Interlaken, and a good choice it was!

Yes, I chose Interlaken. Decided I'd seen enough ofthe big cities for the trip, and needed a little small tourist town or two on the agenda. My decision was aided by the son of the lady who showed me around Canberra last year, Libby Parbury. She suggested I contact one of her two sons who live in Switzerland, so I did. He and I chatted on the phone for a while. When I told him of my unresolved agenda, he immediately said Intelaken and Lucerne were much better choices than Geneva.

Then that evening at supper, I started talking to the two men at the table next to me. One had been in the Swiss Embassy in Washington for 4 years. They also said Lucerne and Interlaken were better choices. He was very interesting to talk to. I learned the reason, per him, that Switzerland wasn't invaded by Germany during WWII. They told Germany that if they did invade, they would fill the 11 mile tunnel that connects to Italy with explosives, and lite thefuse... Germany needed access to Italy more than it needed Switzerland. Learned a few more interesting things about Switzerland from him, but more than any of you want to read about.

Back to Bern. On Saturday, I went to the Botanical Gardens. At this time of the year, there isn't reallyv a lot to see, but I still enjoyed walking around the grounds. They have a number of plants in hothouses. One of them held a number of cacti from many places around the world, including SW USA. Of course I took photos if you Tucsonians are interested. Then for a walk along the river bank, the Aare (sp?).

Then to the Historical Museum. There is an exhibition on Einstein's life and scientific accomplishments. Took me nearly 3 hours to get through it. Really an interesting one to see. I learned a lot about his life, and saw a lot of what he accomplished scientifically. It confirmed what I'd heard at his house, that he was active politically. Original letters were on display from him to Roosevelt, Roosevelt's response, one from Aba Eban asking him to take the position of President of Israel, and his response.

Next stop was the Alpine Museum. Unfortunately, I'd spent so much time with Einstein that I had just over a half hour till closing time. And when they close here in Europe, they close! No stalling allowed. Wish I'd had more time for it, particularly the last section I found, which was a series of black and white photos dating as far back as the 1800's on activities in the Alps. Kill a little time, and then off to dinner. That took more time than I anticipated.

Seems on Saturday nite in downtown Bern, the sidewalks tend to roll up. Less than half the restaurants were open, and those that were had most of their tables reserved for someone who was about to show up. Or they decided they didn't want to waste a seating on one American. Whatever. I finally ate in an Italian restaurant. I think the waiter was one of the Yugoslavian immigrants my friend from dinner the previous nite told me about.

Not much different this morning. I wanted to try Starbucks to get a decent cup of cofee along with a muffin. But they don't open until 10 on Sunday. Even the McD's don't open there until 10 or later, and no breakfast menu. I finally found a restaurant open at the train station where I could sit down and eat. Had good old fashioned ham and eggs. I continued the tradition of American style food at lunch when I arrived in Interlaken. I went to Hooters and had a Cheeseburger. Hooters in Interlaken?

The train to Interlaken was a nice ride. Not too many people on it in Bern, but it filled up at the intermediate stations. Soon after leaving Bern, we were in the snow country. Soon after that, I got my first view of the Alps. Really something to see, I have to say. Hard to compare them to what I'm familiar with, the Sierras. I'd have to say they look more rugged. They seem to rise almost straight up, sheer as can be. More on the Alps in my next e-mail.

Tomorrow, starting at half past no-oclock, I get up to catch the train to Jungfrau. Jungfrau is the highest railway in Europe, at 3454 metres, 11, 333 feet. Yes, I have the brochure in front of me, I didn't remember the numbers. It's a two hour ride from here, at 567 meteres, 1860 ft. So a lot of climbing. I believe, but am not sure, that the last part of it is so steep that the track is a cog track. We'll see.

Interlaken itself is a nice little town. Around the size of Grass Valley, where Lynda nad Amber live. Similar also in that it's a tourist town. Easy to walk around in, interesting shops to look at, lot's of restaurants to choose from, and open even on Sunday evening. I tried Fondue for dinner tonite, and think I could get used to it.

On Tuesday, unless something changes dramatically, like the weather, I plan on skiing. The weather today has been gorgeous. I hope it continues for a few more days. Particularly with what I have planned, but just in general I could use a few days of sunshine. Although sunshine is nice in the daytime, it really lets the cold in at nite. Don't know what the temp is outside, but around noon, while walking near Lake Breinzersee, a nearby pond, maybe half an acre in size was frozen.

Time to close for now. The desk closes at 9:00 PM, and I promised I'd pay them before they closed down. More to come in the next few days. Wish me good weather, not as cold as some of you in the states are getting are at present.

Footnote: Often when I paste this into the BLOG, I find that the retrns at the end of paragraphs are lost, and have to edit them in. Tonite, I found that the returns at the end of lines were gone as well. So I added them in. Hope I got them all, and I hope it hasn't happened before.