and we're off!
We
were not really sure what to expect for this day, all we knew is that we were
going on a cruise around Lake Brienze. Can’t go wrong, right? As usual, we
showed up early and were rewarded with a nice table for breakfast. Other than a
legit cruise, I can say this was my first sit down meal on a boat (unless you
count the tradition of powdered donuts and chocolate milk that my Dad and I
have when fishing). The boat acts kind of like a bus. You can get off at any
stop, and there will be another boat to catch to the next stop, or to get you
back to the original point of departure. We decided to check out Giessbach, and
thank God we did. Before we get to Giessbach though, I need to give a side
story. Once you get off the boat, you have to take a cogwheel train up to the
actual town, which is really just a hotel from what we saw. Well, I had planned
on hitting an ATM that day, and was a few Franc short. Luckily, this awesome
older man let us ride up anyways. Once you arrive at the top, there is the
Grandhotel Giessbach with views of the lake and of Giessbach Falls. We were
amazed. This was the closest I had ever been to a real waterfall. We hiked up
quite a ways, and got to a spot what lets you cross underneath part of the
falls. It is hard to describe the sound and the sense of power that comes from
waterfalls of this size. I really won’t even try, so there are a couple of
videos below. At one of the pools I was able to get close enough to fill up our
water bottle. There is just something cool about drinking water straight from
an Alpine waterfall. After a bit, we headed back down to check out the hotel
and some more views of the lake. Since we were not guests of the hotel, I
couldn’t get any cash to make it right with the cogwheel operator. I think he
felt sorry for me, because I am sure I looked pretty embarrassed.
One day we would love to stay at the
Grandhotel Giessbach. It was just beyond beautiful, and we would like to explore the area a bit further.
Next stop was
Brienz. Again, we didn’t have any plans, which made this stop a bit uneventful.
There were still some highlights though! We ended up picking up some gyros from
some no big deal restaurant and found a spot to eat them at the marina. This
ended up being perfect. The weather was pretty, the lake was beautiful, and we
had some friends (swans and coots) join us too. After eating, we took a stroll
along the lake, where there is a public trail/park.
After stopping by an ATM, and waiting way to long for the next boat, because we
got the schedule confused…we were off again! This boat actually ended up
stopping back by Giessbach, which was perfect. This time I had some extra
Francs, which gave me the opportunity to hand them off to the cogwheel operator
before the boat pushed off. He was confused at first, but was overly thrilled when
he realized I was paying my balance. It was a little memory that we won’t
forget.
Our friend giving us the thumbs up!
Back in Interlaken, we took a short break before heading to dinner. Since we
were going to the same place from the night before, we at least took a
different route. This time, we walked along the Aare River, and it was another
fun unplanned experience. We found a cool dam, a bridge separating Interlaken
and Unterseen, which had the most perfect sign at the midpoint. There is a
little inside joke between us about the Interlaken Ram. Whenever we see it, we
would put our arms up in the air and make a crazy noise. I am sure the locals
just loved it.
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