Interlaken
Trip Start
Sep 13, 1997
1
19
22
Trip End
Oct 02, 1997
Interlaken,
Switzerland
Monday, September 29, 1997
Of course, Mom bought some cosmetics from France, third round so far in this European trip. "It's cheaper than in the U.S.!" she said . . .
The weather is Switzerland is just much nicer than in Russia. It was in low 20s C (high 60s F) degree and sunny every day. Our train stopped at Berne, went along the shore of Thunersee ("see" is "lake" in German) before reached Interlaken.
Interlaken becomes a famous tourist spot because its proximity to the most beautiful mountain area in Switzerland (or Europe, or the world, depends on how you view it)- the Jungfraus. The three main mountains: Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger form one of the most beautiful scenery in the world and Interlaken is the start-point for visiting these mountains. Interlaken means "between lakes" because it is nested between Thunersee and Brienzersee. With mountains and lakes around, Interlaken is the most popular Swiss tourist spot by travelers from around the world. There are so many Japanese here, even in signs or brochures, you can read that in Japanese.
If you remember my article about British Columbia earlier this year, do you know there are many "Little Switzerland" around the world? Any place with beautiful mountain scenery tries to dubs itself "Little Switzerland." Now it's time for the REAL THING!
I was in fact in the similar itinerary two years ago when I visited Switzerland (see EuroTrip 1995). I came back just for my mother's request since she never saw this part of Switzerland (all out of filial piety, of course!). I took her onto some things I've done before: taking a lake cruise on Thunersee and strolling around some small villages along the lake. Then we took the train to Switzerland's capital and forth largest city- Berne.
Because my mother's clipped some travel articles from Chinese newspapers and these articles all boast about how beautiful, elegant, and historic Berne is (it is UNESCO World Heritage Site, just like Kizhi Island), my mother was overexcited about visiting Berne. I tried to show her around to let her know it in fact not really that special. It was late and we could only have dinner in Berne. And how disgraced, we settled for Pizza Hut (because we think it is the only place besides MacDonald's we know how to order). It is okay, but cost us 34 Swiss francs (24 dollars or 680 NT dollars)!
I read that everything is Switzerland is all so nice except everything in Switzerland is oh so damn expensive. Thanks to the currency exchange rate this year. It was very, very bad when I visited there 2 years ago when it was 1.12 Swiss francs to 1 dollar, but now it's about 1.5 to 1! By the way, in Swiss restaurants, they don't offer you free tap water or free refill for soft drinks. Something in the U.S. is still better than in Europe, besides the Chinese restaurants.
It was late when we returned to Interlaken. There would be a whole lot to do tomorrow.
