That's a view...not the old man. Unfortunately, clouds blocking the Jungfrau ('The Virgin')
Canals off the very large lakes
Jenni gets close to the top, looks down into Interlaken.
After Friday’s adventure, a great climb and a lot of suffering on arrival at ground level, the Sabbath
timing proved perfect. However, unlike previous rest days, our recuperation was not complete. Nevertheless,
we managed to convince our editor that we would take it slow up the 2,600 feet climb of the’ Hard Hill’.
The funny thing is she suggested the hike, assuaging us of most of the guilt.
The funicular is one of the ways to reach the, you guessed correctly, the restaurant perched on the top.
Like all the other positions, it is a magnificent setting facing many of the great mountains of the
Bernese Oberland including Lakes, Thun and Brienz. Unfortunately, the clouds came back after a week of
relatively clear weather, thus preventing us seeing the Jung Frau, Monch and Eiger from this position.
In fact, the array of mountains on a clear day seems limitless. Instead we’ll focus on the beautiful
turquoise lakes and the, once again, steep path to the top. The paths are relatively clear as most
visitors to the top ride the funicular.
A glimpse of Lake Brienz from the restaurant
Stumped. A great trail with multiple branches...offshoots.
We reached the top in less than two hours, well below the allotted time. This being our last hike in
Switzerland for the trip, we finished on another high note. The Swiss altitude gain amounted to
30,000 feet over the period, something we hope we don’t repeat…sort of kidding. Our trip to Switzerland
has been one incredible experience, incomparable, really. We have put a lot of effort into hiking and
the rewards have been most satisfying. We have also worked quite diligently on other aspects such as
business but have not seen rewards. You win some, you lose some. We have become very philosophical,
apparently.
Particularly in Interlaken but probably throughout Switzerland, the cost of living is extremely high,
certainly in our opinion. However, if one doesn’t need accommodation, to eat or use the transport
system then it becomes more affordable. The nature of the country is changing, something we notice
over our last three visits. More below...
Water, blue and white, mix at Lake Thun.
When we came down the mountain the other day, we walked through the town. On Shabbos, we walked again
just to ensure we were seeing correctly. On both occasions, we thought we were in the Middle East.
As a clue, it didn’t look at all like Israel. We also see many, many Asian tourists. In fact, a few
Swiss Nationals have a joke they shared with us. The Asians, they say, arrive in busses, stay for
four hours while they click-click the cameras and off they go again to the next town. We don’t think
they are being discriminatory but rather see missed business opportunities of short visits. We stand
around and remember how selective the Swiss were in allowing immigrants. Who knows, soon they may
even allow…(being careful with that one).
Destination: Looking up from beginning
Destination: On arrival
We also felt odd at times, like specimens. There we were climbing these steep trails when a train or
cable car would pass. Many of the occupants would point towards us, some taking photographs while others
were waving vigorously. We kept checking to see that our zips were still in place. As an aside, we wish
we had invented the digital camera, inter alia.
It’s time to move on as we head to Italy. We’ll see you there.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Twinkle toes looks through glass floor to ground below or Swiss equivalent of 'glass ceiling'
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