Interlaken

Well we got into Interlaken and this place is absolutely beautiful! The town is just as its name suggests, situated between two lake. It’s this little valley, with the Alps rising all around it. It’s just absolutely beautiful around here. Friday we decided to take a little hike through the mountains. A lot of the ones around us were still covered in snow and inaccessible, but there were still some good ones left. We decided on this trail called Harderkulm. Apparently people in Switzerland don’t eat breakfast, they just drink their beer and wine haha. So no breakfast, and we had to go to McDonalds for lunch food before hiking. Bad idea #1. Our next bad move was assuming it would be kinda chilly outside. I mean, Swiss Alps, beginning of April, snow on the mountains all around us…but no, very hot outside and we were sweating to death. So we didn’t have any water with us, and came to regret that VERY quickly…

But we made it to the top, stopping at some streams nearby to drink some water when we needed it. The area is even more breathtaking the higher we climbed. It was simply awesome. Mountains all around us, the two lakes, and just all kinds of beautiful sights. Breathtaking, awesome, beautiful…these are just a few ways for me to describe what we saw. We made it to the top, sat and enjoyed the views for a while then headed down.

We heard of this chocolate shop nearby which has tours and demonstrations everyday, so we decided to check it out. In my opinion it’s the best thing we’ve paid for on this trip yet, and absolutely one of the highlights for me. But that may be just because I love chocolate so much haha. The main chocolate chef guided us through the process of selection, making the chocolate, and forming it into what you want. He even showed us how to create things like the chocolate bunnies from the molds. He told us all about chocolate, more than I can remember. We got to sample this chocolate that he picked out when he first got to this chocolate shop a few years ago. Last year it won the award of best milk chocolate in the world, so the man knows what he’s doing. And I have to admit, I agree with the judges on this one. He showed us how to make truffles also, and we got to sample some. He also had this sample of chocolate which he specially created…it’s his own recipe. It’s a dark chocolate, 70% cacao. It was SOOOOOO good! I bought a bar for myself, and sent a bar home for dad, along with these truffles he had made of dark chocolate. Those were probably the best dark chocolate truffles I’ve ever tasted. The place was called Shuh, and they’ve been around since 1818. The chef (who I swear is the identical twin of Commissioner Gordon from Batman), has been in the chocolate cooking world for 42 years and has won many awards. He had on display many of his models which had won awards. So dad, be expecting some pretty darn good chocolate coming that you won’t be able to find anywhere else in the world other than Interlaken, Switzerland.

I know one thing…I’m ready to leave Switzerland and find some cheaper prices. Their prices aren’t as bad for Europeans because the Euro is stronger than the Swiss Franc. But for us it’s about the same, so prices have been pretty steep. But I love this country so far, and Interlaken was one of the best places for us to pick in Switzerland. I wish I had the money to stay longer haha. Now off to Geneva, then back into France…