A Day Out In Thun And Oberhofen.

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Today Luke and I were checking out of Balmer’s and Interlaken to move to Lauterbrunnen. We both agreed that three days wasn’t enough for Interlaken and wished we’d had at least another day or two. It’s a pretty city and a terrific base for exploring the two lakes and all the various mountains and cable cars. If I’d come here to hike, a full week would barely suffice.

We left our bags at Balmer’s for the day and caught a train to the town of Thun. Our aim was to visit the castle but first, while walking through town, we managed to see someone surfing!

There was a lot of water coming through the weir and guys would jump in with their boards, grab the handle on the rope until they were comfortable then let go and surf for as long as they could.

It was quite impressive, even more so because we knew the water was chilly glacier-melt.

We then wandered towards the castle towers which were visible over the old town. The route up was about 200 steps so at the top we filled my water bottle from one of the ubiquitous fountains. One of the many things we’re going to miss when we leave here.

The castle, while impressive, didn’t seem to have much to offer inside, so we took a few photos of the towers and then had a little wander around the old town.

If you have a lot more money than us you could stay here – it’s a hotel.

The old town was small but interesting. In one part the street was on two levels – a deeper road between two higher footpaths.

As in Interlaken (and probably everywhere else in Switzerland) there were gorgeous flowers everywhere. Last year my garden was inspired by my trip to Canada, this year it’ll be Switzerland.

We walked along the river a bit and found the public swimming area – a section of river where people jumped in from a bridge then drifted along to another bridge where they climbed out. Most of the participants were elderly and looked to be having an excellent time.

I wish I’d taken a better photo.

Next was a bus to Oberhofen, where Luke had promised me a castle with gardens.

What a castle! What gardens! It was terrific.

First we walked through the gardens (priorities) and admired their dahlia beds and large variety of trees.

Then we went into the castle (10CHF or 8 with the Bernese Oberland travel pass) and had a look around. It was very well set up for school groups and had a lot of interactive stuff about servants’ lives and whatnot.

Unfortunately it was all in Swiss German but I could appreciate the effort.

One room I don’t think you’d take kids was the very top tower, which was an ‘oriental smoking room’ (opium den) that the family installed when smoking opium was fashionable. Although I bet the women of the family didn’t get a look-in.

It was pretty amazing though.

The colours and patterns were gorgeous.

The castle also contained some excellent woodwork and the usual slew of po-faced oil paintings.

Next was a lunch of rather Australian-style pies (although at the rather unAustralian 10 bucks each) and then a ferry back to Interlaken.

Apparently wishing really hard that someone would get out of your photo doesn’t work. This woman stood exactly like this for a full minute.

If you catch a Swiss ferry you’d better be prepared to exercise your arms because everyone you go past, whether on a board, a boat, or a bike, wants to give you a wave. To me the waves meant ‘Oh hello! I see you’re in Switzerland! Give us a wave if you’re thrilled to be here because we bloody well are!’

How could we not wave? We were as enchanted as everyone else.

While I was standing on the deck thinking smug thoughts an American lady next to us told her sons to ‘stop horsing around’, a familiar phrase that reminded me of a sign I’d taken a few days earlier. Do horses really behave that badly? In Switzerland they need a reminder not to enter underground walkways on their own.

No cars, no bikes, and no more bloody horses, ok?

We headed back to the hostel to pick up bags then to the train station and up to Lauterbrunnen, which is higher up the mountains and a gateway to the cloudy peaks we’ll no doubt regret paying through the nose for in the next few days. Of course today was a pure blue sky and would’ve been perfect but… we’ll see!

Right now we’re sitting on the balcony at our hostel and enjoying the sight of lights coming on across the valley and the sound of the waterfalls.

One more view of lovely Lake Thun before I go.

Interlaken: Buses, Chocolate Making, Cable Cars and More.

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Our Bernese Oberland Pass began today so we jumped out of bed at 6:30 to make the most of it. I’ll post more about the pass after we get to Geneva when we work out whether or not it was worth buying.

First activity for the day was catching a local bus to Beatenberg, a little village further up in the hills (I mean mountains… Switzerland’s mountains look like hills because there are even bigger mountains behind them). The bus ride took less than half an hour and we got out a few stops before the end of line and walked along the ridge that Beatenberg sits on, admiring the houses, the view, and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Everywhere around Interlaken are spring water fountains where you can fill up your water bottle with cold water. I think my favourite spring that I’ve seen so far was this one in Beatenberg.

