Repeating the success?
The 2006 trip to
Switzerland was a great success - so much in fact that another trip
followed a year after, and voilá - here it is.
Old sights, Grindelwald in
particular, was a definite top priority again, and this time with some
new places in addition to this, such as the capital, Bern, and the
mountain region between
Bern and Lake Geneva, as well as
part of the lake area itself, which bounded down mostly to in and around
Montreux.
Due to the
availability of plane tickets - or lack of, rather - an 'early bird'
morning flight had to be taken - leaving from Oslo at 07:45. The
advantage with this would be that the first destination would be reached
on the first day (i.e. Grindelwald). The disadvantage was of course the
excruciatingly early rise, even when spending the night right at the
doorstep (Radisson SAS Gardermoen Hotel) - the alarm clock went off at
04:15. No chance for a fashionably late arrival at the gate here,
nosiree...
Flying commercial airlines
these days seems to be a volatile business. You never know who is
actually operating, be it due to temporary outsourcing, hiring of
personnel and/or entire planes with crews, or other things due to
opening up more routes than they actually have the capacity to. This
particular flight was at the moment outsourced to a company named
Transwede, and they decided that the plane to carry us safely to Zürich
airport would be a British Aerospace Avrojet 85, which I must admit
looked more like an overgrown bathtub than something actually
flightworthy (and judging by a few other comments, I wasn't the only one
to think so). The plane trip went well enough anyway, at least
southwards.
Zee car iz a BMW
Well on the ground at Zürich airport, and in familiar surroundings, it
wasn't much of a hassle picking up the rental car (a BMW
160-or-something) and a quick baguette before leaving. This time, the
drive towards Luzern through the winding valley which leads to the
autobahn seemed longer than last time..odd how memory plays up
sometimes. Once in Luzern, it was time to see if Mount Pilatus would be
a possible option this year. Well...it was raining and mostly everything
was grey, so once again, Mount Pilatus would have to remain unconquered.
Another stop for lunch (delicious
mushroom soup) was made at the
Hotel Restaurant Landhaus Giswil just below the
Brünigpass, which in
turn leads down some hairpin bends to Brienzersee. From here, it is
pretty smooth sailing before heading off towards Wilderswil and finally
Grindelwald. The arrival weather was less than welcoming, slightly rainy
and grey, but Hotel Glacier is a welcoming sight and it felt good to
park the car, relax for a moment and then head up to the centre of the
village for a dinner at the Jasmine Garden (the 'chicken in lemon sauce'
is really good - almost as good as the one at Berena's in Beijing :) I
wonder how much longer it will rain, by the way...
Day 2: Grindelwald, rain
I wonder indeed. The day is at
least as grey as the previous one. No high-mountain trip today, that's
for sure! This was a chance for a short drive to park the car in Lauterbrunnen - right at the base of the (probably on a good day only)
impressive Staubbachfall, which at the time - in spite of the rain -
seemed as if its source was just tap water. From here, a fairly short
cogwheel train ride takes you to Wengen - where prices easily double due
to its name and fame in the alpine circus - the annual Lauberhorn
downhill and combined events take place here around the middle of
january. The station itself is situated at 1374 metres, more than 500
metres above the valley station - it is difficult to say which levels
the
other parts of the tiny village are at, since the terrain is quite
rugged. An impressive cable gondola goes seemingly vertically up the
hillside to Männlichen, meeting with the one coming from the Grindelwald
side. Wengen itself is more or less entirely made out of hotels,
restaurants and a few shops, which isn't surprising, as this is normal
for mostly any alpine resort village. Parts of the village enjoy a
Jungfrau view as well as a Lauterbrunnental view, but comparing it with
the one in Grindelwald, it doesn't even come close, especially when
considering the rest of the surroundings. Lunch was enjoyed at a small
place - goulash soup...mmm :) And the sun decided to be merciful for an
hour or so, even!
One more thing remained from
the list of things to see during poor weather conditions -
Gletscherschlucht (yes there really are 3x 'ch' in that word). This was
indeed a more impressive experience than I would have imagined it to
be.
