We took off yesterday – left mid morning, not home again till night fall. Monday is half price day for ferry tickets, so we bought a day pass to visit both our local lakes. Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. The town of Interlaken sits right in the middle. We started the day at the Spiez marina – caught the ferry heading towards Interlaken, calling into numerous lakeside villages on the way. First was Faulensee – just around the corner from us. Then straight across the lake to Merligen. It was then just in and out of little villages – people getting on and off. Also spotted the odd little house right on the edge of the lake; huge steep forested hills behind them. Boat sheds either under the house, or next door like a car port. What a different way of life! Lovely views in every direction as we sailed along. Sunny clear day.
We left the lake and traveled down a narrow canal to Interlaken West. We then hopped on the train to Interlaken East and Lake Brienz – price included in our ticket. Now it’s all organized so you leave one ferry, catch the train, and then walk a short distance to the next ferry. But our train was delayed for a few minutes. When we arrived at the Lake Brienz ferry terminal it was empty – the departure sign saying “next ferry at 2pm” – two hours away. Everyone doing the same trip as us just read the sign and sighed – so near yet so far. The ferry had only just left. Nothing for it but to have lunch and a wander. Not a bad way to spend the time.
The ferry on Lake Brienz was very old fashioned and full of character. Especially the salon – very comfy. We left the terminal and headed out to the lake via another narrow canal. More zig-zagging across the lake – visiting beautiful little villages on the way. Ended up meeting a local couple who spoke excellent english – so it was nice to sit and have a chat in the salon. Lake Brienz is narrower and not as long as Lake Thun. Less populated. It was interesting to see the very large Hotel Giessbach sitting high up on a steep hillside – a cable car for guests who arrive via the ferry. Also Chateau Burg near the village of Iseltwald – looked very impressive. But the main attraction was of course the lovely views – back towards Interlaken and forward towards the town of Brienz – right at the end of the lake. More photos! We had a quick stop at Brienz before we were on our way again – zig-zagging back to Interlaken.
We had an hour to wait for our final ferry on Lake Thun – again a result of that slightly delayed train. So we revisited the town of Interlaken – just walked around the nearby streets. Nice to see it again. It was getting quite late when we left Interlaken West and made our way back along the canal and onto the lake. Quite different seeing everything with the light fading for the day. We just sat back and relaxed – retracing our steps from the morning. We arrived back at Spiez, climbed the hill to our house sit home, heated up some “spag bol” and opened a bottle of red. Great way to finish a great day.
Love again
Di and Reg
This entry was posted in Europe, House Sits, Spiez, Switzerland, Switzerland