O2. Nufenen pass 12 Oct

Took the oportunity to cross one of the high mountain passes before it closes this weekend for the winter season. Took the train from Thun through to Visp and were surprised to find it full to over flowing. At Visp we changed to a regio train stopping at all stations to Göschenen. The photo is of the table in the train shows a map of the journey rising ever upward in the valley.     

 

We got off at Ulrichen and swapped to the Postbus which goes over the pass. Thanks to the recent snow it was an awesome trip. The bus stops at the top of the pass for about 40 minutes - plenty of time for photos. 

 

 

 

We then continued down the winding road to Airolo in Canton Ticino. We had another 40 minutes here so we wandered through the town and had our picnic lunch.  

We the took the train through the tunnel to Göschenen and the transferred to the regio-train again. The first stop was Andermatt. Managed to capture photos of the layers of bridges. Lots of modern development happening there. The train at this stage was fairly empty and therefore easy to swing from side to side taking photos.

 

 

 Not sure I would like to be crossing the swing bridge below.

Back in Thun we caught bus 25 to Sigriswil catching the view over the lake on the way. 

After relaxing over a drink at the Baren Hotel with our friend we crossed the road to Sigriwil church for a marvellous concert performed by an international group of young opera singers. They were outstanding - every single one of them.  What an amazing oportunity and a very thoughtful gift from a very special person! 

O1. Hünibach 11 Oct

Another relaxing morning and then a quick walk down to the bus stop at 10:30 In Thun we filled in some time at the station shop. I photographed the covers of the Autumn magazines and I was fascinated by the black coloured carbone gipfeli. I though Geoff should try one and report to me on the flavour but he did not seem impressed with the idea!  

  We took bus 21 to Hünibach Chatreuse and changed to the minibus 22 which wandered around the streets high above the lake. After a failed attempt to communicate with the driver a kind English speaking person pointed out where we should get off the bus for the short walk to our friend's house for lunch. A wonderful lunch it was! Lasted around 5 hours with lots of chatting and photo sharing between courses of delicious Swiss food.

  We abandoned our planned walk together as the sun struggled to break through the clouds today. We could however see some of the snow on the mountains across the lake from her house and from the return walk to the bus. 

N2. Burgdorf 10 Oct

Decided to give our selves a slower start today so we didn't leave until 10:38 bus and then spent an hour in Thun before catching aan all stations train to Burgdorf via Bern. We were excited to see that the over night rain in Heiligenschwendi had fallen as snow down to 1300 meters. Difficult to photograph because of cloud and definitely colder air today. We had lunch on arrival in Burgdorf then climbed up to the church on the hill with its interesting red clock face. The photo of the coloured pencils shows the fence of the stationery shop. Another shows the varieties of erica flowers on display at the florist. 

After looking around the old town we continued up hill to the Schloss (castle). There are two museums in the castle which opened at 2 pm so we spent an hour there and learned some interesting things about Switzerland the we did not know before. There was also a view over the town from the windows of the castle. 

 

 

The Helvetica Gold museum features the search for and mining of gold in Switzerland. The last mine has now closed but there is still an active gold panning club.

Then there is my fascination with the Swiss wood stacks!

And a quick stop for Geoff at the chestnut roasting stand - how very Autumn

When we returned to Thun we took the bus to Goldiwil and spent a delightful evening with a friend from choir and her husband. Neither spoke English so I was very grateful for all those hours I had devoted to Duolingo app learning German! The photo is of our hostess pointing out the mushrooms they had gathered for the soup which was really yummy.

 

N1. Lac Gruyere 9 Oct

No use crying over spilt milk or on missing out on fresh milk each morning for that matter. Today as we walked to the bus stop we met a lady whom we often chatted to on the way to the bus in 2014. As we passed the Schalleberg farm she pointed out that they are now offering a Ferienwohnung (holiday apartment) for rent so we could have potentially stayed with the lovely Reusser family last week instead of being elsewhere. So be it.       

We stopped at Aperto at the station and selected bread rolls for lunch.   

We then caught the regio train to Friboug and into the French speaking part of Switzerland. When one is concentrating so hard on speaking German it is hard to switch the mature age brain over to French but we improved as the day progressed. We caught bus 336 from Friboug stationed and enjoyed the fairly extended journey through lots of villages heading in the direction of Bulle. Orange seems to be a popular colour here! Certainly fits well with Autumn.  

