Schweiz Day One

Day one in Switzerland:

After traveling for 12 hours, I get to my hostel only to find that the room I have with a few girls only has a top bunk available, which I can’t get up on. I asked them to move, they wouldn’t. Bitches. So I had to take a mixed dorm where there were 2 Korean guys. I freaked and just couldn’t do it, so I got online, found a hotel down the street and booked it for a few nights.

I love my hotel. It is a little on the expensive-side and the room is fairly small, but I don’t care. It is a 4-star. The service is fabulous and I have the most amazing view one could ever ask for! The front desk was so kind. It is well worth the price!

So I got a delicious night’s sleep on an extremely comfortable bed. Was woken up by construction going on down on the street below and to tons of fog in the window, but I didn’t care. I took a cat nap and woke up again to the clouds clearing and the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time. The majesty of the Alps is unsurpassed. I lack the vocabulary to tell you how incredible they are. I will let these pictures speak for themselves.

Views from my hotel on the left.


My camera is not the best with distant pictures. But I think you get the idea. :)

I had a headache from the stress of the day before and was a bit dehydrated. They say that you shouldn’t try to climb any mountains if you don’t feel well as the elevation can already cause headaches and the like, so I just stuck to Interlaken for the day.

Interlaken is literally surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is in between 2 lakes - Lake Brienz and Lake Thun - hence the name Interlaken. I walked the downtown area. It is a bit touristy, lots of Asian people clutching their cameras, but it has a quaint charm that is wonderful. It is also quite expensive, as most of Switzerland is. But I found a grocery store and will be trying to get things to munch on from there for the rest of my trip.

After sitting in Hohematte park right across the street from my hotel and enjoying my lunch, I felt a little lazy just sitting there, so I decided to try and go somewhere that they elevation wasn’t too high for my head. The little town of Lauterbrunnen is only a 20 minute train ride away so I figured I’d head there. It wasn’t too complicated, but last week there was a great deal of rain and major major flooding on the rail lines. Much of the tracks were washed out severely. On the way we saw one part of the track was kind of hanging in mid-air while the ground was over 2 feet below it. Wow. So we had to take shuttle buses after a certain point. They were SO well organized though, that it wasn’t a problem. Thank God for Swiss & German ordnung!

Lauterbrunnen has 72 waterfalls. 2 in particular are quite famous. I saw 18 of the 72 by just walking through the town. I heard that one of the main falls - Staubbach Falls was definitely a sight not to be missed. To my delight, I saw the falls right from the station where the bus dropped us! It was only about a 15 minute walk through the town. Talk about a ski-town. It was virtually dead except for tourist looking for the falls. But it was filled with ski Chalets and sports shops. I hear that everything around here closes down for a month before the snow really falls and then they open up at the end of November. I can only imagine what it looks like covered in snow. It must be magical.

Anyway, I got to Staubbach Falls and climbed the steep hill to the entrance at the base of the falls. It wasn’t too bad of a climb. I saw many sheep, goats and cows all over the fields from the view as I climbed. They all roam free which is wonderful. And each has its own bell so there were tinkling noises everywhere. It really looked like a fairy tale. Were I a poet or a painter, I’d be tempted to create something based on what I saw. I loved every moment.

When I finally got to the entrance of Staubbach, I was excited to see it up close. However, when I went through a creepy tunnel and about 1/2 way up the steep and slippery steps, my body just froze. I have no fear of heights, but I think I may have developed a for of claustrophobia. I’m not sure, but my legs just wouldn’t move any further, so I couldn’t take any pics from behind the falls. I managed to get down just fine. It was so strange. I’ve never experienced that before. But that’s ok. I got pretty close and I got soaked from the mist at the bottom and I love that I got to do and see as much as I did!

I took a liesurely walk back through the town and got back to Interlaken fairly quickly. On the walk back to my hotel I was enjoying how warm it was in the sun when a horse and buggy trotted by. When I looked at the horse, it stopped, looked at me and let out a little whinny. I don’t know why. But it was one of the coolest moments I have ever experienced. And it made me miss riding so much. But it was so sweet, I will never forget it.

I am quite certain that Switzerland is the most beautiful place in the world. Nothing can compare. And while I have been practicing my German, the Swiss accent is very strange and I find it almost impossible to understand anyone. Not that I am fluent in German in any way, but the accent is quite different. I find it interesting. Its kind of slurred and drawn out. I guess the same can be said for the English language. Even in the US we have many different accents and ways of saying things. But for some reason here it strikes me as being odd. Not in a bad way, just - different.

Anyway, I have lots of things planned. Not sure what I am going to do next. But I am sure it will be incredible.