The small river from the lower Grindelwald glacier has, together with
the ice, dug out a 100 metre deep, narrow gorge over the millennia. A
series of tunnels and walkways have been made to allow the casual
visitor to experience the gorge from (literally) inside. The river
brings a lot of loose materials and is therefore dark grey in colour. In
addition to this, far down below the vertical rock faces, it creates a
thunderous roar with echoes in all directions - one might even consider
bringing hearing protection along! If visitors feel that walking through
the gorge itself is too
boring an experience, they have the option of
bungee jumping from a platform near its mouth. There is a small hotel
situated right at the entrance to the gorge - aptly named Hotel Gletscherschlucht, but I have the feeling this place will feel somewhat
dark, cold and unwelcoming in the evening and night, even though the
entrance wall is floodlit in the late hours. I tried to capture this
wall on a photo from Hotel Glacier's veranda, but without too much
success, due to the distance. Situated almost right above the mouth is a
small restaurant named Marmorbruch - which isn't much to see at all, and
just ended up being a boring walk up and down a winding road.
Day 3: Grindelwald, less
rain
Well..there is less rain, but still
grey, and the mountains are more or less gone. So if the mountains hide
from Mohammed,
Mohammed will leave the mountains. A small trip around
the Thunersee worked well, this time without stopping at the St
Beatus-Höhlen, since they were covered last time. A stop was made in the
village of Oberhofen, mainly due to its neatly situated castle, jutting
out into the lake. Even in the grey weather, it made an impressive
backdrop and nice motif for a photo. The town of Thun is home to the
renowned maker of ski lift systems, Doppelmayr. No stop was made,
although it was already nearing lunch time. A stop was tried halfway
back towards Interlaken, but the menu seemed to only consist of local
food with the danger of getting a lethal overdose of calories. A bit
late, lunch was instead enjoyed rought outside the casino in Interlaken
- a neat and good lunch combination menu.
It is late in the afternoon,
but not late enough for dinner...might as well have a walk in the
mountains after all, even though the fog is heavy, but at least the
rain's mostly stopped! Thus..heading down to the Männlichenbahn station,
and asking for a roundtrip ticket with the cogwheel train down from
Kleine Scheidegg. The cashier seems a bit doubtful. "It's pretty cloudy
up there, yes?" I let him know that I am aware of it but still walking -
for the sake of walking in the mountains. "The last train leaves from
Kleine Scheidegg at...hmmm" - "18:54" I finish for him. "Yes", he says -
and the reward for my extensive knowledge is a double portion of Ricola
candy! Or was it a compensation for the poor weather?
Surprisingly enough, the
temperature at the top of the station was barely lower than it was 1300
metres further below. It is quite a pleasant walk in the thick fog, even
though the marvellous view from here is completely obscured by thick
fog. It is almost impossible to see all the cows grazing, but they are
still very audible with their huge churchbells! Travelling on a cable
car in thick fog is a different feeling..there is absolutely nothing out
there, and the only sign of nearing the destination is less vegetation
and a brighter mass of grey around you.
The walk was pleasant for sure..and
Kleine Scheidegg was reached an hour before the last train departure. I
wonder if the amazing trio of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau is still out
there somewhere? There's no sign of them at least..just a thick wall of
impenetrable, familiar fog..the station area is all but deserted, due to
the late hour as well as the weather conditions. A japanese pair walk
around, the girl stumbling on high heels - this is not really terrain
for gala dinner outfits, and I reflect how sad it must be for these not
to experience the awe-inspiring landscape after having travelled halfway
around the world.
Day 4: Grindelwald, no rain!
It's not raining, and the mountains
are actually there! Well at least somewhere above the low clouds! It's
the last day and if the planned journey to Bachalpsee is going to
happen, then it will have to be done today. The Firstbahn valley station
lies 5 minutes walk from the village centre, and takes you up into the
clouds at 2137 metres in 3 stages - first past Bort (1571 m), then
angling a little and climbing steeply towards Schreckfeld (1954 m),
where it almost doubles backwards, then climbing the final stage to
First.
