Interlaken: the Hills are Alive...

After getting a taste for the mountains around Como, Interlaken seemed the logical next step.
Serious mountains, full of serious people furiously dashing hither and thither with their little clickity-click walking sticks. Mace had warned us about them, but they really are a different breed! Heaven help you if get in their way- it would be like getting between Rhonda and an apricot danish.
About the only ultra-motivated person in town was Dave, our ex-pat Pommy B & B owner. An ex-hippy who tolerates guests (barely) as long as they don't disturb his equilibrium (by asking daft questions or requesting anything). The one fast thing at Dave's was his internet- mind you he charged as much for 3 days as I pay a month at home!

Enough about Dave- he certainly motivated us to get the hell out of there each morning and hit the slopes. Maybe these people who threw themselves off the mountains attached to a flimsy sheet and some pieces of string had had similar experiences.
When we pictured the Alps, this is what we had in mind: clear skies, snow-capped peaks, jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery. For once the reality matched, even surpassed the dream!

I met these blokes on the top of Schilthorn. There were 20 or so, all dressed in this oufit, sitting on the side of the mountain at 3000 meters eating a schnitzel sandwich and drinking beer! My sort of club- maybe they were getting over the disappointment of their team getting knocked out of the finals!

One of the James Bond movies was famously filmed up here- the one where James is injured and some bird restores him to life only to fall hopelessly in love - does that narrow it down?
The American 'cheesiness' factor was high at this point, but mercifully it was fairly tastefully done.

Jungfrau is one of the highest peaks in Europe (Mont Blanc in France is #1 for you pedants out there) and just below, at about 3500 meters there is Jungfraujoch, the highest railway station in the world except for Everest. It took the Swiss engineers 16 years to tunnel through solid rock to make the trip possible. How on Earth did they know where they were digging 100 years ago? Or did they just keep going up and pretended that's where they were aiming for all along? A bit like Tony at Friday night tennis...
I am in a tunnel through solid ice linking the station with the snow field. I finally relented and brought out the long pants today!
The longest glacier in Europe is at your feet at Jungfrau. Scientists are anxiously looking for indications of global warming, and the signs are not promising. Book your flight in the next 50 years, kids!

Blow me down, by the time you get back to town , the paragliders have started to land! The thermals must be brilliant when the sun is warm like this- they seem to be able to hang up there as long as they want, and only come back to earth as the sun drops.

Interlaken: you've seen the movie, now experience the reality! Spend the kids' inheritance, eat authentic potato rösti with Bratwurst sausage washed down with a jug of beer and see scenery so spectacular it actually hurts your eyes. 4.5 stars (half a point deducted for Dave's poor attitude)

Next: Bern (Ho hum....)