 

We got off at Le Bry and after a couple of false starts found the road leading down under the impressive freeway overpass high above. This overpass was even more imposing when seen a bit further on around the lake where you can see the massive pylon actually in the lake.

 At the lake we could see Isle d'Ogoz with its ruins and tiny chapel which was our intended destination. It was closer to the shore than I had anticipated. Since it was not particularly warm we decided to keep walking around the lake rather than wait around for an hour a half for the barge boat that takes you there on Sunday afternoon for CHF 18. 

We really enjoyed the hike along beside the lake, most of it through lightly timbered forest and a path littered with fallen leaves. We passed a few Km sign posts and fiqured out in the end that we had done about six kilometres. We stopped for a picnic lunch an watched some people go past on their paddle boards.

Since this walk was unplanned we really had no idea where we were going but trusted that one is never far from a village in Switzerland. We ended up at Gumefens where we waited 4 minutes for the next bus back to Friboug then trains to Bern and Thun and bus to Heiligenschwendi all with just a few minutes in between even on Sunday afternoon.  It is so easy to travel with the amazing transport system of Switzerland. As we walked the road home for the first time on this trip we were treated to a surprise of the goats and cows coming past on their way in for the night. They were curious to see us beside the road and one cow even licked my jacket sleeve while I was videoing! 

 

  

M2. Thun cheese market & Kambly biscuit factory - 8 Oct

A city day, a mountain day and today a food oriented day. Packed our cases ready for this afternoon's relocation to Heiligenschwendi then travelled down to Thun which was in full swing market mode. In the Balitz area additional stalls offered cheeses of every variety from areas near and far. The tastes were very varied and I am sure one would become a connoisseur of cheese if one lived here for long. As usual I have too many photos to choose from!

   

 

Stopped for a short time to listen to the music associated with the cheese festival.

 

Next we caught the train to Konolfingen and on to Langnau then a bus to Traubschachen were the Kambly biscuit factory is located. Here they offer free tastings of the huge range of buiscuits both sweet and savoury. On a previous visit we had just come from a meal elsewhere, this time we arrived around lunch time! That said, we mostly shared 1/2 a biscuit each as there are so many to sample. Have to say we were tempted enough to buy a few varieties to take home. Had drinks in their resturant before reversing the trip back to Goldiwil. There are some wonderful farm houses, guest houses and churches in this region. I tried to catch photos of them as we past.

Collected our cases from the store room and caught the bus to Heiligenschwendi were we were met by our smiling land lady and driven to the little chalet which will be 'home' for just over two weeks. 

 And now as I prepare to sleep I hear the landlord across the road playing the trumpet and good memories of our previous time here come flooding back.

M1. Trümmelbach & Lauterbrunnen 7 Oct

After a foggy start we were again blessed with a sunny blue sky day. Today we made our way back to Interlaken and on up to Lauterbrunnen. We were surprised and delighted to be in the same train carriage as a lovely Chinese girl who travelled through the Simme valley with us yesterday. Photos were taken and addresses exchanged - one of the joys of travelling. From Lauterbrunnen we saw her on her way to Murren and the Shilthorn and we took bus 141 along to the Trümmelbach falls. There is no way that photos can help describe the experience. Firstly you take the lift up inside the mountain to around the sixth level of the falls which were cut down through the mountain hundreds of years ago. From there you can walk up to the top which was a little bit intimidating for me. Luckily the roar of the water drowned out the odd expletive that may have escaped my lips! I have to say I became much braver for the walk back down. The falls are so impressive as the huge volume of water twists and turns through the canyons it has created.

 

The view out of the mountain from certain vantage points was also great and gives some perspective to the height you reach inside.

At the bottom we decided to walk back to Lauterbrunnen and just enjoy the peace and grandeur of the valley and the surrounding mountains. A few minutes after we set of we were 'dive bombed' by a base jumper in his dark red winged suit, who flew directly over our heads, skimmed over the tree I was walking under and landed in the field a few meters away. For once my camera was not open and it all happened so quickly I did not capture it, though I did photograph his mate landing a few seconds later. This is such a dangerous sport and it was scary just to watch it! There is also a constant stream of hang gliders drifting off the various mountains.

 

My camera ran hot for the rest of the walk with a photo opportunity every few steps along the way.

After a brief shopping stop in Interlaken we headed back to Goldiwil and then later we made our way over to Heiligenschwendi for choir practice. So good to see all our friends again and to be introduced to some great new songs.