An Interlude on an Interlaken Lake

 Coming down out of the Lauterbrunnen valley, we were cruising along the highway, mostly in a long, dark tunnel. Switzerland seems to shunt lots of its traffic through the country this way. It's very efficient, but when the GPS is showing you a famous lake to the left, Rob and I get antsy to see it. So we took a detour. Helga (the GPS lady) got very concerned, but we're able to ignore her voice quite well by now. We parked in Brienz. Here is what we knew about it: it's the other lake by Interlaken; quieter thank Lake Thun; it looks like everyone oversaturates their pictures of Lake Brienz on Pinterest--crazy turquoise water.
First, we had to stick our feet in the water. This stems from our theory-in-progress about how to interact with places you visit. Rob's initial theory was that you had to eat somewhere or take a nap there to feel like you've been to a spot. Through the years we've seen students and tourists try all sorts of things to feel like they've "been there, done that": shopping, taking pictures, trying on crazy outfits, religioiusly following tour guides, seeing the whole thing through a camera lens, having a quest or contest (StrudelQuest of 2009, or Exotic Flavors of Fanta 2002 are just two examples). Changing a diaper has long worked for me. St. Florian in Austria is still reeling from the effects of my visit there with Will in 2002.
Anyway . . . this is why we stuck our feet in the water. Also, it felt great after all that hiking. But it wasn't enough. We wanted more.

 So we rented a pedal boat. This place seemed to be run by three grandparents and three active grandchildren, helping out and getting underfoot in equal measure. It turned out to be just the right thing.
 First, we got to see all that unreal water up close.
And we were able to check out the ritziest lakefront properties from our fine Swiss-made boat. Sun in our faces, wind at our back and cruising around the lake. It made us definitely want to return to Brienz. We're thinking a week here to play in the lake and use as a base camp for the alps.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mohr im Hemd

Image
I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend. Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter': MA's Mohr im Hemd 3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed 1 c milk 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c sugar 8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find 8 eggs 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c walnuts,
Read more

The Trip Home: A Report Card

Image
Our Itinerary: Stuttgart to Atlanta and Atlanta to Salt Lake. It was a good schedule, flying out at 11:00am and getting in at 9:00pm on the same day (flying back across 8 time zones too, so about 23 hours of travel door to door). German taxi driver: A+. cheerful, knowledgeable, efficient and with candy for the kids Stuttgart airport: C-. inefficient, poorly-designed, and not very helpful; had to show our passports 5 times in 5 different places. took 1 1/2 hours to process us from curb to gate. ugh. Delta: B-. The flight attendants all looked "rid hard & put away wet" and the bare bones service just can't keep up with their [government subsidized] European counterparts with their dewy-skinned attendants, steaming towels, toys for the kids, and gourmet meals instead of astronaut food served in foil pouches. They got us there and did it on time, but it feels more and more like riding on a bus with a lot of rules. German Family With Four Kids Who Sat Next To Us On The
Read more

Gumdroppapalooza

Image
I am behind this year on Christmas, and really noticing a difference. Normally I aim to meet Flylady's holiday deadlines to have my presents bought, menus planned, nonperishables stocked, cards mailed, and everything wrapped. This gives me the whole month to obsess over neighbor gifts (which I loathe). This year I'm playing catch up on all of those things. The one thing I've done right is to wrap and label the presents but not stick bows on them. This way I can hide and stack them, I know who they're for, and I'll have the perfect job to do while I'm helping the kids wrap their gifts. OK, the other thing I've done right is use Amazon. Not only do I love their wish list and the universal wish list button so that I can add things to the kids' lists as I think of them whenever I'm "looking for the end of the internet" as Liesl's sister calls it. I also love their gift organizer which lets me create an idea list for family and friends
Read more