Switzerland 5: I didn't even realize the Reichenbach Falls were a real thing!

The only plan for yesterday that came from research prior to the trip, was the Aare Gorge.  While looking up extra things to do, I discovered the Schynige Platte.  This is how we began our day.  We boarded the first cog train that would take us up the mountain near a town called Wilderswil.



A little less than an hour later, we arrived at the Schynige Platte.  It is an area at the top of a mountain that has nice views, hiking trails, and an Alpine garden.  We started with the garden, which was fairly large and varied.  Not all flowers were in bloom, but most were.



We continued with a relatively short hike.  Stephanie went to the top of one of the areas while I stayed at the bottom.  We took the shorter route back because the other route was extremely high and narrow, along the edge of a cliff.




We had planned to go back down the mountain and then take trains to see the Aare Gorge.  I was unsure if we would make it before closing, so I tried to look up the times online.  Unfortunately, the mobile website for the Gorge did not have information in English and it wouldn't translate.  While looking through other sites, I discovered that the Reichenbach Falls were just nearby.

I immediately recognized the Reichenbach Falls as the location that Sherlock Holmes had pushed his arch nemesis Moriarty to his death, and supposedly died as well.  I had to go!  Both places were accessible from the same train stop.  We needed to do the Falls first, as it closed an hour later.  We took a funicular train to the top.  We were able to see a star on the cliffside, which was the place that the fight would have taken place.

We only had time to hike up the mountain to the waterfall above the main Falls.  I would have liked to continue the path that would eventually wrap around to the star, but we did not have the time.



About one kilometer from the funicular train was the Aare Gorge.  The path was partially through a tunnel carved through the mountain, but mostly through elevated platforms that wrapped in and out of the Gorge.  It was a 1.5 kilometer walk through the Gorge.



A short walk from the exit on the other side was access to a train.  In order to take the train, we had to press what looked like an elevator button.  The sign explained that the door would only open when the train arrived.  I had assumed that it was an elevator that would take us up to the train.  Instead, when the train arrived, it opened up straight onto the train, which was inside the mountain.  I wish I would have known so I would have been able to take a picture of the train inside!  As it was, we had to rush through, so I missed my opportunity.



Today was a beautiful day but I was unfortunately out of commission due to a medical problem.  We are hoping to be able to go out again tomorrow.

Switzerland 4: A monastery with caves, a ferry, two castles, and two cities

Yesterday, we left for Lauterbrunnen again, and then took another train to Interlaken, followed by a three minute train to Interlaken West.  From here, we took a ferry for two stops.  Then we hiked twenty five minutes up a mountain, to enter St. Beatus-Hohlen's caves, located within the monastery.  The Irish wandering monk was said to have slayed the dragon that once lived in the caves.

There was an option for either a guided tour or exploring for yourself.  We chose the latter.  I expected a small set of caves, but the caves seemed to go on forever.  There were even a few small waterfalls along the way.



We had bought lunch at Wengen's coop, so we ate at a table in the monastery, and then walked down the path to the street.  Here we waited for a bus that took twenty five minutes to bring us to Oberhofen.  Just a few steps from the bus stop and we were at the Oberhofen Castle.  Our entry was included with our Swiss Travel Pass.  The rooftops had an interesting green color and one of the turrets jutted out into the lake.  The inside was nothing special, outside of a mouse that we found.  Around the back of the castle was a beautiful little garden with a goat with a strange expression on its face.



Just a few minutes after we were done, the ferry arrived and three short stops later brought us to Thun.  Thun is a smallish city with a castle and a Ferris wheel.  It also had a covered bridge that allowed nearby surfers to test out the rushing water by holding onto long ropes that were set up.  They'd pull themselves in, get themselves steady, and then try to surf on their own before being overtaken by the water.



We zig zagged through the small city, til we arrived at the castle.  This castle was also included with our travel pass.  The rooms were big, but not filled with many terribly interesting things.  When we walked up one narrow spiral staircase, we heard a lot of noise, but didn't know what it was.  We continued on upwards until we reached the roof, which let you see up through the wooden beams to the very top.  Here, we could climb into two turrets to look out over the city.



On the way back down, I read one of the signs.  One brother had killed another brother on the steps here, in order to claim the castle for himself.  Upon walking down, we heard the noise again and noticed a projected blood spatter on the staircase, referencing this killing.

As we walked back through town we noticed many people swimming in the river, some of which were happy to just be pulled by the current.  We caught some teens jumping off the bridges and doing flips into the water.  Back at the train station, we stopped for more coop food and then took a 19 minute train to Bern, the capital of Switzerland.  We came here to see three things.  A clock tower, a bear park, and a rose garden.  The streets had old architecture and were filled with constantly coming and going buses that were wired into the electrical grid above them.  Both sides of the street had a covered walkway lined with shops.  None of it particularly interested me.

We walked past the clock tower and I took a quick picture with my cell phone.  Eventually we arrived at the bear park, which was an upsettingly small area near where the city used to have a bear pit.  Tons of flags flew around town, of the bear, seemingly their symbol.  You would think that if they were so fond of their bears that they wouldn't give them a tiny area to roam, in the middle of a city, where you heard constant noise from vehicles and kids screaming.  I took no pictures.



A short walk uphill and we were at the rose garden, which got fabulous reviews on google.  In reality, it was a tiny subsection of a regular old park.  Nothing noteworthy in the slightest.  The park did, however, provide fantastic views of the city.



We took a bus to the train station, and then a series of trains back home.  It took about an hour and forty five minutes to make the entire journey home.

Switzerland 3: Many trains and a long valley of waterfalls

It was a three hour train ride, involving three trains, to get from Lucerne to Wengen.  Wengen is a little way up the mountain.  We checked into the hotel and then returned to the train, to descend to the town below us, Lauterbrunnen.  Then, we walked.

The walk was due south, in the valley between two high cliff sides.  We stopped briefly at the Staubbach Falls, which had a curving walkway that led to a tunnel that allowed us to walk through caves in the wall in order to view the waterfall from behind and to the side.  I preferred the front view.



We continued walking for another half hour, crossed to the other side of the valley, and then arrived at the Trummelbach falls.  I had read about it ahead of time, but it was a bit different than I had imagined.  First, we entered an elevator inside the mountain and went up.



Once we were at the top, we exited the mountain again, and followed an outside walk way up and around the side, where we saw our first falls, and then the path continued inside the mountain.  Each subsequent waterfall was louder and more intense than the previous.  I had to put my camera away, as it became too wet, and started using my phone.  The noise was deafening, and the mountain seemed to vibrate.  The falls rushed with incredible intensity.  The pictures do not do the experience justice.



We continued in the same direction in the valley, until we reached the very end.  The final destination was the town of Stechelberg, which was a hotel and a few shacks, alongside a campground for RVs.  We waited for the bus to return to Lauterbrennen before ascending back to Wengen.