Interlaken, Part 1

 

My daughter and I decided to go to take a short holiday in the area of Interlaken

The town of Interlaken is a resort town in the mountainous Bernese Oberland

of central Switzerland.

It's built on a narrow stretch of valley between the turquoise-coloured waters

of Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.

This is the view we had from our hotel rooms.

In the background we can glimpse the Lake Brienz.

When we arrived late morning, we left our cases at the hotel

and took the funicular up to a place called Harder Kulm.

Just coming out of the funicular with the lake in the background.

We walked a little way up to the restaurant and enjoyed a typical

macaroni and potato dish in a cream sauce served with crispy onions and  apple purée with

a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.

This dish is called Älplermagronen (Swiss Alpine Macaroni)

Very delicious with a glass of blond beer.

After lunch, we walked in a woodland area

before taking the funicular down again.

The carved statues (famous in this part of Switzerland) were full of character

and so well made. This one overlooks the Brienz Lake.

The amazing view from the highest point with the Aare River running

into the Thun Lake below.

How about this fellow blowing the Alpenhorn?

The weather was mixed with sunshine and clouds, but we can still

notice the lovely turquoise hue to the lakes.

I think these two are my favourite sculptures.

My daughter liked them too!

We walked back down the hill to catch the funicular down to the valley.

We walked back to the hotel for a little rest and a refreshing shower

before having our dinner in the hotel restaurant.

The view from our hotel and the mountain with snow is called the Jungfrau.

The Jungfrau, at 4.158 meters, is one of the main summits

of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern

and the southern canton of Valais.

This is the first part of our stay in Interlaken.

I'll be adding more photos at the weekend to show the town of Thun.

The view from the hotel restaurant at dinner time.

I'll be showing more lake photos, but I just wanted to end up with this view

on Lake Brienz which I also used for my blog header.

The water really is that colour!

Zermatt in September 2019: Part 1

The star of Zermatt is the beautiful Matterhorn mountain.

This was taken from above the town from a lovely restaurant in the mountains.

I really like the way they have arranged bottles of flowers on high ledges

 in front of this marvelleous view.

But first of all, we'll visit the town before going up into the mountains for a hike.

Switzerland is well known for its beautiful arrangements of geraniums

and they're particularly beautiful on the wooden chalets.

Here is the hotel we stayed in which is very near the small centre,

but just on the other side of the River Matter Vispa that runs through Zermatt.

A pretty garden in a side street.

You can see the dome of the museum on the upper right.

From the balcony of my hotel room

I could see the Hotel Julen in typical darkened and weathered wood

which shows off the window boxes of flowers so well.

This was taken in the early morning.

Another chalet adorned with flowers and even a pair of mountain boots.

The Zermatterhof is a beautiful hotel in classical style.

This is where my son and his bride stayed last year in August

 and it's where the wedding reception was held.

Here is the link if you would like to see it:

A Wedding in Zermatt

The church steeple of St. Mauritius.

This plaque in the main street is to honour the first man to successfully reach

the summit of the Matternhorn with two guides.

It was a dangerous ascent and the equipment was rather rudimentary.

You can read about it here:

The first ascent of the Matterhorn

On the second day of our stay, we took a funicular up to a station called Sunnegga.

This is the view that greeted us!

You can see the glacier on the right of the image.

We took a small path down to a little hamlet called Findeln.

The cows were still grazing at this high altitude of 2.288 metres.

Soon they will be leaving the mountains to descend down the valley

for their winter quarters.

When we arrived in Findeln, we headed for a wonderful restaurant, called Chez Vrony,

 with fabulous views and a welcoming outside terrace.

The long wooden tables and white parasols make it perfect to sit outside.

Isn't it inviting?

The view is pretty marvellous too.

This is where we had our after lunch coffee.

Inside the chalet restaurant looking out over the sunny terrace.

It must be so snug for skiers here in the winter!

Here are Vrony and Max, the lovely owners of this restaurant.

They kindly allowed me to photograph them.

Here is a typical chalet on stilts used for storing grain.

The large discs of stone prevented rats and mice from climbing into the building

to eat the stored cereal.

When we could tear ourselves away from the lovely terrace and delicious organic food,

we started our descent down the valley.

Another chalet in the same Findeln Hamlet.

The pathway down was quite steep, but the views were fabulous all the way.

If you would like to see more mountain shots,

come back at the end of September when I'll be doing the next blog entry!

I just added this colourful collage to wish you all a very happy

Autumn Equinox

on Monday 23 September!

A cruise on the lake. Part one.

The pleasure of watching the steam boat come in and to go aboard

for a three-hour summer cruise.

The crowds move forward to enter the boat

and I lag behind to capture the flowers.

Our journey takes us past Chillon Castle which was made popular

by Lord Byron, who wrote "The Prisoner of Chillon".

The castle is very old and the first written records

date back to the mid 12th century.

We see the charming Château du Châtelard in Clarens, placed on a hillside

with sloping vineyards.

These days, the castle can be rented for weddings, banquets and seminars.

You can even sleep there overnight.

We pass an elegant sailing boat with a lot of standing room!

As the boat sails towards the far end of the lake,

the imposing "Dents du Midi" mountains seem to close-in on us.

This chain of mountains is three kilometres long

and the highest, called "La Haute Cime", is 3257 metres high.

This was an amusing interlude: on one of our stops, a small boat circled

around our bigger one playing the most cheerful little tunes

on a steam-organ (see the pipes with the steam).

We were all delighted and clapped and waved and cheered to the 

steam-organ master who waved back with a big smile on his face!