Swiss Chocolate + Swiss Alps = Bliss in Heaven
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2010
1
29
144
Trip End
Mar 16, 2011
Where I stayed
Lauterbrunnen, Swiss Alps, Switzerland
Friday, June 4, 2010
We drove through Milan and Genova and Como to get to Lauterbrunnen. We skipped Milan and from what we saw we didn’t miss much. Genova was a big city with a huge port. Lake Como was amazing, what a great spot and glad we are stopping there next. When we past through the Italian/Swiss border the Swiss countryside is AMAZING. Well amazing isn’t the right word, I don’t think there is a word to describe just how stunning Switzerland really is. We drove through Switzerland countryside for several hours and went through many tunnels including one that was 17 kms long. As we were cruising along Troy was amazed at the scenery and also Switzerland reminded Mary why its one of her favourite countries in the world. I absolutely love Switzerland and admiring the scenery for me bought tears in my eyes reminding me again just what a fantastic country it is. Just to think we could actually live here, thanks to EU passport.
We arrived at our accommodation called Camping Jungfrau, a camping ground with heaps of dorms, huts, tents, a kitchen, bike hire, internet, a supermarket and restaurant. We originally booked into a 6 bed dorm but decided to grab a private cabin because Mary is not well. We grabbed some swiss francs from the ATM and then had dinner in the restaurant. We were very tired after a very long bus trip so cooking was not happening. We had rosti (a grated potato pancake) and german sausages with pasta and salad. After dinner we went straight to bed. Mary is not feeling well - sore throat, bad cough and now a chest infection that is really peeving me off big time. I started feeling unwell in Cinque Terre and its just getting worse. What a country to get sick in - Switzerland. Swiss Alps + Swiss Chocolate = Bliss (but now just need to get rid of this virus thing). Switzerland is heaven on earth.
5 JUNE 2010 - Mary feeling a bit better after taking some drugs but far from feeling 100%. We had muesli and milk for breakfast in our cabin. We also had a hot chocolate which wasn’t too bad but we got to have better. We took our time this morning, no rush and after breaky and shower we decided today was a check out Lauterbrunnen day. We walked around town which is not far from our campsite which is fantastic. The campsite isn’t a million miles away like others. Lauterbrunnen is a small town with lots of character. We love hearing the sound of bells ringing that are around the necks of cows and sheep. We walk around the campsite and you hear birds chirping and bells ringing all day and then church bells too. We spent the day just walking around checking out the scenery as this town is easy to walk around. We walked to Trummelbach Falls which takes about 1/2 hour but for us it took longer because we took it slowly. We decided to go into the falls and paid our entrance fee of 11 swiss francs each (which is nearly 1 for 1 in Aussie dollars). We got a lift to a certain height and then walked the rest. Mary took it really easy considering I really should be in bed but no way I am in Switzerland. The falls are amazing and so powerful and have some beautiful views from up here. We walked down and then took it easy walking back to our campsite. The mountains around here are amazing just huge snow capped mountains that take your breath away. We walked home through the stunning countryside where Mary threw some daisies in the river for Renee. Troy's friends, the local cows here have the biggest udders that look like they are going to burst, the poor buggers they look like they need milking 24-7. We would love to maybe come here for a white christmas. After a rest we decided to go for another walk around town, this time on the other side of the river where there are lots of chalets. Troy picked me some daisies, cute! We got back to our campsite and Troy cooked us pasta for dinner and that was great to have a home cooked meal - cheap and yum!
6 JUNE 2010 - We had swiss muesli (Familia - Beeren Crunch, muesli croquant - orange packet with strawberries on it) is yummo and milk/yoghurt and hot chocolate for breakfast, yum! After breakfast we walked to the Lauterbrunnen train station and went to Interlaken for the day. It only took about 20 minutes on the train travelling through fantastic scenery. Switzerland is such a clean and beautiful country and the Swiss are so good with recycling (they ought to teach some other European countries). We hopped off at Interlaken Ost and walked into town. Interlaken is well known for its adventure sports such as whitewater rafting, kayaking, sky diving, paragliding etc. We sat for a while and watched several paragliders land. We had lunch of bratwurst and rosti. We walked around checking out the many shops and then returned to Lauterbrunnen in the late afternoon. Mary really feels like crap and it feels like its not getting any better. Had a rest and then dinner and then bed.