So stylish!

If I could say that this part of Switzerland reminded me of another place I’ve been I would liken it to Japan. Equally clean, full of polite people, and the architecture, if you take away the geraniums, is very similar to wooden Japanese houses, only heavier and more ornate.

We bused back down to Interlaken in good time for our chocolate-making class at the Funky Chocolate Club. We were the only Aussies in a group of Americans but they were all very nice and we had a lot of fun.

First we heard a bit about the history of chocolate and where in the world it comes from. Then we tasted everything from 100% cocoa (revolting) and pure cocoa nibs (not bad) through dark, semi sweet, milk, and white. We then learned to temper chocolate to make three blocks of our own.

My favourite part was learning that correctly tempered chocolate twirls in a ribbon rather than dropping straight from the spoon. I got to use my lettering skills to write on our bars. It was harder than it looked!

You’ll probably find this hard to believe, but Luke and I did not gorge ourselves senseless on chocolate and only ate half a handful of bits during the class. Therefore we felt we deserved a hearty lunch at the bierhaus our walking tour leader had recommended the day before.

Specifically Alessandra had recommended the mac and cheese so we ordered one and a salad. It was, hands-down, the best mac and cheese I’ve had on our travels and I would’ve tried over a dozen in the US. This one was topped with fried onions, had plenty of cheese sauce and speck, plus it had a side of apple sauce. I don’t know if I’ll ever eat mac and cheese again without it – one of those unexpected pairings that turns out to be magical. Although we all know cheese and apples are good together… why did I not think of this already?

Next up was a bus ride along Lake Thun to reach a tourist attraction that I wasn’t at all keen on – the home of an ancient monk named Saint Beatus. He was possibly Irish and came to the area to convert the Helvetii and also claimed to have slain a dragon, which the Helvetii seemed to think was totally legit and so this monk lived in a cave and then had a take away shop named after him. This would’ve been pretty handy because the cave is miles from the nearest shops.

The site consisted of a long and steep ramp up to the little cave where the monk lived plus entry to an almost 1km stretch of tunnel that contained a river and stalagmites etc. Luke pestered me to give the caves a go and I said ok (I caved if you will. BOOM TISH) but we only got about 50 metres in before the roof got a bit low and I started quietly crying and had to leave. I was trying to convince myself it would be fine but the further I went underground the more a voice in my head kept saying ‘you are trapped!’ and I had to leave. Luke walked me back down to the gate and I sat outside and read my kindle. I felt totally fine when I got out and Luke went back to have a look but that’s it for me and caves. No more!

The outside was certainly attractive and worth a look. There’s a museum too but we didn’t bother.

We went back to the bus stop and caught the next bus to the base of the Neiderhorn funicular and cable car. The cost of this was included in our travel pass.

The view from the Neiderhorn was gob-smacking in every direction. The Neiderhorn is a long ridge so from the top you can see over the edge on one side and down towards Interlaken on the other.

On all the buses, the funicular, and cable car there’d been hardly a soul all day. That was to change, however, for our next activity. In the meantime we enjoyed looking at this Bernese Mountain dog being a bit lazy and catching the bus.

We don’t blame you, buddy. It’s 30 degrees out there.

Our last excursion of the day was another fantastic spot to see the sights.

Harder Kulm ( or, as we like to call it, Heidi Klum) is a restaurant and viewpoint that is accessible via a long hard walk or a funicular from close to the middle of Interlaken, therefore it is very popular.

We crammed aboard the funicular to make it up in time for sunset and a lovely meal of schnitzel and salad. Despite some bad reviews on TripAdvisor we found the staff very friendly and welcoming. Luck of the draw, perhaps.

The space at the top has a viewing platform that extends out over the valley a little and was filled with people getting their photos taken.

We decided not to linger as we knew the funicular would be crowded on the way down and so we lined up and ended up having a nice chat with a high school girl from the Netherlands who was travelling Europe solo in her school holidays. How wonderful to be a teenager in Europe. In country NSW we had a choice between Queensland and Sydney for our getaways. Yawn!

We walked back to our hostel via a sculpture in town that I wanted to take a photo with – a Bollywood director who had filmed many of his hits in Interlaken. Our walking tour guide had even been in one of the movies as an extra!

