After the first night in ages snuggled up under the quilt, the rain stopped and we woke to a view we hadn’t realised was there.
It didn’t last long, the clouds came in again and we couldn’t get a good picture of the Reichenbachfalls, so we put some ‘luft’ in the tyres and drove down the valley to Brienz on Brienzer See where the sun was shining. We planned to cycle through the village and along the lakeside, but ended up doing it on foot because Rodney had another puncture, in his front tyre this time.
We spotted an interesting sign on a wall, it seems you can’t even smoke outside, if it’s windy !!!!
The walk around Brienz was stunning in the sunshine, with the lake reflecting the mountains on the opposite side. We stopped for a chat with a lady from Colorado, USA who was doing yoga on the water’s edge. She said she had been coming back to Brienz every year for 20 years and we could definitely see why.
The road in to Interlaken is beautiful, which was good because we had to drive in to Interlaken, out on the opposite corner, then back in and up the diagonally opposite side. In fact we drove all four roads out of Interlaken just to find somewhere we could pull over for a picnic. We did manage to find a stop in the end and it included a lovely view of the lake and a peak that Rodney had walked up, while on a school trip at the age of 16!
While we were driving around I checked a few German phrases in my 1967 school dictionary and found there were a few useful phrases in the middle of the book. Some of them may come in handy:
“Haben Sie fertige Kleidung” –”Do you have any ready-made clothes?” (I don’t have my sewing machine with me in the campervan….)
“Bringen Sie mein Gepäck herein, Träger – “Bring in my luggage, porter.” (Not sure I’ve spotted any porters in the campsites…..)
“Geben Sie mir eine Feder, Tinte, Siegellack, Papier, und Löschpapier” – “Give me a pen, ink, sealing wax, paper, and blotting paper.” (Is there any one out there still using blotting paper and what has happened to all the sealing wax manufacturers?)
“Wo kann ich Virginia Tabac bekommen?” “Where can I buy Virginia tobacco?” (What !!!)
“Lege meinen Hutkoffer ins Gepäcknetz” – “Put my hatbox on the rack.” (Oh dang, I forgot to bring my hatbox?!!!
I’ve noticed there never seems to be a “please” at the end of these requests, sounds like I’ll just be ordering people around!!!
There’s even a section of phrases for when one is ‘On the Steamer’, but I can’t find anything about the internet or wi-fi….. 1967 must have been back in the olden days.
Next stop, Interlaken, a lovely town with exceptional views of the mountains and as we are in Switzerland Rodney bought me an early birthday present, a traditional Swiss souvenir; a watch. Mine broke weeks ago in France. After cold drinks and another traditional purchase, chocolate, we decided to head up the road to Grindelwald. We chose the Camping Gletscherdorf which is in the most amazing valley with the stunningly majestic Eiger towering above us.
45 plus photographs have been taken on our camera today; I don’t know how we’re going to pick which ones to put in the blog……. We’ve just sat outside for hours eating dinner and watching the light change on all the mountains around us and taking even more photos.
I don’t think we could have picked a more fantastic place to camp for the next few days.
Published 7 July 2012
I did that climb with Rodney and Simon. I seem to remember having a beer at the top and feeling light headed on the way down due to the altitude!
I wonder if Mrs Fuchs has handed down her sweetshop in Interlaken?!! Lovely place. I recall we bumped into Ivan who was on a touring holiday. Happy days!!
Eddie