8. Sep, 2022

8. Sep, 2022

8. Sep, 2022

8. Sep, 2022

8. Sep, 2022

THURSDAY 08-09-22

We had a number of thunderstorms pass over during the night which seems to have cleared the air a bit. I must say I really didn't expect to experience such high temperatures here at this time of the year. Ignoring what the weather forecasts have said, most days have been in the mid twenties, which is pretty hot when you have to hike up hill and down dale.

We had already decided to go for a train ride today because this morning was predicted to be rather wet. Typically of course, it was nothing of the sort.

Our destination was Interlaken which isn't far away, about a thirty-minute journey, and the tickets were 'only' CHF30.40 for two returns. We took a pack-up, leaving us to just buy drinks as they are too heavy to carry around in the backpack unnecessarily.

The train was on time and as usual, clean, litter free with no sign of graffiti, what a treat.

We've been to Interlaken before, and I think, on reflection were equally unimpressed then. It's nice enough. But it's very touristy. I've no idea how many Swiss watch and folding knife shops there were there. I'm sure if one of the horses pulling a carriage in town ever suffered from a stone in its hoof, there would a be a queue of tourists lined up to render it aid with their new, expensive knife.

We walked an awfully long way to try and find even one of the lakes, but the best we could do was to find a river feeding the lakes on which a tourist boat sailed from taking punters for a trip around the lake. It was right next to the Interlaken West railway station. This is where we gave up searching and had lunch.

I don't usually carry my phone with me, I think it is because I spent a number of years with both a phone and a pager strapped to me and was expected to be available 24/7, so now I rebel and don't carry one as the norm. However whilst we sat having lunch I took it out and went on to Google Maps, only to find despite best effort we were a long way from the lakes (I am tactfully avoiding the fact that when we got off the train there was a river very close by with boats on it, and I suggested to The Chef that we follow the river to a lake, but she wanted to head towards town (I have since shown her Google Earth, and just how close we were at that point to one of the lakes, but no matter, I don't bear a grudge!).

I'd had enough and we made our way back towards the railway station, stopping off for a while at the park to watch paragliding tourists flying tandem coming in to land from the hills behind us.

So that was it really, a reasonably cheap (for Switzerland) nothing day.

Never mind..........................there's always tomorrow.

PS. We have just learned of the death of Her Majesty the Queen. What a sad day. There will never be another like her, and we were so blessed to have her as our Monarch. I'm sure she has now been reunited with the love of her life, her husband Prince Philip. May God grant her peace, she has earned it.