23/09/25 Goodbye Germany, Hello Switzerland..

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We got up early and caught a train to Switzerland.   This took a while but was quite pleasant: it was warm inside the train while the weather outside became progressively more miserable.  Any photogenic opportunities were quickly obscured by cloud, trackside bushes, and tunnels. Screens in the ceiling kept Roger up to date on current speeds, so he was happy. 

We stopped for an hour or so in Mannheim, just up the river from Mainz.  This was just enough time to stretch my legs with a brisk walk up to the Wasserturm about which I knew, and continue to know, nothing.  It was a nice tower surrounded by parkland and ponds of water,

and also surrounded by chesty lion/human beings and muscular mermen wrestling very large fish.

We left Mannheim in the rain, on an ICE train that took us all the way to Interlaken in Switzerland.  By the time we got there the train was full and I was glad we'd reserved our seats.

Goodbye Germany...

Hello Switzerland.

The train followed the banks of Lake Thunersee to Interlaken.  Clouds draped heavily over the mountains, occasionally letting through a sliver of sunshine.  Way up high, three hang gliders drifted in lazy circles.  Down at lake level nobody was out and about and all the boats were tucked up in their tarpaulins as the train hummed past.



The woman in the bar of the Happy Hostel Bistro was very busy serving drinks and checking in the little crowd of us who waited patiently with our baggage.  Our room was at the top of the hostel, separated from the shenanigans down below by a solid two floors and we're not thinking about what happens if there is a fire, thank you very much.  Switzerland doesn't run to Easy Safety Ropes like Japan, more's the pity.

We went for a quick walk around Interlaken in the rain.




You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a photo of two swans right side up, and how long a swan can stay with its head underwater and its bottom in the air.


While out walking Roger glanced at the prices in the restaurants and had a heart attack.  "Oh my goodness, we're not eating while we're in Switzerland!"  We went out to forage in the streets and joined all the other price-shocked tourists scrummaging for the evening 50% off specials at the Coop.  I'm not too proud to fight with German twenty-somethings for the last cheap salad when it comes down to survival in the wilds of Switzerland.

At least the Happy Hostel had a kitchen, so I could heat my noodle salad in the microwave and, glory be, use a kettle to make a cup of tea in a grown up cup.  Oh the luxury!!

And then we retired to our room to plan tomorrow and our assault on the mountains of Switzerland.

Today's door: the Wasserturm, Mannheim.





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