We departed from Zurich to Interlaken, a great gateway to many wonderful places such as Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, and Top of Europe. Interlaken is a picturesque small town and well known for its beautiful turquoise lake. While it's not one of Switzerland's busiest area, this place is full of adventure. Interlaken is a great place for mountain-related sports. The beautiful scenery and number of pubs make this a popular backpacker destination during summertime. Paragliding is one my "to-do-list". Unfortunately, weather was not good when we arrived at Interlaken for it started to drizzle and shortly changed into thunderstorm in the late afternoon. There goes my plan for paragliding!
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| At Interlaken |
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| Very nice guest house |
We first checked in our hotel - Hotel Tell, a small hotel cum Irish pub and restaurant. Hotel Tell is located 6 bus-stop stations away from Interlaken West train station. One can easily reached there by bus 104 from the train station. The hotel staff is kind enough to provide us with free bus tickets although we do not really need it since the bus ride was covered in our Swiss Pass. We weren't able to check in until about 3pm and hence decided to wander around the town. We were told that the annual Interlaken carnival was held in the open field near the train station. However, the rain got bigger and hence we reasoned that it wouldn't be a good idea to visit the carnival. Instead, we headed to Thun and Spiez to visit the old town and medieval castles considering that we've got only one day in Interlaken and within the castles, we were sheltered.
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| At Interlaken West train station |
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| Hotel Tell |
The dreaded rain really dampened my mood and made our visits to the castle very wet. Also, regrettably we were not able to cruise around the beautiful lake. The storm had taken away the color of the lake. It was no longer turquoise.
Thun Castle
Thun castle is located in the old town of Thun and was built in the middle ages between 1180 and 1190. The design of the castle is considered quite modern and is well preserved. There is a museum within the castle that displayed the artifacts such as beautiful pottery, plates and bronze utensils. From the castle's window, you can get a splendid view of the entire town. The castle also housed a nice cafe, perfect for a good afternoon tea.
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| Thun city |
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| Thun City |
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| Thun City |
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| Up the stair to the church and castle |
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| Thun Castle |
Other than the magnificent view of the old town from the castle's great hall, the view from the castle toilet is equally magnificent. I would say that this is the one and only toilet with a view!
Next to the castle is a old church that is built around the same time as the castle. I was told that the church still hold services to the people living in the city. The design of the church is quite magnificent, with its tall clock tower.
Oberhofen Castle
We also visited the Oberhofen Castle located at Spiez. This castle can be easily reached by bus from Thun. The design of the castle is slightly dated as compared to Thun and is located by the lake. We didn't get to go into the castle but wandered around the castle garden. The garden is nicely kept and landscaped in English style in miniature and offer a breathtaking views of the Bernese Alps. From the garden, we can view the entire lake which I would imagine to be sparkly and turquoise during sunny day. Like Thun castle, there is a cafe that overlooked the Thunsee lake which makes it more appealing for a tea session. On good weather, tourists can visit the castles via boat.
The rain got heavier and we were totally wet. Some advice would be to always prepare a raincoat in your bag on day like this. With a dampened mood, we decided to return early to the hotel for a good rest and get ourselves recharged for the next day activity.
Hotel Tell
I am really impressed with the good service and hospitality extended by the staff of Hotel Tell. The food served from the Irish pub/restaurant is equally delicious and reasonably priced. The local beer as introduced by the staff really end my day well! Overall, the room is cosy and nice. We both had a good rest without disturbance.
Oh and we did went to the carnival before we departed Interlaken next day. I loved the Swiss milkshake cause it's so yummy. As we were early, many of the stalls were not open yet. I can tell that the carnival is well sponsored and the organizer put in great efforts to ensure that the paths were walkable by placing wood chips that easily absorb the raindrops. The locals even dressed up in their traditional Swiss costumes.
We also visited the nearby churches within the town. There were two churches that could possibly be more than hundred years. These churches looked old but rich in history, and certainly the object for our photography session. It's so hard to find such churches in Singapore and even if there is one, it wouldn't look so classic as these churches.
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