An awesome trip to Switzerland… part 2

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    19 September 2018 at 17:03:12 #818440

    Day 3 – We checked out of our hotel in Luzern, walked to the train station and caught the Luzern – Interlaken express (there are 2 each hour and it was around 8am). We got off the train in Meiringen. There were no available lockers to fit our suitcases but the SBB office at the train station was willing to store our bags (1oCHF ea). We took the Meiringen-Inertkirchen railway to the Aareschlucht Ost station (3 stops – 10 minutes).

    This is a single car train and the station has got to be the world’s smallest – just a door through the mountain to the outside. From the station, we crossed a foot bridge and climbed the stairs (a lot of stairs) to the entrance of the Aare gorge. Admission is free with the Swiss Travel Pass and you walk along the river in a rock canyon on steel walkways suspended from the rock. At the other end of the gorge (Aareschlucht West) you can catch the train back to Meiringen but we chose to walk back (about 45 minutes) . Back in Meiringen, we retreived our luggage and caught the next train (less than a 15 minute wait) to Breinz (only about a 10 minute ride).

    We stashed our luggage in lockers (5CHF each) and crossed the street to the Brienz-Rothorn steam train. We purchased tickets at the station (50% discount with the travel pass) and hopped on the train for an immediate departure. The timing was convenient thanks to the SBB mobile app and the non existent crowds in September. The ride up (and down) takes about an hour each way but the views and the steep ride makes the time fly by. When we reached the top, we were in the cl0uds which were thick enough, we had to follow the path to find the hotel and restaurant. While we ate (and had a beer), the weather did its magic and, 1/2 hour later, we had full stomachs and a view in every direction. The weather changes quick.

    After a total time on the Rothorn of about an hour, we took the steam train back down to Brienz in time to catch the 4 pm paddle wheel steamer from Brienz to Interlaken. We remembered at the last moment to get our luggage from the lockers before boarding the boat (whew) and we made the boat with 5 minutes to spare. The boat ride takes almost 2 hours but the turquoise lake, and the mountain views don’t disappoint. Also, the restaurant on board has a healthy beer selection (are you noticing a theme here)… It’s only a 5 minute walk from the dock in Interlaken to the Interkaken Ost train station where we caught the next train to Grindelwald. By the way, there are ramps and escalators everywhere so it’s not a problem to drag your luggage on wheels along. Less than 1/2 hour later, we arrived in Grindelwald and it was a 5 minute walk to Hotel Eiger, our home for the next 3 nights. This is a great hotel with multiple restaurants, bars, a spa, and a view. Besides, they have a restaurant named Barry’s which is my name so how could we stay anywhere else! I learned that the restaurant was named after a St Bernard with the same name that was responsible for several rescues. Yes, we ate dinner there that night (good burger).

    Day 4 (Sept 7) – We took the train to Lauterbrunnen (it takes 2 trains). We stopped at the tourist office (the battery of the WIFI device we rented wasn’t holding it’s charge any longer) as they were a Travelors WIFI partner location and they replaced the device for us with no issues. We took the bus from the train station to Trummelback falls, an indoor waterfall with an angled elevator and multiple viewing spots and then walked from the falls to Stechelberg (about 45 min).From there we took the cable car up to the top of the Schilthorn. This was fully covered by the Swiss travel pass (it takes 4 cable cars to get to the top). The Schilthorn was shrouded in clouds so there were no views from the top however had lunch at the Piz Gloria in the hopes that it would clear (it didn’t). We did enjoy all of the James Bond themed activities (there is a really cool James Bond men’s room complete with sound effects).This was the only day of less than ideal weather as every other day was beautiful. On the way down, we got off of the cable car in Murren. We were below the clouds at this point so, although it was overcast, there were views of the mountains and cliffs. We walked through the town and then took the train from Murren to Grutchalp and the cable car back down to Lauterbrunnen.

    On one of our train rides (how many have we done already?!) while checking our tickets, the conductor noticed my wife’s last name and commented that there was a bakery in Interlaken with the same name so, of course we had to check it out….. So, from Lauterbrunnen, we took the train to Interlaken Ost and then walked along the river for about 1 mile or so until we found the bakery. The owner was there and spoke enough English that made for an enjoyable visit. We bought cookies and bread to take home to the US with us but ended up eating it long before going home. On the walk back to the train station, we came upon the kids races which are part of the Jungrau marathon (the main run was the following day). Lots of music and festivities.

    We caught the next train back to Grindelwald and made it back to our hotel. We were too tired to go to dinner which is where the cookies from the bakery went.

    More To Follow…
    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/title-an-awesome-trip-to-switzerland-part-3

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