We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hostel but I’ve been a complete trooper and finished this entry straightaway. What a champion I am!

A photo of me with an empty bowl. How intriguing!

Switzerland: Interlaken

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Before heading off to Switzerland we spent the weekend in Cambridge attending Andrew and Lila’s wedding celebration (one year after they married – Lila is from Taiwan and they married quickly last year due to visa issues) and it was a cracking party with a proper ceilidh band calling the Scottish dances. The kind of thing I would’ve completely detested as a teenager but now love. Luke and I even got in some time on the dance floor to do some rock and roll steps. Everyone had a brilliant time and I’m very glad we were there for it. Thanks, Andrew and Lila, for putting us up!

We also had a chance to play with Jeffrey, Andrew’s parents’ new puppy. He likes biting everyone and everything but was delightful nonetheless.

I also used the time in Cambridge to buy several kilos of fruit and vegetables to undo the effects of all the pizza, pasta and cheese in Italy, then made us a tub of fruit and some salad rolls to take on the plane. We have been warned by everyone that Switzerland is expensive, particularly for eating out, so I filled all the camping-equipment space in my bag with muesli, rice, pasta, tins and sauces so we can cook most of our meals in the hostels. Obviously we’ll be going out for fondue and schnitzel etc at some point though!

On the Monday we caught the train from Cambridge to Liverpool Street then the Dockland Light Rail to London City Airport, which we’d not used before. Many airports around the world seem to be moving towards holding people in a large central area then telling them the gate only minutes before boarding starts, which means you have to fight for a seat or sit on the floor in an overcrowded area then hustle if your gate is miles away. London City Airport is not like that. Plenty of seats at the gates, all the flights are smaller aircraft and it is a walk of only a few metres from the train station into the airport, through security and to the bar for a quick drink. So civilised ;-).

We decided to buy some duty free gin and vodka to take to Switzerland and the fellow manning the duty free drinks told us his brother lived in Switzerland and he’d been to visit and we were making the right decision if we wanted to save money.

We flew with Skyworks, an airline we’d not heard of previously but which has been around for decades, apparently. They only have six aircraft and each seat 50 people so it was quite a different experience to our usual flights.

England looking unusually brown.

The view was lovely when we flew into Bern airport and customs took all of five seconds, with a cursory stamp and a queue of four people in front of us.

We caught a bus from the airport to Belp, then a train to Thun, following the advice of a friendly Swiss family and a girl from Hong Kong who had been before.

In Thun we changed trains to get to Interlaken and it was an incredibly scenic journey around a lake where the sun was shining on turquoise waters, people out swimming and sailing, and mountains rising dramatically in every direction.

Lake Thun.

Interlaken (as the name suggests) sits between two lakes. The city is almost completely flat but ringed by mountains, the furthest of which are snow-capped.

We walked from the train station to our hostel in about 20 minutes and admired all the beautiful wooden houses along the way that had that distinctive Swiss look. We also saw dozens of people paragliding and could hear faint ‘yippeeees!’ Coming from the sky.

We are staying at the Balmer’s Hostel, the oldest private hostel in Switzerland (or so they say) and our first hostel together for this trip. While I have seen people here who are older than me it’s definitely more of a 20-something party-place with a nightclub on the premises and a bar that is busy all evening. We shared a giant burger and sweet potato fries on our first night. They weren’t cheap but they were good.

We’d hardly been in Switzerland a few hours before Luke remarked that it was my spirit animal (or, you know, country). Clean, well-organised, a recycling bin on every corner, friendly, vegetable gardens in every front yard, fruit trees everywhere and one of my favourite things – natural springs where you can fill your bottle with cold, clear water… it’s heaven.

Paragliders landing on the square in the middle of town.

We’ve only been here a day and we’re wondering when and how we can come back to see it in Winter. One day!

Sorrento, Italy

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We were very glad to have chosen Sorrento for our base to explore the Amalfi Coast, even if it wasn’t actually on it.

Sorrento is a large town with wider streets, less stairs, and more shops than any of the smaller and perhaps more picturesque towns that make up the Amalfi Coast. It’s closer to Naples too, so when we had to get to the airport on our last day we hired a driver for 90 euros and left at 7:30am rather than having to leave an hour earlier from Positano or even earlier from Amalfi.

