The showers at the Happy Hostel were modular in nature, slightly larger than an upright coffin. Hot water was gained by pressing a timer on the tap, and pressing it again every minute or so when the water inconveniently stopped. The bathroom echoed with the clunks of repeated tap timer pressing, and grunts as people attempted to dry and dress to a minimum level of decency before exiting their coffin cubicle. Washing long hair would be almost impossible in the Happy Hostel.
Now I've got my shower traumas off my chest, let's continue on with life in Interlaken.
With one day left in we took to the water, leaving the mountains to hide behind rain and clouds. The ferry up to Thun, at the other end of the lake, took the better part of two hours and was jammed with people: locals taking a quick trip from side to side and tourists like us getting all "ooh" and "aah" over what little mountain glimpses the clouds allowed.
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| My ride for the day. |
Little villages came and went. A man, feeding geese, waved to me.
There were a few castles to see, although castles in Switzerland were far less grand than their cousins in Germany.
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| Schloss Oberhofen am Thunersee. |
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| Schloss Spiez. |
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| Schloss Oberhofen again. |
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| Kultur-Pavillon Hünegg. |
Thun itself straddled several channels as the lake narrowed again to a river. The old town in Thun boasted the usual cobblestones and beautiful buildings along with channels of water so clear we could see fish lazily swimming on the bottom.
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| Schloss Thun stood guard over the old town. |
Walking along the channel, we found the covered bridges which crossed atop gated weirs to control the water flow. The bridges themselves were pretty, with dark wood panelling and a froth of red geraniums framing views from the walkway.
All the excitement, however, was on the downstream side of the bridge where locals and visitors alike gathered to watch hardy Thunians enjoying a spot of snow melt surfing in the standing waves of water pouring through the gates under the bridge.
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| Swans ignored the whole palaver and did swan things in the background. |
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| The fountain, part of a light, sound, and water show temporarily in town, did fountain things in the background too. No one took much notice. |
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| The show was was all in the water. Those Thunians are tough: it was cold enough out of the water, let alone in it! |
Some surfers even did fancy tricks.
By the time we had had our fill of surf spectating the rain had set in in earnest. We wandered back through the old town to the railway station and took the train home.
It was nice to have a day at water level.
No doors today. I'm getting slack in the door department. Here's a pretty Swiss house instead.
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