The Oswalt Life: Interlaken, Switzerland

After leaving Lake Como Italy, we decided there couldn't be a more beautiful place on earth. Well, we must have found the second most beautiful place as well when we arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland! After missing a short connection, we had to take a later train when we transferred in Bern, Switzerland. We missed our short connection due to the fact that we had the funnest train ride from Como to Bern. We sat across from an Italian guy and an American girl (who didn't know each other). Once we got to talking, we laughed and had such a good time, especially when the drink cart came around. (He hung out with us for awhile too!) The Swiss pride themselves on being punctual and are serious about their time schedules. They hate the Italian trains (because they're always late), so no wonder we missed our connections. Well, we were also saying goodbye to our new train friends! The Italian gave us some good information, and the American (she was the city planner for Seattle!) clued us in on the Swiss culture. She told us to notice how impressive all the flower boxes are. The Swiss have a way with their flowers, and they sure know how to stack wood too! She also told us how early things close down in Switzerland, and boy she wasn't kidding! We arrived into Interlaken at about 11:00pm to find the city completely shut down! We found a cab at the train station who took us to our hotel, when we pulled up to the hotel the door was locked and the lights were off! We rang the doorbell, and were greeted by the nicest Swiss couple who owned the hotel. We apologized profusely, and they re-assured us that the Italian trains are always late, and to not worry. The next day we decided to go hiking on a mountain in a town close by named Grindewald. We chose a trail that would take about 2 hours, expecting it to take us a bit longer. We took the cable care up to the top, and were going to hike down..... so I thought! We actually hiked down a bit, then all the way up and then back down again! Note to self... next time hiking in Switzerland.... invest in hiking shoes, tennis shoes won't cut it! Kirk was fine (because he has hiking shoes), and I could feel every rock, stick, and pebble on the trail! Ouch! The weather was perfect, and it took us about 4 HOURS to finish! We laughed because I got passed by a lady carrying a baby!!! Stupid tennis shoes! I consider myself to be semi-athletic, but with my feet hurting and the altitude, I felt bad that Kirk had to keep waiting on me! At least we brought lunch, beer, and chocolate for the day! After a long day of hiking and shopping (once we made it to the bottom), we took the train back to Interlaken ready to go grab some dinner. Well, when we arrived everything was closed.... even the grocery store (at 7:30!). Luckily went to the grocery store before we went hiking, and stocked up on cheese, bread, and wine. Such a nutritious dinner (and I wonder why I gained so much weight!)(but I'm not complaining!). We rode the bus back to our hotel (yes, we finally were successful on a bus!), and called it an early night! We planned only a short visit to Interlaken, so the next day we were off to Zurich!

The funnest train ride with some new "train friends" (And yes, Kirk was reading Twilight! He finished his book, so I let him read my book while I read his!)

The drink cart dude stayed to visit awhile!

Welcome to Interlaken, Switzerland

Swiss pride, the flag was everywhere. Kind of reminded me of Texas!

The trains were on time to the second, they left exactly when they said they would. If you weren't on the train, the doors locked and.... too bad! (Ask me how we know!)