pictures they had.

Having seen most of the other points of interest, I wandered back to the cathedral, and at last was able to see inside. My patience was rewarded by the interior, which is the most beautiful, restrained Baroque imaginable. I loved it.

I had some lunch in a nice cafe-conditorei near the Biel Gate, then went to the main bus stop in Amthausplatz, just oustide the old town. I would have liked to visit the Schloss Waldegg close by, but it was closed today (which is why I said earlier I should have picked Thursday or Sunday for this trip, and would have if I'd researched this part of the trip in advance). I went instead to the Blumenstein Museum, which was on the same bus route as Schloss Waldegg, but not quite as far (only 10 minutes).

I got there half an hour before it opened at 2, so I walked around what was left of the garden, then sat and had a quiet read for a while. (The staff actually saw mw waiting and let me in a bit early.) Admission was free. The Blumenstein museum is basically the Solothurn historical museum, housed in an old country house. The lower floors are nicely set out in 18th century style, and the top floor has some old pictures of Solothurn plus a tempraray exhibit. When I was there it was a loaned exhibition from, and about Krakow in Poland, which was interesting in its own right, but slightly unexpected. It didn't take much more than an hour, so I got the 3.18 bus back to the station, and the 3.48 train back to Bern, then the 4.35 from Bern to Interlaken. I contemplated breaking the journey at Jegenstorf, but I wouldn't really have had more than an hour, so decided that would be overkill.

DP walked to Ringgisberg, another village on Lake Brienz, which they enjoyed very much, then walked back into Interlaken and wached paragliders.

I'm glad people are enjoying it. I enjoyed myself while I was there, despite the rain (g).

Saturday 19 July.
It was another lovely day, and I really should have gone into the mountains or to Kanderstegg (somewhere I'd had on my list of places I wanted to go to before I got there), but I'd really gone off the idea by this point, so I tooka nother city trip again today. This time I was intrigued by Fribourg, which my guide books said was an undiscovered gem. It was a bit less successful than my Solothurn trip, but I have no real regrets.

Again I got the 7.48 bus and the 8.01 to Bern, connecting there with the 9.04 to Fribourg. There were large numbers of youthful soldiers travelling today. I presumed it was a changeover day for national service.

My guide book was a bit out of date, because the tourist info office has moved, and is now right by the station. I picked up some leaflets there. I should have asked about the bus system here, because I couldn't make head or tail of it. I just couldn't work out what zone was what, or what ticket I would need. In despair, I gave up and decided I would just have to walk around.

Things started out OK. Places of interest were reasonably well signposted, plus I had a fair map in my guidebook. I popped into various churches in the upper part of the town, most important of them being the beautiful Gothic cathedral. I was very struck there by the modern Millennium Cross, a rather remarkable sculpture showing Christ with His arms raised from the cross. Notre Dame church is undergoing much-needed restoration at the moment. I really liked the Franciscan church (L'eglise des Cordeliers) - there was a great sense of light.

Fribourg is rather a charming town, and it made a nice change to have things written in French, which I read and speak much better than I do German. There was quite a lot of traffic.

I spent over two hours in the really excellent art and history museum (8 francs, well worth it). I was the only visitor to the main historical section, in the old Ratze mansion, so I could enjoy some very interesting exhibits at my leisure. A couple of other people were there when I was in the art section in the old slaughterhouse.

I abandoned the walk when I realised how far down I had to go to get to the medieval quarter, plus the traffic was awful. I vaguely knew there was a funicular, but I couldn't find where it went from, and as I said earlier, I couldn't work out the bus system here.

I found a cafe for a snack, and was about to admit defeat and perhaps go somewhere else for the rest of the afternoon, when I stumbled across the ticket booth for the "mini-train" tour of the old town, and decided to do this. It was quite fun, not a s good as strolling around the old streets, but what was an acceptable compromise for me by that time. (I saw the funicular while on it, but it was a bit late by then).

