Interlaken West train station
Just had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Currently waiting for the train to Bern, which will arrive at 9.02 a.m.Anyway, I was too tired last night so I went to sleep. To continue, just when it seemed the trail would never end, a signboard loomed aboved the largest slope yet. Getting to it took almost all my energy, considering how long and far we'd already walked. Had half a mind to crawl up the ice.
So I got to the signboard, posed for a nice little picture beside it (had to cling onto its wooden pole or risk rolling all the way down), then read it.
Apparently it stated that there was a restaurant ahead. So we thought we might as well continue and reach the place.
After walking some more, a nice brown building built into a mountain came into view. By this time the ice path had much less tracks, because a lot of people had given up walking.
Smart people. *cough*
The climb up to the restaurant was the steepest and most slippery yet. There were rubber mats to help us, but at one point there was a large gap between two mats and I happily slipped and had the whole of my left hand buried in snow. Now that defined the meaning of entering the restaurant to "thaw"! :P
So after doing so much work getting to the place, we had a nice big lunch consisting of a giant bowl of soup with two sausages and a plate of Rösti with bacon. Plus two cups of mint tea. :)
As usual, after eating I had a huge urge to sleep, but it was already 2.30 p.m. so we set off once again.
The walk back was of course less tiring, being downhill, but it also meant more slippery ice. Was tempted to just sit down or lie down and slide all the way back, but nah.
Anyway the walk turned out to be shorter than I'd thought, although we'd still covered a loooooong distance. Got back to the tunnel, passed the train station and took the other path to the observation deck. After observing more snow and mountains (couldn't read the information boards since most were in German) and an interesting Einstein invention for the detection of cosmic rays, we set about finding the entrance to the Ice Palace.
The Ice Palace was (duh!) colder than the rest of the building. A surreal series of tunnels made completely of smooth ice (from the floor to the walls to the ceiling, save the handrails), it was a slow slippery walk in the echoing eerieness. However, the tunnel soon opened up to a large cave of ice sculptures, featuring transparent penguins, seals, bears, eagles, and cartoon mice. There was even a sculpture of crystals bathed in blue light, and a large angel with wings spread out behind her.
The tunnel eventually wound its way out and, not wanting to miss the next train, we went in search of the train station.
The 3.55 p.m. train was seriously lacking seats. After an endlessly long, stuffy and cramped ride down, I burst from the clogwheel train into the fresh air again and waited for the connecting train to arrive.
The train was equally cramped and stuffy. An alternate route down the mountain (via Wengen instead of Grindelwald), it seemed to offer an equal amount (meaning "a whole lot"!) of mountain views. But by this time I must admit I had had more than enough of mountains, plus the camera was wonky again, so I sat back and blankly watched the scenery go by.
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