Thun

On Tuesday we were hoping to head up to the mountains, but the weather had turned terrible with rain so Nadine and myself opted to go on a cruise on the Thunersee. This was very enjoyable passing little villages along the way. The rain eased a little so we got off at the far end of the lake and walked through Interlaken and to the Brienzersee. Returned to Thun to have the traditional swiss dish of Racelette for dinner. This is melting bits of cheese under a special grill and then serving them on potatoes and bacon, etc. Banana, potato, bacon and cheese turned out to be a pretty good comination.
On Wednesday the sky had cleared so I went to the train station only to find that the trains where running 20 minutes late, when I finally got to Spiez to connecting train had also gone, so with a spare hour to waste I checked out the local cast on the lake, then caught the train up to Erlenbach. From here the cablecar went up to the top of Stockhorn. Great views out over much of Switzerland. Walked down to Oberstockenalp, then around Oberstockensee, Vorderstocken and to Chrindi. Took an adventurous route back up to the summit via Chummli.
Thursday the weather was perfect so I got the train over to Grindelwald, and the cablecar just short of First, at Schreckfeld. Walked up to First where there were thousands of old tourists having lunch in the sun, so had to escape quickly. Great views out to Grosse Scheidegg, Wetterhorn and Mettenberg. Got to Backalpsee for the postcard pictures of the lake and the snow capped mountains like a mirror image. Continued up to the summit of Faulhorn (2686m) which offered the most amazing views to the Eiger, Monc and Jungfrau, many other mountains, the lakes to Thun and the middle lands of CH. Walked back to Grindelwald via Bussalp.
On Friday I went for a bike ride with Nadine from Thun up to a nearby lake. We were hoping we would be able to get to the lake, but it was still ina pretty natural state and surrounded by mud and reids. Nice ride back through the forrest. In the evening went over to Murten and met up with another of Nadine's mates. We went for a cruise on the lake to Neachatel which was quite enjoyable with a bottle of champagne, some snacks of salami and dips, sitting on the roof looking out to the alps as the sun was setting. We called past Bern on the way home for some drinks in a cool bar that had been setup in an old gym... complete with basketball hoop still intact.
On Saturday I got the train back to Luzern, but had to jump off in Meiringen for a quick trek given the weather was perfect again. Took 4 cablecars up through Hasliberg to get to the AlpenTower (Planplatten). Great views to titlis and Eiger, also jumping point for skydivers. Walked down through Gummenalp and Hasliberg Reuti to meiringen to get the train back over the Brünigpass to Luzern.
On Sunday I visited the school fete where Timo was hanging out then visited Christine in Zurich with Kurt. Went for a walk by the lake before returning to Luzern.
Today the weather was again perfect so took the train up to Engleberg, and then the cablecar up to Trübsee. Had a magnificent walk up to Jachpass, around the ridge to Schaftal, Tannalp, Tannensee, Melchsee-Frutt and down to Stöckalp and got the PostAuto back to Luzern. Tomorrow catching the train up to Münich for Oktoberfest.