Sorrento’s main walking area. Everyone comes out in the evening to wander up and down.

While Sorrento has a number of galleries, churches and other things to do we had miscounted the number of days we thought we’d have there and ended up missing out on doing much cultural stuff. We did fit in time to relax though!

On our first day we had a wander around then decided to eat dinner at Azz! Restaurant because I wanted a break from pizza and the TripAdvisor responses from the manager to critical reviews were hilarious.

One of many similar responses. Other reviewers got into the spirit, claiming they loved Azz! And were certainly not ragamuffins.

We enjoyed the food but were disappointed that no dramas occurred while we were there – other reviewer had made comparisons to Fawlty Towers.

Our best eating experience in Sorrento was kind of accidental. We were walking home from the pool and passed an old building that was set back from the road and surrounded by lemon trees and high walls. Out the front was a chalkboard with a message guaranteed to attract my interest.

I love working gardens so we walked down the driveway to have a look and it turned out that it was a BnB with a large garden that did small set menus three or four nights a week. We booked in for that night and then went for a walk until they were ready.

There were about eight tables under cover in the middle of a lovely garden and the only other people there were an older English pair with whom we chatted after dessert.

The waiter, Roberto, had excellent English and had previously lived in Cambridge, coincidentally. We had four courses in all and all the vegetables were grown in the garden, which we got to wander through before we ate.

Mozzarella baked with citrus zest – delicious!

After the bustle of Rome, Naples, the buses, and hectic foot traffic of Sorrento, the garden was quite a lovely oasis and a very pleasant way to spend an evening. At nearly 100 euro for two of us it wasn’t cheap but it was certainly worth it.

Of course we did have some pizza to – at a restaurant recommended by one of my workmates (thanks Chiara!).

Luke will never understand why I like plates of lettuce and I will never understand how his bowels function properly on a diet of cheese and bread.

And a lovely lunch at Mo!Mo!, just around the corner from our Airbnb.

A deep fried zucchini flower on my pasta.

Hrm… this post does seem to have become very food-heavy, but that’s Italy for you!

The only other thing I did was take and early morning walk down to the fishing village that sits on the western side of Sorrento and I planned to go back for a swim at some stage but didn’t manage it.

All in all, we enjoyed Sorrento but probably didn’t really make the most of it, which just leave more things to see if we return.

This gorge will be familiar to anyone who has visited Sorrento as it is right in the middle of town.

Luke loves having his photo taken.

People gather along the cliff tops each evening to enjoy the view and cool breezes.

Sunset with Vesuvius behind us.

Using Hotel Swimming Pools in Sorrento

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We really wanted the use of a pool while we were in Sorrento, but were staying in an Airbnb rather than a hotel. I figured there would probably be some hotels where you could pay to use their pool, so I did a bit of research online. Most of the information came from scattered TripAdvisor posts. Since I couldn’t find one definitive source regarding the use of swimming pools in Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast, I thought I’d compile my research for others.

After doing my online research, I went and enquired at four hotels in Sorrento which have swimming pools, and three of them allowed non-guests to pay to use the pool. The only one which didn’t was the Grand Hotel la Favorita. Here’s some information on the ones that do:

Hotel Central

We only had enough time in Sorrento to sample one of the pools, and we ended up going with the one at Hotel Central. It cost €10 each to get in, and was open until 7pm – unfortunately I neglected to check what time it opened, but I suspect it was 9am.

Hotel Central had a medium sized pool with a good number of lounges in both shade and sun, with a solarium off to the side. The pool was quite warm when we visited – absolutely lovely temperature. The bar on site has a happy hour, reasonably priced cocktails, and chair service. If we had more time we would have gone back!

The entrance is the “Central Fitness Club” just to the right of the front doors to Hotel Central, and to the left of Hotel Gardenia, which has an arrangement with Central so that their guests can use the pool as well.

Hotel Carlton International

Costs €15 per person, open from 9am to 6pm and use of the pool by non-guests is subject to availability. Also has a bar with a good range of drinks and food available.

Grand Hotel Flora

Costs €15 per person, open from 9am to 6pm and provides you with towels. We didn’t actually get to go in and see what the pool looked like or the facilities, but the Flora certainly looks like an upmarket place so I imagine they at least match the other hotels we checked. The website states it also has a pool bar.

I hope this helps other people in our position make the most of their time in Sorrento!