Day 9: September 2, 1999
Day trip to Thun, Switzerland (from Wengen)

We woke at 7 again to a nice breakfast downstairs at the hotel. We went up to the train station, with me dragging my big suitcase on wheels, so we wouldn't have so much to carry the next day on our way out. When we got to Lauterbrunnen, we put the bag in the car, and then went on our way to Interlaken Ost.

Thun Castle

We needed to pick up a different train that was leaving in about 30 minutes, so we walked around a bit, going into the "superstore" across the way. We were looking for an adapter so we could recharge the Clio (we had burned out the charger using the wrong power the night before), but no luck. The store was interesting, it was mostly a grocery store but it also had some drugstore stuff too, kind of a mini-department store with groceries. Anyway, after a bit we went back to the train station and got on a train that was bound for Amsterdam, one of the serious European trains. Thun was just two stops away, and off we got.

View from Thun castle tower

We walked toward the center of town and then the castle (schloss), passing by some shopping streets along the way. After climbing a great many stairs (that's for you, hon) we made it to the castle, where we paid our 10Sfr (~$7) and went in. The view from the top was nice, we took some shots from one of the towers with the clock tower and river in it. They had exhibits of the armor of the time, and Walendo showed me which weapon he would choose. He was surprised that I didn't look at that exhibit and think about which weapon I'd want. He wanted a big hatchet-like thing (w: that'd be a Battle Axe, thank you very much), none of the dainty swords for him.

Another view from Thun castle tower

Down at the bottom, they had exhibits showing what the rooms and clothing and furnishings were like. I liked that part.

After the castle, we walked around the streets, shopping for watches and Swiss army knives. Walendo was looking for an analog watch with a black background and white numbers that also had the date and an alarm, not a common thing to find.

One of Thun's main shopping streets

We wandered around a bit and Walendo miraculously found an electronics store that sold chargers with adapters for different countries. The guy offered us two free tickets to the castle, which was a shame, since we'd just been there.

Scene from Square in Thun

For lunch, we decided to get some sandwiches, but it turned out that a sandwich place wasn't that easy to find, or so we thought. We stopped short on this street and went back to where we had seen some sandwiches earlier by the train station. It turned out that not only were there plenty of sandwich shops on that street, but there was even a McDonalds at the end of the street. Amazingly, there had even been ad ad for it in the part we had walked, and yet Walendo had missed it.

Walendo eating a Royale With Cheese in Thun

Anyway, after getting the sandwiches (which turned out to be a single slice of ham with mayo and butter on an okay roll), we sat by the river and ate. Then we went to the shopping street and saw the McDonalds, so Walendo had another lunch. He had, guess what, a Royale with Cheese. Know why they call it that? Cuz they're on the metric system. (W: Check out the big brain on Ellen!) When we were ordering, the woman asked if we wanted 2, and I took that to be the number meal he wanted, but she meant how many. When we saw the price, we reacted and fixed it. McDonalds was the first place we'd been where the person didn't speak English.

Another Scene from same Thun Square

After lunch, we walked around and shopped some more. I bought a Swiss Army Knife with a scissors in it for about $12, something I'd always wanted. We ended up walking on a street with all the car repair shops as I was in search of more shopping streets, but that was all there was. We circled back and went back along the main street and, not finding the right watch, called it a day and headed for the boat to cross the Thunersee back to Interlaken. While we were waiting, there were a bunch of ducks and birds hanging around the benches, so I pulled out the rest of the bread I hadn't eaten and we fed them to the ducks and birds. We were very popular.

Walendo on the boat from Thun to Interlaken

The boat came and we went up to the top, since, as Walendo asserts, that's the best spot. When the ticket guy came, he told us it was only first class up top, so we had to go downstairs. I guess it really is the best spot. The boat hugged the coastline and stopped at lots of towns along the way, quickly dropping off and gaining passengers, but it seemed like most people were going all the way to Interlaken. It gave us a chance to see (and of course take pictures of) the little towns along the water, a few of which also have castles. If we'd had more energy and time, we would have gotten off to explore one of those. Still, the boat trip was very pleasant, and it took about 2 hours to get back to Interlaken.

Town along boat trip on Thunersee

We decided to walk from the East train station to the West so we could shop for watches. Right away we found a place that had analog watches with a date and alarm on sale for half price ($50 instead of $100). The face was white, though, so that was a dilemma for Walendo, since he really prefers black backgrounds. I thought he should get it, and he did. I also found a nice blue watch that was analog but was nice as a fancy watch. (I don't really have one to wear when we go out.) I decided to get it, and we decided to get them for each other.

Amusing Dog Signs

We strolled along the main strip and thought about having dinner there, but we had to get back by 9pm since we hadn't taken our key with us. Doh. (w: my fault) It was a nice 45 minute walk through town. On the way, Walendo saw an amusing sign about cleaning up after your dog. Apparently, he had seen one earlier near the parking garage in Lauterbrunnen. We picked up the train and this time when the conductor came, he told us that we'd gotten on the wrong car, that we had to move up one, since they split off at the next stop. We wondered how anyone figured this out, but we've been wondering how people know stuff a lot. Anyway, we moved up and we did get to Lauterbrunnen, where we picked up another train up to Wengen. When we got there, I offered to walk down to the hotel to get the key while Walendo found a place for us to eat, saving him another walk up the hill. When I got to the hotel, there was an oompah band playing right outside our hotel with a bunch of people clustered around, that was neat but I was sorry Walendo didn't see it.

When I got back, Walendo had decided on the Sunstar hotel's restaurant so we went there. The maitre'd sat us right next to the piano, which someone was playing, and he got all huffy when I asked if we could move. He said "any music makes noise." He asked what kind of music we liked, and I explained that it wasn't the type of music, just that it was hard to hear. I guess he got over it, though, cuz he was okay when we left the place. This time we had the salad bar and it had a lot of stuff and was delicious, for the same amount of money, much better. Walendo had a chicken curry & rice dish and I had tagliateri with salmon. Both were delicious. I had a chocolate mouse dessert and he had apple fritters. By the time we finished, the place was nearly cleared out and we had trouble getting our check. That seems to be a general problem. We finally paid and left, by which time it was pretty late, so off to bed we went.

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