Contents
- Preface
- San Francisco
- Amsterdam
- Amsterdam, Helmond
- Amsterdam, Zandvoort, Haarlem
- Amsterdam, Bruges
- Bruges, Brussels, Cologne, Berlin
- Berlin
- Berlin, Potsdam
- Berlin, Wansee
- Berlin, Prague
- Prague
- Prague, Karlstejn, Vienna
- Vienna
- Vienna, Salzburg, Füssen
- Füssen, Neuschwanstein, Munich
- Munich, Innsbruck
- Innsbruck
- Innsbruck, Zürich, Lauterbrunnen
- Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch
- Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn
- Lauterbrunnen, Spiez, Zermatt
- Zermatt
- Zermatt, Martigny, Chamonix
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc, Courmayeur, Aosta, Turin
- Barcelona
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- Sorrento, Capri, Naples
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- Mykonos
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- Santorini, Athens
- Athens
- Athens, Amsterdam, San Francisco
Prev :: Thursday, 22 September 2005 :: Next
21. Lauterbrunnen, Spiez, Zermatt
Photo Gallery
I decided to leave around noon, which left some time for a morning hike. So I took the funicular and train from Lauterbrunnen towards Murren, getting out about midway and walking up at around 1500m elevation. Great view of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau — but looking directly into the sun, so the photos are much worse than they would have been had I done this hike in the evening. A lot more hikers on this trail for some reason than the trails I had done previously, which I had almost had all to myself.
At Interlaken, I took the train west toward Spiez, where I waited a few minutes for the change to Brig. Spiez is a pretty town on a slope above a long lake, with mountains around. The trip from here to Brig is interesting. You head straight for the wall of the ridge which contains the Jungfrau, only to enter a long dark tunnel and come out 15 minutes later on the south side. If there's any one point where the climate makes the transition from northern European to southern, I think these few kilometers are it. The wall of mountains seems immense enough to keep Mediterranean weather on one side and north Atlantic on the other. From here south, the slopes look noticeably warmer and drier, with shrubbier, sparser trees. Almost like going from the Cascades to the Sierra foothills (though not quite as extreme a difference as that). A remarkable change for such a short distance in Europe.
At Brig I changed to another train system (this one not covered by Eurail at all) for the ride up to Zermatt. It's not the seven-minute walk described by bahn.de to the platform; it's almost part of the same station but the platforms are just right outside. The weather is sunny and much warmer down here, and I got quite hot in my long shirt. Zermatt is up at 1500m and a little cooler. I booked the Hotel Mischabel (€39; doesn't have it's own site but works through Zermatt.ch). At this time of year, I don't think it's terribly full. It's an easy short walk from the train station, a cozy lodge with nice dark wood. Laundry time once again, but very near the hotel is a full-service one open until 19:00, which saved the hassle of doing it myself. Looking south from the village, it's startling the first time you look up and see the Matterhorn. The shape is of course familiar, but it just looks so impossibly pointy and impressive when you see it with your own eyes.
Near the hotel, I found a very hip bar which turns into an expensive cinema — so for €15 I got to watch Wim Wenders' latest, Don't Come Knocking. Interesting to be in a chic Swiss theater watching a German film set in the American West! Sam Shepard is a jaded actor who rides off his movie set on a horse and disappears, finding an excellent Jessica Lange and his unknown son — a very hot Gabriel Mann — until he is finally tracked down by the delightfully out-of-place Euro film agent.