Here among the clouds, or fog,
there was absolutely no view whatsoever - even the sheer wall dropping
off just behind the restaurant was obscured. The walk to Bachalpsee is a
relatively easy one, although it does take some 1 - 1 1/2 hours, as it
rises to nearly 2300 metres before dropping down to the lake itself,
which is situated at 2265 metres. Some breaks
in the clouds allowed for
a pic or two to be taken, and also opened up a view of Faulhorn behind
the lake, to which the road continues, where a hotel/restaurant is
situated at 2681 metres. The return to First was still in fog, and the
planned extension to Grosse Scheidegg seemed less attractive, since the
clouds were hanging really low over there, so the return trip was
instead made to Bort, in which direction the weather was better. True
enough, a great view of Schreckhorn (4078 m) and a different view of
Eiger (3970 m) from the side - almost as impressive as seeing its north
face. The trip from Schreckfeld down to Bort was at times extremely
steep, and I regretted not bringing my knee protection for this one - it
hurt quite a lot at times, maybe a result of too many steep mountain
walks.
Day 5: tactical relocation
Somebody must have
unconsciously been worshipping the weather gods during the night, as the
weather was even better than the previous day. The downside to this was
of course that it was time to leave the magnificent mountain scenery of
the Berner Oberland region, and head southwestwards. The first stop for
the day was the capital of the country, Bern. With only 130.000
inhabitants, it is a surprisingly small capital, especially when
considering that the entire country rooms more than 7 million people.
The entire historical centre of the town, which is enclosed by a
180-degree bend of the river Aare, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and
is quite large as historical town centres go. The old town clock,
reminiscent of the one in Prague, draws quite a few tourists. The
cobbled streets are lined with old buildings everywhere, and the wide
open space around the main cathedral is a great viewpoint. The
parliament building was completely covered in scaffolding and only gave
vague hints of its shape. This was a saturday, so there was a big market
in town - in places it was difficult to move through the throng of
locals (as well as tourists) past all the stalls of cheese, wine, fruit
and assorted goods brought in from the countryside. All in all I must
admit to being somewhat biased when it comes to historical town centres,
and the impression was that this one didn't stand out in particular from
all the others.
A not too long drive further
on, and it was time to enjoy lunch in the very pleasant surroundings of
the tiny hillside village of Gruyères, surprisingly enough with free
parking. The weather and temperature was wonderful, and the lunch salad
was enjoyable. In addition, there seemed to be a gathering of old cars
in the town square, which added even further to the feeling of times
gone by. It is possible to go for a walk around the entire castle
perimeter, and for enthusiasts - there is an H.R. Giger museum (yes,
this is his home town) - the name might not sound familiar to many,
although many have seen his design works on the mothership and creature
in the movie 'Alien'. Otherwise, Gruyères is probably best known for its
cheese, Le Gruyère.
From the german speaking
parts of Switzerland (Berner Oberland) to the french speaking
(Gruyères),
back to the german speaking parts of Saanen and Gstaad (the latter in
which a quick stroll was enjoyed in the fabulous summer/autumn weather),
before yet again entering the french speaking part via two mountain
passes - the first being Col du Pillon (1546 m), the base for one of
several cable cars bringing eager tourists up to the top of the mountain
range known as Les Diablerets, which reaches up to a height of 3210
metres, where the 'Glacier 3000' is a ski resort for the eager. The term
'cable car' did not seem correct for this one however, 'cable house'
would be more correct, as it loomed above the road on its way up or down
- the most surprising part being that the cable system was completely
silent. Another break, this time with thé/café/gateau was enjoyed at the
local place right on the top of the pass.
Another pass was er...passed
(Col de la Croix, 1778 m), this one more deserted than the previous one,
as it was more or less on
a backside-road compared to most of the others
so far, yet the destination was easily enough reached - namely the
mountain resort village of Villars in the canton of Vaud. After a slight
detour, the hotel of choice - Hotel Golf du Villars - was found, and it
was already late enough in the evening to seek out a place to dine.
Easier said than done, as the village itself seemed to be more or less
devoid of life after 18:00. The option was to return to the hotel
instead and dine in the restaurant there, although the prices were
somewhat steep, but still no worse than what is usual on my home turf -
e.g. 38 CHF for a dinner with buffet salad, and fresh meat off the
grill. The hotel itself has a marvellous view, if you choose a room on
the valley side - seeing 'Aigle by night' is quite neat.
Day 6: On the shores of Lake Geneva
Yep - time to visit one of the more
famous resorts in the country, namely Montreux. On the way down the
steep mountainside towards Aigle, large areas of vineyards were basking
in the sun, and in september, they certainly looked more attractive than
what I have seen before in march/april. Before reaching the town of
Montreux however, a mandatory (and long) stop was the Château de Chillon,
nestled on the lakeshore. Originally build in the 12th century, this
castle consists of 25 individual buildings which now form a whole, and
feels and looks like a sort of 'Fort Boyard' with its lakeside location.
