Interlaken and Jungfraujoch

Day 3 and 4 of our summer holiday in Switzerland:

We travelled from Zurich to Interlaken in the morning of Day 3, visited the Swiss Open-Air Folk Museum at Ballenberg in afternoon and went on a boat cruise from Brienz to Interlaken.

We stayed in a small bed & breakfast in Interlaken West and from there we took the train and bus to the Museum. Our Swiss Passes gave us free entry to the Museum. The Museum showcased the architecture, life and crafts from the various regions in Switzerland. It is ok, not great and quite fake. There are some farm animals kept in captivity which really made me sad.
=(

The highlight for me was the boat trip from Brienz back to Interlaken. I loved it! It was very relaxing, the weather was great and the wind blowing at me made me feel so light and happy. 

We took this boat from Brienz to Interlaken Ost



On Day 4, we set off early to Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe. The train rides took about two and a half hours. The place like a shopping mall up there. There are tons of people, a few restaurants with overpriced food, an 'ice palace', a history exhibit, a video show, ski and sled facilities, etc. We took the elevator to the Sphinx observatory, the highest viewing point. We went out to walk around on the snow and my son went sledding. He has been looking forward to doing some sledding or skiing.

The views from the train rides were beautiful! I sat on the right side of the train and I want to say a big 'thank-you' to the Swiss who built the train tracks and tunnels up at this high altitude for ordinary people like me to enjoy.

 

Till my next post, forget about the destination and just enjoy the journey! =)

Hiking Ebenalp

Day 2 of our summer holiday in Switzerland:

 

Our first hike in Switzerland was an easy hike at Ebenalp. We took the cable car up to Ebenalp and took a short loop hike - Ebenalp-Wildkirchli-Ascher-Ebenalp.

The hike is supposedly to take 50 minutes. But we stopped numerous times to have lunch and ice cream, take photos, drink water, enjoy the views, watch the hang-gliders, etc, that it took us more than 2 hours to do the loop. But, no regrets. We had a great time. =)

We had lunch at the Gasthaus Ascher. I had some pork with my rosti. The rosti was good. As I was eating, I noticed that there are many flies flying around which seemed strange to me as I have always thought flies are specific to Asia. Don't ask me why. Maybe humidity breeds flies. After lunch, we continued our hike and we passed by a herd of pigs about less than 50 metres from the restaurant. That got me thinking that perhaps the flies and my lunch came from there ..... 

Crowded lunch spot. We have to wait for seats.

Putting the pigs and the flies aside, we also passed by a small chapel and the bear cave. Our experience at Ebenalp was fantastic. Spectacular views, clear air, blue skies!! What more can I ask for? Pure bliss!

Till my next blog post, watch the flies! =)

Appenzell

Day 2 of our summer holiday in Switzerland:

Our second day in Switzerland was spent at Appenzell, a small village about 100km east of Zurich. Our agenda for day was to check out the richly decorated facade of the buildings in Appenzell, have some Appenzeller beer and to do some easy hiking around Ebenalp.

Our main modes of transport in Switzerland are the train and our feet. We bought the a pair of Swiss Passes and my son was given a free pass (Free Family Pass). On the hindsight, we should have planned our trip more carefully to maximize our return on the passes. The Swiss Pass is available for 4, 8, 15 or 22 days. And we were in Switzerland for 11 days. We should have gone for 8 or 15 days.

The famous Lowen Pharmacy that I always see on webpages when I google 'Appenzell'.
Finally I am here and standing in front of it! =)
There are paintings of different herbs on the panels.

The village is a small. Other than the beautiful, fariy tale-like facades, also look for the shops selling cheese and the Appenzeller Brewery.

I went in here with then intention of buying some cheese.
But, oh man! I don't think I can work here, the smell was too over-whelming for me.
Smell from a slice of cheese vs smell from a whole shop-full of Appenzeller cheese is very different.

Cloudy Appenzeller Bier for lunch

Inside the Appenzeller Brewery.
There are audio tours in various European languages and a short video.
The actual brewery that brews the beer is off limits.

Till my next blog post, have some cheese! =)