World Adventure

We were heading to Lucern via Lake Thun. Generally there is a four legged friend or two aboard all forms of public transport in Europe so it is nice to see a smiling canine poking it's head out with the rustle of a plastic bag. We found a large locker and stored our gear in in Interlaken  ready for our day trip - most stations have large lockers for 5-10 swiss francs. Very convenient. Now where to catch the boat? It turned out to be easier than expected. Simply catch the train to interlaken west and walk down to the water directly on the other side and that is the boat stop! The boat is essentially public transport for the lake and was covered by the swiss pass. We were about 1hr early so fed the ducks and swans some stale bread before looked around interlaken old town. We had rejected the town in favour  of staying  at Gimmelwald and expected it to be super-touristy. However we found it to be a pleasant blend of old and new with a bearable amount of tourism. The town, like all good towns, is situated on a river which is fed by a lake. The water was a beautiful turquoise and  we were to find the same went for lake thun.
The large boat arrived and we piled on. It was a rush to grab the best seats. We chose the front of the boat which was a stupid idea as once we got moving the cool air made for an uncomfortable position. We moved to the back of the boat for more shelter which was a great move. The boat backed out the length of the river to the lake entrance then zig zagged across the lake towards lake thun. The further along the lake the better the view of the snow covered alps. We were going to drop into Schloss Oberhofen (oberhofen castle) which was situated on the lake but we decided it was not worth the stop so continued on to Thun.
Thun is at the other end of the lake to interlaken and as far as I can tell a sensational place that has been overlooked by major tourism. It has a castle on a hill, an old township with wooden bridges like Lucern and superb park areas. Glad that it has been forgotten...
We wandered up to Thun castle which is a classic fairytale castle now a museum. Great views from the turrets of the lake and mountains.
Great day out. We caught the train back to Interlaken and retrieved our packs then found that there were a lot of people on the platform waiting for the train to Bern. Yes the Swiss had been enjoying the good weather in the alps and just happened to be heading back to their homes on the train. The train pulled up and found that it was already full. We ended up having to just dump our gear near the doorway and stand up with quite a few others. Not really impressed. Noticed that those seated left a little old lady standing-turns out the swiss are not particularly considerate of others in those situations. Lucky it was only a 1hr trip.
Got to Bern to change to Lucerne and found that there also were a lot of people on the platform. Luckily the train was relatively empty and we ended up getting seats. The trip was nice and the alps were in view for part of the trip. They were replaced by hot air balloons later in the journey. There were at least 7 of them at one point.
Did anyone say the place was green? It seems from our journey so far that Switzerland is essentially a giant diary with a few cities scattered around the place and lots of mountains to flank the country. Very picturesque!
There was a nice castle/fortress on the way past Zofingen.
We arrived at Lucerne and walked the 1km to our etap hotel. We have been competing against the Americans and Chinese for rooms. The hotel rooms closer to the lake actually disappeared while we were looking at them a couple of days ago such was the competition. Still we have one advantage - we are not lonely planet or rick steve zombies to easily found a solution for a good price. Sometimes hostels just do not make sense - clean sterile etap room or a suspicious dodgy hostel room with bad reviews for the same price.
Got us thinking. We need to reroute to ensure that we do not end up in the same direction as the travel book lemmings.
17Sep
Luzerne or Lucerne
Nice weather again. Walked into town and then followed the tourism map for the morning. Nice town. It was really nice and pleasant and not too many tour groups. Ended up on the lakefront people watching and eating lunch. Locals also seem to enjoy the space and why not as it was warm, on the lake with views of the mountains and a view of the old town. Plenty of people walking with dogs. Wet paw prints led from the lake along the walkway to a golden retriever - always the same...
We walked around the lake to a park near the transport museum and just relaxed with the locals. Very nice. Basking in the warmth. It was about 24 deg C today!
Returned back to room mid afternoon.