Grindelwald and beyond

Well, I told you so -- to everyone who was not convinced that it would be a cold wet day. For once the weather maps proved to be right. Looking outside, I see that it is very cold and very wet.

What to do? Anticipating a slow day, much of it spent inside (the hotel has a sauna... maybe I should bake in the sauna all day long? The hotel has a laundry room ... maybe I should do my laundry? The hotel has a small library... maybe I should read their books?) I moved slowly. 

 

 

 

Down for breakfast on the late side, eating less because I'll be doing less...

Lingering over a third cappuccino (they're small!) and then a chamomile tea, I'm wondering if the sole activity for this day will be the museum across the street. It looks closed, but maybe they do open, and maybe there's something there to see?

I approach one of the hotel staff members. Andras. He's the one who pointed me to that gorgeous walk in the forest on my very first day. I ask him -- any suggestions for this day?

That depends -- do you want culture, or nature?

I hesitate -- maybe a walk in the forest? It will be less wet there, no?

He is a devoted nature guy, but he doesn't quite buy it. It's pretty wet out there. And then -- have you ever been to Thun?

Of course, I haven't. At least I've heard of it -- it's a larger town -- of maybe around 50 000, positioned at the neck of a large lake by the same name. Andras, my "personal concierge for the day," (in this hotel, everyone on the team does every job, switching around as the need arises) outlines a plan for me. Black Sharpee pen in hand, he takes out maps and starts drawing arrows, marking "x" spots where needed, listing options.

Wow. It all sounds amazing. All I have to do is go upstairs, pack a daypack of essentials (umbrella! gloves! the maps!) and buy a ticket for the trains. 

Have you ever tried to buy a ticket on the SBB (Swiss Rail) site? It's at once easy and impossible. So many options! There are day passes. But limited in number. There are half fare cards. There are flex passes for three days. There is so much out there and clicking through it all you inevitably wind up on square one, without any idea which option fits your needs best.

After a few minutes spent trying to figure out the best way to get to Interlaken and from there to Thun, and then back again, given that the return could well be a combo of trains, buses and boats (I kid you not), I decide to go for the easiest -- just buy an RT to Thun and then play the idiot that I am, if a conductor tells me that I messed up. 

And now I see that the train for Interlaken is leaving in ten minutes. From the station that is a 17 minute walk from my hotel. Andras! Please please please.... I did not have to insert so many pleases. The people here are so nice and they always, always go the extra mile for you. If they wont do it, then you know you've asked the impossible.

I catch the train to Interlaken Ost. 

 

 

 

(leaving the damp valley)

 

Arriving Interlaken Ost! Ha! The source of my initial confusion in coming here: there is a station at Interlaken Ost. It's where you want to be if you're traveling to Grindelwald. You, in your German language ignorance,  think that means Interlaken West, but it doesn't -- it means East. The other station is just called ... Interlaken West. You pass it on the way to Ost. When the announcer says "Interlaken West," the way they say it, it sounds awfully much like "Interlaken Ost." All very disconcerting when you're arriving for the first time.) From Ost, I follow the black sharpee pen's arrows, keeping my eyes and my umbrella open.

But it is chilly. I'm wearing a light sweatshirt and my medium winter jacket. It's okay if I'm moving. Chilly when I'm not. Damn it, I have the perfect hoodie hanging in the closet. An added layer. Just thinking of it makes me feel cozy. Momentarily. Sigh... I best splurge. I want that toasty feeling to be with me all day long. I'm just coming off a sinus issue, I dont want to invite a return of it.

I go into the nearest store. A big one -- their Co-op, which sells foods, but not only.

(heated discussion: do we buy white or green?)

 

 

No women's clothing i this place. I leave and keep on walking. 

 

 

It may be wet, but it sure is lovely here. Small, quiet. Andras calls it a village. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but I take his point -- it's not city-like at all.

I come across an upscale souvenir store (upscale in that it's not dirt cheap). I go in and purchase a sweatshirt. 

 

 

 

Touristy? Sure. It' says INTERLAKEN on it. Big white letters. And it being Switzerland, it costs as much as a wool sweater would back home, but the fact is, back home I wear sweatshirts about ten times as often as I wear sweaters. And this one is so warm, so so deliciously warm...

Back on the streets now.

 

 

Interlaken itself is of course rather empty. I'm outside the tourist season, and it is a rainy day -- enough to clear out the streets. But it's pretty, in a grand dame sort of way. I can see that it is after the moneyed traveler. The opulent hotels, the sudden appearance of expensive watches in the window. Like in Zurich, on a smaller scale.

 

 

 

The black sharpee directs me to the other side of the river and I go there now -- so quiet and pretty! Stroll with me!

(street art I like...)

(do I envy them their clear clean water? so much I do!)

And now I have just enough time to pause for a cup of take-out tea (that delicious Swiss fruit blend!) to have with me on the train ride to Thun.

 

 

(out the window: Lake Thun)

This time there is a conductor and he does check my smart phone to see if my ticket aligns with where I am going. I wait to hear that I bought the wrong thing. Oh, I see him shaking his head! He hands back the phone -- next time, he says -- you need to show a photo ID with the ticket. Danke! 

 

There are castles, old towns, wooden covered bridges, yes, all that in Thun. And there is a chocolate shop (best chocolate in Switzerland!) and an excellent ice cream store (the sharpee noted the flavors to try!). So how do I begin?

