Interlaken and Zurich

The star of this trip has been Bella, our beautiful new car. She has served us so well on this trip!

We will always have good memories of her because of this trip!

I need to give some kudos to the Parkhotel Schoenegg in Grindelwald. Brock thinks this is the hotel he most enjoyed staying at on our trip. The staff was exceptionally helpful and friendly, and the same person who checked us in was later clearing tables. They really worked hard! Our room cost about 250 Swiss Francs per night, and much to our surprise, that included not only breakfast but also the incredible dinner we ate each night! It was a great value. The room was spacious and very well designed with everything we needed, and the bed was comfortable too! What more could we want?

We wish we could have stayed there a few more days. But, after breakfast, packing, and a quick walk into town in the rain for souvenir shopping, it was time to go "On The Road Again!"

I have some lovely videos of us driving down the mountain, past the pastures of cows, sheep, and goats, and past the roaring whitewater rapids in the river. This must be where our friend Melissa went whitewater rafting!

We chose to drive around the Interlaken's Western lake, which is "Thunsee", or Lake Thun (pronounced "Tune"). It is a very large lake, and it took about 2 hours to drive around it. It was really a lovely drive. Because my camera does not take very good photos from a moving car, we don't have too many pictures from this drive, except for when we stopped to walk around a marina.

We stopped for lunch close to Interlaken at a place called the Landhaus Restaurant . We shared a pizza and a caprese salad, which were delicious. Then we enjoyed a walk around the grounds of the waterfront RV park that was part of the complex.

We were fascinated by the trailer set-ups, that probably made it more comfortable to camp in cool weather.:

From Interlaken, we drove past Lucerne, which also was located on a beautiful lake. In about 2 hours we were in Zurich!

Zurich reminded us of Geneva, because it has a waterfront walk. However, we came to find out that it was a much more walkable town than Geneva. Geneva's old town was steep, with very narrow one-way roads, and it was very easy to get lost! We had a very enjoyable walk in Zurich through a fashion district lined with expensive designer shops. The streets were wide and level.

Our hotel, the "Small Luxury Hotel Ambassador a l'Opera Zurich", was located close to the waterfront and right across the street from the Opera House. This is the Opera House (NOT the hotel):

When we went walking along the waterfront, it began to rain steadily. We encountered these lovely scenes, including hundreds of swans and other waterfowl:

Here are some shots of the Old Town:

Along with the designer shops, we found a chocolate shop that was closed, but the window display was amazing:

You sure couldn't do that in Nashville, or you'd have a lot of melted chocolate to clean up the next day!

We made it back to our hotel and Brock set up his phone so we could listen to the Titans/Dolphins football game. We ordered some room service but lost our appetite because the game didn't go the Titans' way.

We ordered some Lobster Cream Soup, 18 Swiss Francs apiece, which was served in huge bowls. We needed a magnifying glass to find the soup, just small puddles at the bottom of the enormous bowls! The fried fish was also a small portion, and nothing special.

Our room is tiny, with a tiny bathroom. (However, it has a carpet, which has been rare during this trip!) The small bed (I would guess double-size) is right up against the wall, which is awkward for the person who has the inside sleeping berth. It was a little bit close quarters in the bed. Oh, and we are sure there will be a healthy charge for parking overnight too.

This room and its restaurant were perhaps the biggest disappointments of the trip. Brock does not like to feel ripped off. But it hasn't spoiled our enjoyment of the city of Zurich.

Sorry, folks, you have enjoyed a 16-day break from us, but it's almost over! ;) Our Tour of Switzerland is coming to an end. This is our last stop in Switzerland. Our next stop is Munich, and we will fly back to the United States tomorrow.