Off to Interlaken!

Today we decided to adventure out of Zermatt. It's the second day in a row that the Matterhorn has been fully covered by clouds. After a good rain last night the sky is a bit less cloudy but still it's enough to cover most of the Alps near us. So, to Interlaken we go!

Interlaken seems like a great if maybe touristy place to visit. The chance for adventure seems high after researching things to do around the towns. Mountain vistas, ATV tours, rope courses, shopping- all waiting for us to spend our Swiss Francs. :)

We have a 2 hour train ride back to Interlaken. We used our fancy Swiss Flex Pass to save 50% on an additional travel day! The Swiss trains may be punctual and gorgeous but they are not inexpensive. 

... A few hours later...

Interlaken was interesting. It got overcast and a bit rainy so the photos became scarce (sorry folks). We did have a good time though. 

We decided to try something called Sielpark ropes course. It was advertised as a "15 minute walk" from the Interlaken West train station. I think we got mixed up in the conversion from 'Murican units to the Metric system. It took us a bit longer, though I really didn't mind wandering around Interlaken with Marissa.  There are way worse ways to spend an afternoon. 

In our defense though there were signs we are predisposed to following. 

It's really hard for us to not follow signs for curling, especially since we don't get to see many if those back home. In this case it proved to be a little misleading. 

After the brief detour through town we finally figured out where we were supposed to be going. Into the woods!

There, we had zip line fun and adventure! For 2.5 hours we zipped and climbed and wobbled in the tree tops. We were not the most adept people on the courses (so many Swiss kids put us to shame) however we were better than the two little girls who ended up in front of us on the Flying Fox course (so at least we have that, and the very little pride that comes with it). They would not let us take our phones on the course so all our pictures are on Marissa's real camera. We did have tons of fun though and we are both really glad we picked that activity to do. 

We walked back through town after the ropes looking for post cards and a late, late lunch. This proved a bit challenging but I did learn that Interlaken likes to keep it classy with the establishments and shoppes they let in town. 

And

Interlaken wasn't quite what I thought it would be. It's not as pretty as most of the other parts of Switzerland that we've seen. It looked different than what I imagined and most of the pictures we saw ahead of time. There looks to be plenty of stuff to do: paragliding, hangliding, ATV rides, general outdoor fun times outside the city, but the city itself is not so enticing to me. Not as charming as Zermatt nor as hip as Zurich. But I'm glad we went with no regrets. 

We finally found a place to eat a bit of late lunch/early dinner: pizza and beer. It's tough to go wrong with that combo anywhere it seems. 

We are on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn now, almost back to Zermatt. It's been a long, fun and exciting day filled with adventure. It seems to have caught up with Marissa (just a wee bit). 

Tonight will be a quiet night in front of the fire, eating chocolate, cheese (maybe a sandwich) along with some prosecco. Good times all around.