Lakes and Mountains in Switzerland
My first taste of Switzerland was in Geneva, where the lake and the mountains enchanted me from afar. I knew that I had to come back to Switzerland and see the mountains up close and maybe find some more lakes. Luckily for me, Switzerland is full of lakes and mountains and I had plenty to choose from.
I spent an afternoon in Zurich when the rain had stopped just as the sun was setting which gave me the opportunity to see the city bathed in golden sunlight. I must admit, Lake Zurich was extremely charming, especially with its resident swans that were friendlier than most.
The morning saw J and I heading to the Swiss Alps basing ourselves in Interlaken. As we took in the sights around us, we decided to stop and go for a little walk. Little did we know that we were about to stumble on an old amphitheatre.
The grass had overgrown on the stones that acted as seats. When I faced what would have been the stage, what nature had laid out for me took my breath away. The mountains allowed the clouds to surround them creating a surreal moment. At that point, I knew I was in for a treat over the weekend.
We carried on our drive to Interlaken. I didn’t think Interlaken was a popular place. Until I got there and realised that it was a tourist haven, for good reason. The town is charming and the lake – just driving around it made me want to jump out of the car and just spend the whole day sitting on a bench admiring the view. But there was so much that I wanted to see and very little time. We left our bags at the hotel we went for a little walk around the town. I loved the extremely adventurous people who had taken on paragliding and were gracefully making their decent. I loved the murals that were on almost every building at each corner that we took. Most of all I loved seeing the crazy expensive watches.
We wanted to take advantage of having a car with us so we decided to go for a drive. Mount Niesen was our first stop. We took the cable car from Mulenen up 2362m to the mountain peak. On the way there, I was excited to see the view from the viewing platform which I had just read about. Only when we got to the top, there was no view. Unless you consider a wall of clouds as a view! The clouds were really thick, it was cold and snow was about to fall. It was such a shock to me as I’d never been so high on a mountain and then to be amongst clouds… But after a while, that simple thought began to sink into my mind. I was at the top of a mountain, for the first time, and I was in the clouds, and all I was grateful for that moment.
We continued driving around and got to Lake Blausee. This was very much an Instagram inspired stop. I knew I had to go there the next time I went to Switzerland and I’m so glad I did. We got our tickets and walked through the park and the first thing that amazed me was how empty the place was. We did get there at around 6 pm on a Saturday so I expected there to be more people but we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. Lake Blausee is probably the most beautiful lake that I have seen. As tempting as the blue water is, you’re not allowed to swim in it because they breed trout. Legend has it that the water is blue due to a maiden crying over her lover who had died. She must have cried a lot to fill the lake up. On the other hand, if you’re you’re looking for a great wedding venue - I think you should definitely put it on your list.
The next morning I was a bit nervous because we were going on a toboggan. A what now I hear you ask. Trust me, I had the same reaction when J suggested it. And when I went on to watch YouTube videos I told myself there’s no way I was going to do that. So when we got to Oeschinese and bought 5 tickets, I decided that J would go on 4 times and I would go on once.
Oeschinese
Man was I so wrong.
Firstly, it wasn’t as scary as it looked on YouTube. In fact, it wasn’t scary at all. The speed is fully controlled by you through a lever, so you get to decide how fast or slow you want to go. So you can imagine my surprise when I decided I wanted to go again. And again and again, until we had both been on it for 5 times. I hope you can tell from the video how much fun we had. The view wasn’t so bad either.
After we had satisfied the little children in us, we headed down to the lake. When the lake came into view, I couldn’t get there quick enough. The way the mountains flanked the lake, the way the lake was glistening in the sun, even when it wasn’t at its capacity, it was still quite a sight to see. All that was missing was a picnic.
We started making our way back to Zurich with a pit stop in Lucern. The facades in Lucerne certainly gave most of the facades that I have seen a run for their money. And just like in Interlaken, murals were everywhere, looking up was just the thing to do. The best part was walking on Chapel Bridge and just like in a chapel, where you would find great works of art, the bridge also had some paintings in it.
Although it was intense, spending the weekend in Switzerland was just what the doctor would have prescribed. The charming lakes and enchanting mountains are enough to make anyone want to come back again and again and maybe never leave.
Have you been enchanted by the Swiss lakes and mountains? Tell me about it in the comments below ☺️
Till next time
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