Heading out to Interlaken!

interlaken west train station
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I woke up at 800 this morning to catch the 0915 train from Nancy to Interlaken, Switzerland. I don’t know why but I had a hard time sleeping and staying awake along the train ride. It was weird and really uncomfortable. I had to switch trains at Bale/Basel station. I had an hour layover so I wandered around. I went to a sports store just to look around. Their escalators were so sophisticated! When nobody is on them they move slowly, but after you step on they speed up. Way to go Switzerland!

Interlaken town...VEERY touristy
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The train from Basel to Interlaken was also very nice and clean inside. I spent a total of 5 hours on trains from Nancy to Interlaken West. The end of the ride, especially near Thunersee Lake, was very beautiful. The weather was fantastic (despite forecasts whoo hoo!) and I was very happy to see that. It seems like a very touristy area and nearly everybody speaks German, French, and English. It reminds me of Luxembourg but more touristy. It took me a while to find the Alp Lodge. It is very well situated in the city. The facilities are mediocre in hostel terms but you get what you pay for.

this is one of the rivers that connects the two lakes Brienzersee and Thunersee
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I found a great map of trails and found the hike from First (pronounced Fierst) to Schynige Platte (Shinigee Plat). It is 6 hours one-way and you have to pay to catch a train to the trail head and pay again to catch a train from the end! Total cost for the hike is around 77 CHF = $60! I’m really angry that I have to pay so much to do a hike! The lady at the tourist office seemed very skeptical about me going on this particular hike. People always are. I don’t know what about me makes everyone underestimate me. We’ll see if I can do it tomorrow.

dog on the harder kulm trail...read about this on July 22's blog
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Now the weather worsened. It poured for about 20 minutes and now the skies are all clouded over. The weather forecast says blue skies in the morning and worsening as the day progresses. I will wake up at 0630 tomorrow morning to catch the first train to Schynige Platte. The train leaves at 0720 from Interlaken Ost across town. It arrives at Schynige Platte at 0820 and then I can start my six hour journey to First!

I gotta get to sleep early to wake up early, wish me luck!