After the first two parts of the Switzerland Adventure, exploring two wonderful Swiss cities and the awesome Michelin Star dining experience, it was time for the third and longest part of the entire adventure.
After a leisurely breakfast it was time for the last “mission” in Zürich – a trip to the Nespresso shop. On the way the two adventurers made one last stop in Lindenhof to admire the crisp and cloudless views of Zürich. Then it was time to fetch the luggage and to say “Wideluege” to the Sorell Hotel Rütli. That hotel was fabulous and definitely my choice for future trips to Zürich. The two adventurers enjoyed the short stroll, with a few items of luggage made heavier by Christmas Market and Nespresso shopping, across the bridge over the Limmat River to Zürich Hauptbahnhof. Although on the bridge there was the final rest stop to admire the beauty of the sun sparkling on the Limmat River.
The first leg on the train journey would be on the 13.35 InterRegio departing from Gleis 10 and stopping at Thalwil, Baar, Zug, Rotkreuz and finally Luzern. The train was a double-decker train and had one of those typically Swiss red locomotives. While waiting for the train the obligatory Brezelkonig pretzels were purchased.
Upon arriving in Luzern a quick look at the train departures board and time calculation followed. The two adventurers then dragged all the luggage out the Bahnhof Luzern and onto the bridge where the Reuss River leaves Lake Lucerne with view to the right of Lake Lucerne and to the left the famous wooden bridge of Luzern – the Kapellbrücke. The Reuss flows from the Gotthard Massif into Lake Lucerne at Seedorf at the southernmost point of the lake. It then flows out the lake at Luzern in a north-east direction and, after various confluences, eventually flows as the Aare River into the Rhein River at Koblenz. That is the Swiss Koblenz to the north west of Zürich on the border between Switzerland and Germany. The obligatory photographs of the interesting and historic Kapellbrücke were then taken. The wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss was named after the nearby St. Peter’s Chapel. It was constructed in 1333 as part of Luzern’s fortifications, although the Wasserturm predates the bridge by about 30 years. The Wasserturm is not a “water tower” as the name suggests but rather stems from the fact that the bridge was built in water. The bridge is also the oldest surviving truss bridge in the world. Inside the bridge are paintings dating back to the 17th century. A unique and interesting fact is that only Luzern’s three bridges – Kapellbrücke, the now destroyed Hofbrücke and the Spreuerbrücke are the only the only wooden footbridges in Europe which featured interior triangular painted frames. Sadly after the fire in 1993 only about 30 paintings were fully restored of 47 that were collected. Initially there were 158 interior paintings.
Then it was back through the frontage which is all that remains from the station constructed in 1896. The whole station in Luzern was destroyed by fire on 5 February 1971. The present station was opened on 5 February 1991. It was the 15.05 InteRegio “Luzern-Interlaken Express” which would convey the two adventurers on an extremely scenic route passed picturesque towns such as Giswil and Lungren and then over the mountains to Meiringen and onto Interlaken Ost. It was in the mountains around Brünig-Hasliberg that the first bit of snow was sighted! Meiringen might ring a bell to some of you who have read about two characters who were created by British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and also went on adventures such as “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” and “The Adventure of the Empty House”. There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. These two characters were none other than Sherlock Holmes and his dear Watson. Meiringen is the location of the Reichenbach Falls which is the location of the presumed death of Sherlock Holmes.
The train journey continued passing along the shore of the beautiful Brienzersee with clear blue water. The sunset and clouds provided an amazing addition to complete the view of the water and distant snow capped mountains. Eventually at 16.55 the Luzern-Interlaken Express glided to a stop in Interlaken’s Interlaken Ost Station. The other station is Interlaken West. But the two adventurers’ journey was not complete just yet. It was now time for the extremely short third leg of the day’s train journeys aboard the Berner-Oberland Bahn to Wilderswil, essentially the gateway to the Jungfrau region. After disembarking it was a very short walk to the fabulous Hotel Alpenrose. This hotel will be covered in more detail in the next blog post. The time had arrived to finally meet our hosts – Carel and Ryan. Over the course of the next 10 days they would become friends whom I hold in very high regard and it was definitely an honour to have met them.
Finally it was time for some greatly anticipated dinner and along with some wine. The four South Africans shared a bottle of The Chocolate Block red wine originates from Franschhoek in South Africa. Starter was a delicious soup of the day followed by Rösti with Bratwurst and onion sauce. After the delicious dinner it was time to travel back to Interlaken – luckily in a van this time and directly to our final destination. A quick unpacking and orientation followed. The two adventurers then walked along the side of the Höhematte Park to Ice Magic. In a few days time this would be the scene of the beginning of another adventure which will conclude on 1 March 2016. But for this evening, Ice Magic was the perfect setting to relax and end off the long day of travelling from Zürich with coffee and Glühwein.
If you enjoyed this train adventure then please like and share so that others can also experience the adventure we (you and I) have just been on. Comments are appreciated. Please check back soon for the next episode of the Swiss Adveture blog posts. You can also see more pictures from the Switzerland Adventure on my Instagram – @andyrlapin.
The Adventures of Andy 
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