7 JUNE 2010 - This morning we got up pretty early so we could get the Busabout bus to Lucerne as a side trip for the day. It took about 1.5 hours. We arrived in Lucerne at 9.30am on a very wet and cloudy day. We walked around Lucerne and saw a few main sights including the lion and checked out the scenery and shops. We bought some expensive swiss chocolates at a beautiful shop and they were so good. Swiss chocolate is the best. We tend to go more for the swiss chocolate we haven’t tried as you can get Toblerone and Lindt chocolate at home. It seemed a lot of shops were closed today for some reason. About 4pm we decided to go home. We caught the train back and it took 2.5 hrs as we had to change trains at Interlaken Ost. Wow train travel in Switzerland is expensive 37 swiss francs each from Lucerne to Lauterbrunnen so glad we caught the train only once today. The scenery is fantastic, so green and gorgeous chalets and towns, lots of mountains and lakes, cows and its so clean and you can really breathe in some fresh air. We arrived in Lauterbrunnen and then had a cheese fondue for dinner at the campsite. The cheese was nice and it had wine in it. We were told when we dip the bread in the fondue to make a figure of 8 so it doesn’t burn the cheese. Mary still feels like crap and thinks that tomorrow ought to be a rest day or I won’t get better. This flu/virus thingo is really annoying as its hung around too long now and seems no matter what drugs I take it doesn’t seem to get any better. We come back to our cabin for the night, window open to fresh air and its so nice to hear the bells ringing, birds chirping and the waterfall flowing. This is Switzerland and its heaven on earth.
8 JUNE 2010 - Troy and I are both sick as dogs. Troy finally caught my virus and now we are both coughing a lot and have the sweats and feeling like crap. We took it easy this morning, stayed in bed for sometime just trying to feel a bit more human and have more rest. About midday we decided to use the laundry at the campsite. We put on two loads of washing and used the washing powder that was left behind. It was so funny, the washing powder was called “Skiddo - it removes the worst skid marks” so we sat around the washing machines laughing at the washing powder. Funny how little things make you laugh especially when your sick. We even took a photo of it. After the washing was finished we took it into a drying room.
We decided not to rest for the day because we wanted to see more of this fabulous country. We caught the train to Grindelwald. We are so glad we did. This place is magical and at this stage its No 1 on our list to return to and have a white christmas here. We already found a lodge that had great views and we went in to found out the costs at Christmas which surprisingly isn’t bad at all. This lodge also had a kitchen (for cooking christmas lunch) and we also checked out the supermarkets and made sure we could get everything we wanted and sure enough we can including a chook to put in the oven. The train to get here is easy and the views coming in are incredible. This town is not huge and not too small. It has heaps of hotels and loads of cafes and restaurants. What got us is the incredible scenery around here and the backdrop of mountains that surround this town are truly amazing. Google it and you may get an idea of what its like. The mountains still have some snow and its gorgeous. The valleys here are stunning and just so lush and green covered with gorgeous swiss chalets.
We walked around this town admiring the beauty of the place and imagining what it would be like at Christmas. Seriously this place IS heaven on earth and I want to come back to this “heaven”. The beautiful pine trees and valleys would be covered in snow and look amazing. Sadly we had to leave and we caught the train back to Lauterbrunnen which mind you is gorgeous too. We got back to our campsite, grabbed our clothes out of the drying room and then went and had dinner. We both had a great pork schnitzel with rosti and salad - a great meal. We packed our bags and had jumped into our saggy single beds still feeling crappy.
Switzerland is one hell of an amazing country, its beauty, its scenery, its cleanliness is unreal. Its one country we both love to explore more one day! We love it!
