alps | Passports and Poppets

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alps, cheese, chocolate, eiger, foudue, grindelwald, interlaken, switzerland

We’ve watched the weather forecasts all week hoping to find an acceptable day to visit the Swiss Alps just 90 minutes away. The last three days have been thunderstorms and today was supposed to be cloudy but dry. So, we headed to Interlaken with some fresh pastries for breakfast.

Breakfast in France

We arrived in Interlaken just after noon and having bought the required vignette (road tax/vehicle registration) for 40 francs (~1 dollar = 1.09 francs) at the border.

Sherrie had researched a good restaurant for fondue in the town and it did not disappoint. We enjoyed both cheese and chocolate fondue. The kids shared weinerschnitzel and fries. While the weather was nice when we arrived giving us some beautiful views of the lake on our drive into town, it began raining hard when our food arrived. But the rain didn’t make our fondue lunch any less delicious.

Sherrie enjoying cheese fondue in Interlaken, Switzerland

Isabella, Aurelia, Sherrie, and Lucas enjoy chocolate fondue at Interlaken, Switzerland

Lucas enjoys his chocolate fondue

Aurelia enjoys her chocolate fondue

Isabella and Aurelia enjoy their chocolate fondue on banana dippers

After lunch the rain lessened a bit and gave us a chance to walk through the town a bit and back to our car. On our way through Interlaken, we had to stop for some Swiss chocolate!

Swiss chocolate from Interlaken

Swiss truffles from Interlaken – the flimsy plastic will not protect you from my stomach!

Walking through Interlaken with the Alps in the background

We moved on hoping the weather would break further into the Alps and we may even go above the weather as we continued. So, we headed to Grindelwald, probably the best place to see the Alps and where most of the cable cars go up onto the peaks as well as find nice hikes.

The drive was very nice as we headed up into the peaks and over rushing rivers and through pastures situated on the sides of these amazing crags. It was very beautiful.

The valley around Interlaken, beautiful pastures and fields surrounded by tall peaks

Houses on the hillsides alongside high cliffs driving from Interlaken to Grindelwald

Unfortunately, the weather only got worse when we arrived at Grindelwald. However, the clouds cleared for about 15 minutes to see the peaks show through. But, the webcams showed that the there was zero visibility at the top – not worth the $200 trip on the cable car. However, the short view of the peaks and the surrounding beauty of the valleys and countryside were worth it.

The Eiger peeking out of the clouds at Grindelwald

The view of the valley below Grindelwald

We decided to head back but possibly take a different route to see different scenery. However, the weather and traffic was bad delaying us forcing us to head back on the fastest route instead of the most scenic. On our way back the weather got even worse and there were several flashes of sideways lightning.

An amazing granite cliff face along the road from Grindelwald

We stopped at a rest stop with a restaurant for dinner – not our optimal choice, but available. The food was decent but, as everything in Switzerland, very expensive. The Burger King Whopper meal was listed for 14.90 francs! More than $15!

Receipt for dinner at the rest stop ~ $58. Everything is more expensive in Switzerland

$15 for a whopper meal at a Swiss rest stop

When we arrived back in Colmar there was a small presentation of traditional Alsacian dance and music. We stayed for about 10 minutes (it was very late) and enjoyed the show.