The Swiss are made of different stuff- cheese and chocolate! Interlaken

Does anyone know the capital of Switzerland? Carly and I assumed it was Geneva or Zurich, but its Bern! Random, yes.  Anyway, that's where we had to change trains on Sunday to get to Interlaken, which took about 3 hours.  The first thing we do in any new city is stake out the grocery stores and find food, so that is what we did.  Interlaken is a tiny little town between (guess what....) two lakes and smack in the middle of the Alps.  Their main attraction and means of income is tourism.  It is also close to the Simme Valley, namesake of the Simmetal breed of cattle, which I saw in abundance.

 

This, friends, is Jungfrau, the main summit of the Bernese Alps.  Our hostel was at the foot of the green mountains.

 

How awesome is this? Yes, we are in the mountains!

 

Closer view of the Jungfrau.

The next day, Monday, we were interested in doing a high Ropes course, but the place wasn't open, so we decided to go to the small town of Grindelwald, about a 45 minute train ride away from Interlaken.  I laughed all day, Harry Potter fans!

 

 This is where they make car commericials.  I actually made that up, but they should.

  These are real-deal Simmetals, not the homogenized black variety that we have in the States.

 

Church in the Alps!

 

 Luckily, there weren't many people on the train, so we got to make fools of ourselves at our leisure.  While we were doing this, Carly told me a story of some idiot who got decapitated on Space Mountain at Disneyland because he stood up on the ride.

 Switzerland is pretty!

The little town of Grindelwald.  Carly doesn't seem to think that the people can possibly survive the winter because they are in this little valley and the snow would fill it up, burying them.  I told her that the Swiss are made of different stuff than we Americans.  She said, yes, they're made of chocolate and cheese.  ahahaha

 

Here is Carly doing what she does best- setting up our timed pictures. :o]

 

  I don't know why its a little fuzzy... But the big mountain is Eiger, one of the deadliest slopes in Switzerland.

 I had to have chocolate in Switzerland, so I went whole hog and got some fantastic truffles.  Three of these cost 6.25 francs, which is roughly equivalent to a US dollar. O.o

The next day, Carly booked a sky-diving adventure, and I got my book and read outside pretty much all day while she was gone.  I wish I could do that all the time, but as soon as I get home I know that activity will stop REAL quick. haha

After she got back, we both wanted to visit one of the lakes that Interlaken is, well, between.  The nearest one was Lake Thun (pronounced "tune") and it was gorgeous.  Most of the lakes in the Alps are glacier fed, so the water is FREEZING but perfectly clear.

 

Whoa, cool clouds!

 

Ahhh, Lake Thun.

 

hehe, cute little Swiss chalet on the way back to Interlaken.

 

 I think this one might be frameable.  I got it just before we left Thun.

After Thun, we went back to Interlaken and had our ritual dinner of pasta and sauce.  I have taken to adding Gruyere cheese to mine and it is gooooood.  Its a Swiss cheese (not with the holes....its made in Switzerland.).  The next day, Wednesday, I had my epically long (8 hour) train ride to Salzburg, Austria, which will have to wait to another post.