Well, my first impression is that Thun feels and is considerably bigger than Interlaken, and it has more traffic and more locals out and about. It's not really raining here, though the clouds are low and the threat is there.

I fight the impulse to compare further. I know I am drawn these days to smaller, quieter places and I dont want to dismiss Thun merely because of its size. I look around me -- well, the first thing I need to do is get away from the station which is big and busy. I check with my Sharpee pal: go toward the river, cross, walk around there. Look at castles. Okay, I'm off.

I do get distracted by a market. It's not a food market but one of those "everything else" markets that seems a little geared toward Easter shoppers maybe? Or trinket shoppers. 

I leave it to cross the river.

I spot the ice cream shop immediately. I suppose it's almost time for my lunch coffee! 

Pistacchio and salted caramel.

(outside: a good way to pass the time while the grownups talk forever)

 

 

(outside: I really think the seniors here are very serious)

 

 

I walk up into the old town. Cobbled streets, pedestrian blocks. Elevated sidewalks, many more stalls with nick nacks.  

 

 

 

I pause at one stall. I'm not really looking to buy, but I do like small beaded one and I tell her how pretty it is.

How we got from there to the state of America right now -- this I do not remember. Suffice it to say that I found myself explaining to her that yes, there have been arrests of students, foreign students who expressed a view not in line with our current leadership.

I don't believe it! -- she says. Except that it's true. I find myself fighting tears. Can you leave? At least for now? -- she asks. Of course I cannot and will not. Until it becomes impossible to continue. She reaches over to her plate of stones and gives me one -- pink, smooth. It's for you. Keep it. Pink means love. There is always joy in that.

 

 

 

I walk on. To the square now where a "bunny" is handing out chocolate eggs. He gives it to a kid, then comes over to me, and says something I do not understand. Rather than asking anything, I take the candy and smile. Danke.

 

 

And now I think I have done enough town walking, visiting, looking. I head back to the station, remembering to pause at one last place marked in big letters by the Black Sharpee: Steinmann's, the "best chocolate in Switzerland." (How often have I heard that claim?) 

 

(serious)

 

 

I pick up just a few loose pieces for the kids for Easter. I'm sure it will taste the same to them as chocolate you may have picked up at the gas station back home, but still, it has meaning. Swiss chocolate from Thun. The town with a heart.

 

It would have been lovely to take the boat back to Interlaken (as the Sharpee had suggested), but that would have had me run around town trying to figure out and coordinate schedules. And I felt fairly confident that my rail ticket would not work on a boat (though in Switzerland, you never know). And so I merely take the train back, connecting in Interlaken, arriving in Grindelwald in the very late afternoon.

Dinner tonight is at a place called Cafe 3692. It sounded very good, but it has a problem: its position is off the main road and it will take me at least 20 minutes to walk there according to Google maps. Normally, that is not an issue for me, but on a cold wet day, walking from along unfamiliar roads in the rain at 10 pm sounds daunting. I spell out my concerns. No problem. We can drive you over there and when you're done, just tell Miriam at the restaurant to call me and we'll pick you up. This on their busiest night at the hotel restaurant. 

It is that kind of a hotel.

I immediately backtrack: Let me do the walk there. I'll find my way with Google. I'll call you for that ride back. 

Okay! 

I'm sure not going to be late for anything anymore! Promptly at 7:40 p.m. I set out. But here's the thing: you don't follow a road to get there by foot. You follow a path. Up the hill, from behind the hotel. In the dark.

 

 

I almost turned back and begged for that ride, but then I thought -- no, if they think I can do it, then of course I can do it, because I think I can do more than they give me credit for. 

My iPhone was indispensable, both for finding the path and for providing me with a flashlight. It is a dark night! The trick is to watch your step, and watch the screen too. It's way too easy to slip, trip and fall. How do I know? Because I did it! One oops and I'm on a grassy, muddy embankment. My camera survived, my pants got dirty. I continue, promising myself that I will call for a ride home.

And of course, I don't call.  Having done it once, I know I can do it again, and besides it will be downhill now. And the woman at the Cafe 3692 didn't bat and I when I said I'm on my way to find that path again.

Possibly knowing that Americans freak out when alone in the dark, she reassures me -- you'll be safe here. Enjoy the walk! They all do have confidence in seniors managing physical challenges. And that's such a cool thing!

And the food? Oh, they do have a very, very good cook at the Cafe. Most dishes are meat based and I chose venison because, well, coming from Wisconsin, I've learned that deer hunts are needed to keep the stock healthy. So, deer, over beef or lamb.

 

 

Exceptionally delicious! With a wild mushroom sauce that is to die for. And spätzle! Those weird twists of eggy noodles! I haven't had them since I made them for my family many decades ago, on my Swiss foods cooking kick. (Oh, but my rösti was good, too!) 

On my (dark and wet but otherwise uneventful) walk back, I thought how each day here has been completely different, in terms of walks, weather, hikes, food. And each has been excellent. Much of the credit for this goes to the hotel people. So impressed am I with their work here that I wrote a Tripadvisor review even before I left. Tonight. These guys can do no wrong. An amazing crew.

Tomorrow... I have no idea about tomorrow! I'm still digesting this day!

with love.