Gimmelwald
From Lake Garda, we took the train back to Milan station where we had passed through on our way to Venice, transferred, and made our way into Switzerland.
We knew coming into this part of the trip that it was going to be unique – not only were we staying in a town of about 150 that was only accessible by Gondola, but we were staying in a hostel where we had 3 private rooms (2 people each).
The hostel itself was incredibly cute, and exactly what we needed. the surroundings, however, were more incredible than we had even imagined.
We ended up purchasing a 4 day visitor pass for all the gondolas which also allowed us to go up to the ”Schilthorn” – the top of one if the peaks, where they really play up that a 1960’s Bond movie was shot there.
On our first full day there we did a hike up to a falls. Not the most successful of outings due to certain kids having had rough sleeps and not interested in hiking. However, this was redeemed by the hike on the second day.
On the third full day, Ian did a ”via ferrata” – effectively a hike / climb that goes along impossibly built trails on cliff faces, etc, but with the luxury of a system to keep you clipped in your harness the whole way.
Gimmelwald will forever hold a special place in our hearts.
Interlaken
Continuing with the theme of stunning, Interlaken didn’t disappoint. It has a pretty chill vibe to the place, and being on a lake, we were scheduled to potentially do a Boat Tour on the lake. On the first day there we ended up finding their public pool which had a very 60s vibe to it and the kids had a blast. We then went for Korean BBQ where we accidentally ordered 4 orders (not the 4 pieces) of the two appetizers, which was funny. We did manage to eat most of it!
We did indeed do the boat tour – with no real goal in mind. While on the ship we asked one of the staff members where they would recommend getting off for a stop, and so glad we did. They recommended visiting the Oberhofen castle, which turned out to be a highly interactive and very cool museum of the property, not to mention one of the best meals we’ve had all trip at Pier 19 right at the dock.
Sadly, we are leaving Switzerland. Joanna made the determination that if we ever win the lottery, we are moving here.