I got the 4.34 back to Bern after that, and proceeded home.

DP were a bit vague about place names, but I think had been to Lauterbrunnen, cable car to I think Winteregg, walked back to Murren, lunch there, bus to Stechelbach, saw the Trummelbach falls (DM didn't like them, scary drops she said) then home.

Sunday 20 July
We didn't want our last full day to be too taxing, as we needed to pack that night.

We decided to have a look at Wilderswil, as we didn't have time the day we went othe Schynige Platte. We got the train (free with our Bonigen cards). My parents went for a walk, and I looked for the village museum. It was a long walk to find, and I didn't go the quickest way. It was modest but nicely done, with actual captions translated into English; in retrospect I would have used the time to see the Unspunnen ruins instead. If I'd been on my own I would have done both.

There are some pretty old wooden houses in Wilderswil, as in Bonigen and Brienz.

I'd arranged to meet my parents again at the Gasthaus Steinbock, by Gsteig church, and we had a drink together. We had a look at the church, which has some nice old frescoes inside, then headed into Interlaken to find somewhere touristy enough to serve us cheese fondue.

After that, we walked along the Aare back to Bonigen, and after a brief stop at the hotel, followed a walking route around the village to see the most interesting of the old wooden houses, from a leaflet I'd picked up at the tourist info office. (There was an official guided walk on Tuesdays, but we weren't aware of it our first Tuesday, and the second one was the day we wnet up the Jungfrau.) It was raining slightly, but we still enjoyed it.

We then went back to the hotel to start packing.

Monday 21 July
We had a leisurely breakfast, then went into Interlaken to pick up our baggage receipts and e-tickets from the fly-rail desk at the station, having sent the baggage earlier.

There's not much to say about the journey home, as everything went smoothly.

One thing I haven't mentioned is the swans. There were a pair regularly at our end of the lake, who one could feed by hand if so inclined; DF is very fond of feeding swans by hand. We sometimes saved up leftover bread from meals that would otherwise have been thrown away, and gave it to them, and once DF had the nerve (to silent mortification of DM) to ask the restaurant staff if they had any stale bread he could give the swans. (They did.)

Lake Brienz is beautiful even in the rain. We were extremely pleased we picked Bonigen as our base; it was so quiet and charming it was hard to believe it was less than 10 minutes away from Interlaken by bus, which made it easy to get everywhere we wanted to go. The only disappointment was the weather, which can't be helped.

I think that's about it.

Nonconformist, I have not even finished reading your posts of yesterday, but I must tell you how much I'm enjoying your report. It's been years since I stayed in Leissigen and before that Brienz, but your vivid descriptions have brought back all sorts of great memories, including those of Solothurn. What a nice small city, yes?

I'm especially dazzled by the number of discoveries you made that are news to me! My stay in Brienz was seven days and Leissigen four, but evidently the secret is two weeks! I'm familiar with all the daytrips you took, but during each one you mention small bits that either I've forgotten or never 'realized.' Feel free to add as many details as you can recall. If you can find out more about your DP walk to Ringgenberg, I'd love to read it. One of my favorite villages was Iseltwald on your side of the lake. I've not been to Bonigen, except as seen from the boat, but I've seen pictures of the wooden houses.

Grateful for this most enjoyable trip down memory lane. (frescoes, too!) J.

Terrific trip report with a great writing style.

Thanks for sharing. Reading how you go about your travels makes me remember that it's almost always best to *slow down* when traveling.

Thanks again for the great report.

It did look as if you and your group caught some less than great days (Terms of weather)and you made the best of those days big time.

Last year I caught 4 days out of 5 where it rained and it rained and it rained again and again and again. My last day in the area the glorious sun and blue skies opened.

I am not one to go off into the mountains when the mountain views are not that good either. I have seen many people though that go off equipped with all of that bright gortex rain gear. I usually go to Bern or somewhere on those kind of days.

Great report!!

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