Well, I broke down and did it; I went to the Hooters in Interlaken. The temptation was too much, it has a bar outside right on the sidewalk in the middle of prime real estate on main street, and they sell cold Rugen Brau on tap, the local beer which is very good. I came back to Interlaken for two reasons, first to kill time while the travel agents worked out the final details of my trip, and second, to hike and get in shape for my adventure. Both were accomplished after much pain.
In this part of Switzerland there are extensive facilities for the hiker. There are well-marked and maintained trails, some of which are very challenging. There are huts, restaurants and hotels in the most amazing places. Only in Switzerland can you indulge in extreme, even dangerous, hiking and end up with coffee and a fresh croissant.
Originally I planned to go up the mountain for a 5 day extended hike, from hut to hut, but with the snowfall level down to 2000m, the weather did not look like it would cooperate. I decided on a couple day hikes from Interlaken. First I went up the Harder, which is the mountain literally in Interlaken, and of course it has a restaurant right at the top. I decided to hike one of the trails, as opposed to the road. It was a surprisingly difficult trail and a good workout. There were also plenty of ripe wild strawberries along the way.
True to from the weather changed every few minutes and when the sun came out, even for a cynic like me, it was uplifting. Warmed by the sun, cooled by the breeze, I could hear distant church bells as I munched strawberries and looked down into the valley.
From the Harder you can see Interlaken’s newest tourist attraction: Mystery Park. It’s a theme park dedicated to the “mysteries” around us; how did the pyramids get built, is there life in space, etc… One of the founders is Erich Von Danikin (spelling?) of “Chariots of the Gods” fame. The park is built on what was a military airport when I was first here. I remember someone pointed out that since it was a military airport, for security reasons you would never find it on a map. Funny enough, it was listed in the phonebook, including the address.
On the third day I tried my hand at fly-fishing. I’ve wanted to try it for some time, so I found out there were lessons available and I gave it a shot. Its kind of fun, if you can live with having the fly line wrapped around your head from time to time.
The rest of the week had great weather and I ended up on some fantastic hikes starting in Lauterbrunen (the valley), and Wengen (on one of the mountains), and a final killer on a different trail up the Harder again.
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