Interlaken and Thun, Part 2

 

Out of our three days in Interlaken, the second day brought grey skies

so we decided to reorganise our outings and use this second day

to visit the town of Thun.

First of all a good breakfast in our hotel. 

I was very taken with the decoration on the centre of the saucers!

Here is my morning coffee with the decoration revealed!

We took a train to Thun which only takes 35 minutes. The tracks run

alongside the Thun Lake.

The town has lots of lovely pedestrian streets and the Aare River runs through the town

and outside terraces are dotted all along the water.

Here is part of the river with the covered bridge which we crossed to go and visit the castle.

This is taken from the covered bridge.

The cogwheel that can be seen is part of a mechanism to regulate the flow

of the fast moving water.

A wider view of the same scene.

Here's a view of the church and to the left of that, the towers of the castle further away.

Here is an old painting of the castle as it was in the olden days.

Thun Castle in the city of Thun which is in the Swiss canton of Bern.

It was built in the 12th century and today it house the Thun Castle Museum which is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

We climbed up to the highest turrets to get a view of the town.

This one overlooks the Rathausplatz (the Town Hall Square).

This is the view on the other side, with the church lower down

 and the River Aare running towards the lake.

I liked this closer view of the church steeple and the red roofs of Thun.

We can see the point where the river joins the lake.

The Stadkirche (city church) is the city's main Reformed church.

The church dominates the old town of 
Thun and is defined by its striking medieval tower.

We walk back down the hill to the town centre

and the face of the church tower makes me smile!

Here's the Town Hall Square that we saw from the top of the castle.

An attractive restaurant with parasols on the outside terrace

and you can see the canton of Bern flag on the right: red with a brown bear.

Flowers and a parked bicycle in one of the pedestrian streets

We took the train back to Interlaken and then had a very delicious

and special meal at one of the Indian restaurants!

We chose different vegetarian dishes.

The restaurant was appropriately called Taj Palace.

Some of the flowers I saw in the mountains.

Next time, I'll be showing you our last day's outing on the turquoise lake of Brienz

and our trip into the mountains with a little steam engine!

Lucerne in October - Part 2

Now we are going to glimpse parts of the old town of Lucerne.

The water which separates two parts of the old town

is called the River Reusse which joins the lake.

Here is a close up of Chapel Bridge with colourful flowers arranged along the whole length.

The well-known tower attached to the bridge.

The building with the arcades underneath is the Town Hall

with the clock tower behind.

This is the view that I had from my hotel room.

It's a very old pharmacy with lovely stonework and an exciting turret.

The small fountain which can also be seen from my room.

Looking towards the other end of the River Reusse at the opposite end to the lake.

After crossing one of the bridges,

there are beautiful decorated house facades to be seen.

This is one of my favourites.

It's part of the Waage Hotel which is steeped in history

which dates back to 1199.

The famous facade murals are among the most photographed in Lucerne.

I love the coloured tiled roof as well.

Here is a close-up.

I've shown this particular red and white building several times,

but taken from different points of view.

It was particularly lovely on this sunny day with deep blue reflections in the water.

This is the Jesuit Church which can be seen on several different photos

on my visit to Lucerne last December 2018.

Part 1

and 

Part 2

This is the interior of the church in the Baroque style.

More architecture with turrets and an old lamp

Another interesting detail.

Maybe you can just read the words below the middle window:

"Festina Lente"

which means: 'Hasten slowly'!

The sky was so pretty here

The saying goes: "Mares' tails and mackerel scales."

In the days of large sailing ships, these kind of clouds in the sky meant

a storm would be approaching soon and the sails should be lowered to protect

from accompanying high winds.

A close up view of the reflected flowers.

On our last evening, I left the dinner table right after the first course

to catch the setting sun.

We can just see details of the fortified wall leading up to the tower.

Next time, I'm going to walk up there!

An old lamp against that sunset sky.

It was a lovely stay in a beautiful town on the lake.

Zermatt in September 2019: Part 2

After lunch in the hamlet of Findeln,

we set off down the steep path back to Zermatt.

I loved these dark coloured chalets against the blue of the sky.

Looking back and noticing snow on the mountains in the background.

The path is very steep in parts, like this one here down to the next hamlet.

I was wearing appropriate mountains boots,

but walking poles would have been a great help too,

especially where there were rocks and tree roots on the path.

The striking Matterhorn mountain appears to us many times during our way down.

Another mountain range and chalets dotted on the slopes.

The cows were mostly lying down at this point of our journey.

There were no enclosures to keep them in one pasture

and I wondered why.

I went a bit closer and then zoomed in even further to capture the cow bell.

The narrow paths downwards and plenty of rocks, 

so it's best to look where we place our feet.

A bit further down on the same path. 

The lower one with the barrier is for hikers

and the one above had a signpost saying it was for mountain bikes!

There were sometimes small cabins along the way

and benches to rest awhile and drink some water.

Best to choose a bench in the shade as it was a rather hot day.

The shady parts were extremely welcome!

As we neared the town of Zermatt, there were many more chalets.

I was happy to catch these two grey horses and a carriage.

No ordinary cars are allowed in Zermatt and all local vehicules are electric.

Some of the bigger hotels have horses and carriages to transport visitors.

It had taken us much longer than expected to hike down to the town again.

It took us over three hours.

It's true that I stopped often to take photos

and once or twice we left the beaten track!

This house on the top of a rock always fascinates me.

One day I must go up there to see what it's like.

On our last morning, I got dressed early and went outside just after 6 am.

I wanted to catch the first rays of sun as they hit the peak of the Matterhorn.

Time: 6:48 a.m.

The first sun illuminates the summit.

Time: 7:01 a.m.

The mountain is fully illuminated, but not yet the surrounding area.

Time: 7:12 a.m.

On the other side of the sky a tree silhouette against the purple and pink

looks equally lovely. 

The time here is 6:41 a.m.

Ten minutes later, the sky looks completely different.

A cut-out silhouette of the mountains at sunrise

The last shot of this iconic mountain, showing the surrounding areas.

Going back to the train station with our suitcases and enjoying the flower laden window boxes

and the flag from the Canton of Valais.

A lovely photographic souvenir of these beautiful days spent in the mountains.

Click on the link below if you would like to see Part 1 of this stay

Zermatt in September 2019: Part 1