7 July 2015
Interlaken is the town between two lakes, hence the name. It is located between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. One of the attractions for visitors to this region is a cruise on one of the lakes. We chose to visit Brienz, followed by a cruise on Lake Brienz back to Interlaken.
Brienz is only a short train ride from Interlaken. The journey offered scenic views of the lake along the way. Brienz is famous for its wood carvings and we chanced upon a guy preparing his work of art using a chainsaw by the lakeside. There were actually a few artists at work along the promenade by the lake.
We dropped up the Schweizer Holzbildhauerei Museum or Swiss Wood Sculpture Museum to look at the finished products. Impressive wood sculpture at impressive prices.
It should be fun and nice exploring Brienz but this day in July was unbearably HOT! The weather was like what we experienced at the equator back home and quite unlike the normal weather we would expect in Switzerland. We later found out that July 2015 was the warmest month on record since instrument temperature records began in the late 1800s.
The streets of Brienz was not crowded, partly due to the heat I think. There is supposed to be a street that is quite scenic further up in town but we decided to give it a miss and chilled inside a cafe by the lake. Switzerland’s buildings are designed to withstand cold weather, with heaters to keep the occupants warm, but no air-conditioning to keep the occupants cool.
A round of cold drinks, milkshakes and ice cream with breeze coming in from the large windows brought some relief.
Brienz has a nice lakeside promenade that is good for a stroll later in the day when it was cooler.
Somehow, lakes fed from glacier melt water have this unique turquoise colour and Lake Brienz is no different. Nice colour.
We got to meet this fellow by the promenade and some coot on the turquoise water.
Lake steamers ply the lake, bringing passengers from Brienz to other towns by the lake, including Interlaken. We took the steamer back to Interlaken and our Swiss Half Fare Card could be used to get 50% off the fares.
Everyone on board took seats out on the deck to enjoy the views of the lake and surrounding mountains.
The boat made a brief stop at Giessbach, known for its waterfall and also a grand 19th century hotel.
The Grand Hotel Giessbach is a filming location for one of my favourite TV series, the HBO WWII television series “Band of Brothers”. In the last episode of this series, the 101st airborne arrives at a lakeside mansion, which was supposed to be in Austria, but was in fact on Lake Brienz in Switzerland. Many of the scenes were filmed in and around the hotel.
The sky was getting darker as we approached Interlaken. The timings of the boat’s arrival and train’s departure from Interlaken Ost station for Lauterbrunnen was well synchronized. We did not have to wait long to be on the train back to Lauterbrunnen and on to Wengen.
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