INTERLAKEN 2024-12-09
A weekend trip to Interlaken and its surrounding areas in December 2024, part 1. Read all posts here.
Whenever people visit Switzerland, Interlaken is one of the most mentioned locations. At this point, I had been living in the country for 8 years and had yet to set foot in this famous town. It'd been months since we went anywhereâwe crossed the border to Germany to visit the Vitra Museum because my friend Pzat was in townâbut that was during the summer. I had the itch to go somewhere new. Plus, I had just bought my DJI Osmo Pocket and wanted to take it for a spin!
On the train
I had entered my vlogger era so I mostly documented this trip on my Osmo Pocket. Luckily I did remember to take pictures with my phone so I can share that with you! (I noticed that I can only choose one form of documentation because I completely forget about that other one.)
I was going for pensive and mysterious.
I took this photo thinking it'd make a really nice picture for the cover of my YouTube video. It didn't make it, so it lives on the blog now.
Loved watching the scenery change. The mountains got snowier and snowier.
We happened to take the Luzern-Interlaken Express train because it was at a convenient time. But this also happens to be the best train to take because the windows are extra huge (there are even windows on the ceiling), so it was great for enjoying the view. I tried to take some nice shots but failed. These were the best I could get.
Picturesque stop in Brienz.
But first, lunch
Once we arrived to Interlaken, we walked 20 minutes to our hotel, The Hirschen Hotel Restaurant, checked in, and immediately left to eat our first meal in the city! Of course before our trip, I had bookmarked several restaurants I wanted to try. We decided to go HopplĂĄ Bistro because I never had Hungarian food before.
Appetizer: HortobĂĄgyi Palatschinken. A salty crepe filled with chicken in paprika sauce.
My dish: Beef Gulash with homemade spätzle (we switched mains halfway)
Daniel's dish: Chicken Schnitzel with argula-mashed potatoes and cucumber salad.
Since we were traveling, I didn't want to fixate on the price so we ordered drinks and shared appetizers. And yeah, it was expensive, close ~30 Fr. per dish. The food was delicious and the portions were decent, except for the schnitzel, because at 32 Fr. I would expect two pieces. C'mon, there's clearly room on the plate!
When we asked for tap water, the waiter laughed and said, "We don't do that in Switzerland," which is not true,* because we always ask for tap water when we eat around Lucerne. However, restaurants catering to tourists will take advantage of their ignorance. Anyway, both of us are really passive, so we just smiled and ordered two ice teas.
*In these circumstances, had Daniel spoken Swiss German, we probably would've gotten free tap water. But for some strange reason he likes to speak English, and because he's associated with me, waiters will assume we are tourists. (I mean, in this case technically we are, but we're also not!)
I was feeling sleepy already, so we stopped by Velo Cafe for some caffeine and dessert. I got a coffee and Daniel got his usual matcha latte, which he was disappointed with. (He has very high standards.)
Hitting the town
It was a dreary day, so it was already getting dark in the afternoon. That's the problem with traveling. If I were at home, I would've stayed home. But we weren't, so we had no choice but to go into the city. Weather be damned!
I love a window cat.
Like most Swiss towns, there's an old town and a new town. The newer area was quite disappointing. It was nothing but fancy, expensive shops and the buildings were modern but ugly. We walked through the area quickly, but not before stopping by Interdiscount to see if they had PokĂŠmon cards! (They did.)
This area is kind of the transition where new town becomes old town.
We weren't following a map or anything. I mean, it's another Swiss town, so how large could it be? I knew we wouldn't get lost. We'd make a big loop and then find our way back to the hotel.
Where the mountains meet the town. I love the sigils hanging on the fence posts. Every city has one and I think that's neat.
I've noticed that every major Swiss city has a main bridge with a scenic view. (Lucerne has three). This was Interlaken's main bridge. There were several other people taking photos here too. What's cool about Interlaken is that it's right at the foot of the mountains! It's obviously more majestic in real life.
Daniel and I posing for our obligatory tourist shot.
This was our best photo. I brought my pink faux fur coat thinking I looked REALLY stylish, but upon looking back at the pictures, the coat made me look huge, like a small but very rotund bear, depending on the angle.
I love it when swans do this.
We were nearing my favorite part of town. This area is beyond the train tracks, where the buildings are older and have more character.
I love old buildings like these.
This reminds me of a gingerbread house. Very Swiss.
The bell tower at the foot of the mountain looked so majestic in person.
An ominous light on the mountain top. I wonder what that is.
Once it got dark, I pulled out my map to find our way home. Sure enough we walked in a big loop, so we just had to continue walking. We were now on the other side of town, where it felt more suburban (i.e. less picturesque), with fewer tourists and more locals.
I thought these goats were cute.
We ended the evening with dinner at our hotel. We both got very Swiss dishes which I didn't take any pictures of, because I was busy recording content with my Osmo Pocket.
Day 1 was nice, but I was slightly disappointed by the scenery. I guess people had hyped it up so much I was expecting it to look like a snow globe or something, and it wasn't that. It was just another Swiss town. I'm incredibly spoiled, however, because I live in one of the most breathtaking citiesâLucerne. I have yet to visit a Swiss city that can top that.
Also, this trip made me realize I'm probably not the target demographic for traveling around Switzerland in the winter. Day 2 will explain why.