Fuzzy Cows, Funiculars and Fondue!

I had an uneventful day today. Well, less eventuful anyway. For some reason I was exhausted. (It couldn't possibly be the trip up about 13,000 ft now, could it?) So I had every intention of sleeping in. Which I did! Thank you for my new room in my new huge bed at my hotel! Comfeh!!! Right, back to the story. I thought I would take a lake/castle cruise on Lake Thun (aka Thunersee in German). How e'er it was not meant to be as the schedule for the boats on both lakes is wonky as all hell. So, I settled for going to see the Giessbach falls on Lake Brienz (aka Briensersee in Swiss-ish).

I heard tell that the falls are quite lovely as is the trip to see them. I am certainly not one to give up a chance to see waterfalls, so I walked my fabulous self all the way to Interlaken Ost (which is where everything leaves from and is about a mile away) and got myself a ticket on the boat. Turns out the boat does this weird trip where it stops on the lake several times by going back and forth in a zig-zaggy motion. Weird, but you get to see almost the whole lake.

The water on the lake is soooo blue. Actually its more teal. It is almost unnatural. They don't really know why it is that color. But nothing has been added to it to make it that turquoisey-teal hue. Its quite something to behold.

Giessbach was about 1/2 way through the trip to Brienz which is on the other side of the lake. It took about an hour to get there. The Giessbach Falls are famous. There is a hotel situated right next to the falls. It costs an arm, a leg and several other appendages to stay there. But it is stunning. I'm getting ahead of myself. I had to take a funicular to get up to the hotel. It is actually the oldest funicular in all of Europe. It was built in 1879 and is absolutely gorgeous. It takes you all the way up to the hotel and goes right over the falls on the way, giving lots of pic opportunities. Its a small but steep hill, so it only takes a few minutes to get up there.

The falls are gorgeous. Totally worth the trip. I didn't have much time there sadly. The boat schedule, as I mentioned earlier, is completely wonky and ridonkulous, so I only had about 25 mins up near the falls. But I took lots of pictures! There are several places on the way up that have bridges where you can stand directly above the falls. Its very cool. I wish I had more time, but I only got up to the 1st platform/bridge. The view from there was well worth it though! As you can see, you could almost touch the water. And the hotel's view is really something special. No wonder it costs so much!

I took the funicular back down. It is run by this tiny old man who you want to hug on site. Seriously, he was adorable. I told him so, he said people say that all of the time. I'm sure he gets badgered for pics all of the time, so I didn't ask for one. I'm not that crazy tourist girl. ;)

The trip back felt longer. But it was equally as lovely. The sun was shining on different parts of the lake and the mountains were covered by new cloud formations. It felt so good to be doing nothing for once. Not learning music, not working, not reading, not searching. Just seeing and being and taking it all in. This trip was really needed. I needed a break from life and everything involved in it. I will be heading home in a few weeks time and then I have to face reality and I don't even want to think about that so on with the story of the day!

FUZZY COWS! They are everywhere. With their tinkly bells and cuteness. I can't even deal with it. We don't have fuzzy cows like this in the states. I have no idea what they are actually called, but I want one. Or 10. I love animals and farm animals especially are precious to me. Its all those years of riding. I can't help it. Unfortunately, everytime I try to take a picture of one, the train moves or the boat turns, or the cow goes away. But trust me. Fuzzy cows are awesome.

So to continue with my leisurely day, I went back to my hotel to enjoy my balcony for the last time. *sobs* I am going to another city tomorrow and I have to change hotels anyway because this one doesn't have rooms avialable. So no more beautiful balcony. I love it so much that I am sitting on it right now in the dark freezing my bum off. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME LEAVE! *cling* I kid. Its lovely and I will miss it, so I wanted to take advantage of it while I could. I need to get me a balcony if I ever get my own place of some sort. Though, at this point I'll probs live in a cardboard box in an alley! ;)

I have discovered that I am not a hostel girl. Nope. I can't do it. Its not for me. I'm not that much of a people person. Ok, its not that I'm not a people person, its that I can't sleep in the same room with a bunch of strangers who can kill me in my sleep! I'm not down with that people. Its not in my Gilsosophy. But that's ok. So I spent much of the afternoon looking up hotels for my next destination on Sunday which is a surprise! WHEE!!!

My fantastic and fab mother has been telling me that I need to have fondue while I'm here. Well, of course I do! Its the land of fondue for goodness sake! So I looked up a few tourist tra places that serve it and went in search of Bebbi's. Yup, Bebbi's. Ya know what I discovered? Me no likey fondue. Not a fondue fan, if you will. It was the cheese. It was strong in a weird way. I was honestly disappointed. But yes, I am one of those people who takes pics of their food. So here you go!


So that's about it for my day. And pretty much it for Interlaken, I think. Tomorrow I am going to Lucerne as it is only a few hours away. I will be coming back to Interlaken tomorrow night and then I head to Frankfurt on Saturday morning, so that's it for my adventures here between the lakes. *sigh* I don't wanna leave! But after Frankfurt for 1 night, I am going to one of my favorite places in the world! You'll see what I mean!