Lord Byron made the castle famous when he wrote 'The Prisoner of Chillon'
in 1816. Walking through it all is a great experience and sets you back
hundreds of years. There are prison dungeons, devices of torture, narrow
winding stairways, open walkways, fortifications, gardens, grand halls
with halberds and armour - in short, everything the average beach-lover
would hate ;)
When viewing the hillside from one
of the courtyards, there is a striking contrast between the old - the
castle itself - and the new - the modern super-high-rise motorway which
passes above the entire town of Montreux. With that being said, it was
time to head the remaining two kilometres into the town centre and find
a parking space (slightly easier said than done), then seek out
someplace to have lunch. The choice was one of the nearest, a Moroccan
named 'Palais Oriental' - the name, placement and
facade making you
wonder if there is room in the budget for it. The next challenge was to
qualify for
a seat, as the door/seating guard asked 'avez-vous une
réservation?' upon entry. I had to admit that none had been made, but
possibly out of kindness of heart, entry was allowed for the
not-so-fashionable after a seemingly thorough inspection of available
seats. There were indeed quite a few available tables, but as was later
observed of what appeared to be a brother-boss-pair, one being the
door/seating guard, they did enjoy appearing to be important, including
their treatment of the rest of the staff of the place. Nonetheless, a
great lunch which consisted of salad and a moroccan style curry chicken
& rice dish was enjoyed, and it still didn't manage (quite) to topple
the budget.
The history of the town of
Montreux dates as far back as the days of the Roman empire, but did not
attain its present resort
status with overpriced hotels until the 19th
century. What to do? Stroll along the lakeside walkway together with
hundreds of other people, of course! Even with the throng of people, the
atmosphere is relaxed, and mostly everybody (apart from a few
rollerblades enthusiasts) are just strolling around and enjoying the
scenery and the sunshine. It is possible to walk most of the way towards Lausanna, and combine it with the old steamboats which traffic the lake,
but a walk of half an hour in either direction will also suffice when
there is a lot on the programme. There was an unusual amount of fighter
plane traffic around the lake - almost enough to wonder if war was
brewing - but it turned out when returning 'home' to Villars that there
was an air show in Aigle - no wonder they were so close!
One of the more famous
sights in the town itself include the statue of Freddie Mercury, who
lived partly here. Charlie Chaplin also did, and Deep Purple wrote the
song 'Smoke on the Water' after the casino was set on fire in 1971. The
casino, along with some of the prime position hotels, are among the more
statuesque buildings, this also includes one of the many private schools
here - one for hotel management (not surprisingly so) - situated on a
high perch above the town, and looking more like Hogwarth's school of
Witchcraft.
Day 7: Back to Zürich
This day was more or less a day of
transportation, as the 320 or so km back to Zürich was relatively easily
covered, mostly on motorways. There were at least three possible
motorway routes, but the one chosen went past the west side of Lac
Neuchâtel. There were possible detours with sightseeing, such as Creux-du-Van
(which seems to include a 5-hour walk??) and Solothurn centre, but
priority was instead given to spending some time both at the airport
hotel (Mövenpick) and the rooftop of the airport, which was far less
enjoyable this time due to cold and rainy weather.
The return trip deserves (or
doesn't, but still..) special mention - the overgrown bathtub managed to
spend 3 hours fighting against the headwinds, instead of its scheduled 2
hours, and jumped and danced on its way down towards Gardermoen airport.
Additionally the seat given by the Swissair check-in counter was the
worst possible in the plane - directly below the wing, thus hand luggage
had to be placed under the seat in front. I also wonder if it is a
Norwegian phenomenon to bring infants along on plane trips, as this
seems to happen almost every time. They tend to be a bit young to enjoy
plane trips, so why not wait till they are a little older?
Addendum - the SAS flight to
Zürich is no longer operated by Transwede, but is a regular SAS flight
with a 737...maybe more people were slightly dissatisfied with the plane
of choice, after all.
UNESCO sites visited on the journey:
Old City of Bern(e)
