Upon leaving France, we drove about six hours through northern Italy to a small ski town called Axalp, high above the shores of Lake Brienz in central Switzerland. We passed through an array of landscapes, from the twisty roads along the rocky shores of the French Riviera, to the lush hills of the Italian Coast, which gave way to flatter farmland as we approached Milan. North of Milan, we made a quick pass by Lake Como (to which we would be returning in three days), before crossing into Switzerland, and viewing the most dramatic scenery yet.
After passing through the 16km long Gotthard tunnel (the world's third-longest), we exited the highway and traversed the mountains via the beautiful Sustenstrasse, from which the views truly became magical. I thought I'd entered a fairytale!
Axalp is located about 20 minutes up (as in vertically!) from the town of Brienz, which is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Brienz. We were about midway between the towns of Interlaken and Lucern, both of which we planned to visit during our stay. Axalp is primarily a winter time destination, but it's incredibly beautiful in the summer time. We stayed at a ski lodge called the Hotel Chemihüttli, which is run by a very nice Swiss family. Ruedi, the patriarch, is a huge guy of about 6'6" and sounds a bit like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets (see a pic of him at work here). He even wears a chef's hat after 5pm since he runs the hotel's restaurant. Naturally, the hat exacerbates the Swedish Chef association! During our stay, we saw him completing a variety of tasks, including landscaping, catering, handyman duties, auto repair and lumberjacking. Every time we turned around, he was there doing something different - we suspect he might have had a twin involved in the operation. He has also competed in professional woodsman competitions, as evidenced by the many photos adorning the lounge area. Here are a few shots of Axalp and Chemihüttli:
After passing through the 16km long Gotthard tunnel (the world's third-longest), we exited the highway and traversed the mountains via the beautiful Sustenstrasse, from which the views truly became magical. I thought I'd entered a fairytale!
Axalp is located about 20 minutes up (as in vertically!) from the town of Brienz, which is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Brienz. We were about midway between the towns of Interlaken and Lucern, both of which we planned to visit during our stay. Axalp is primarily a winter time destination, but it's incredibly beautiful in the summer time. We stayed at a ski lodge called the Hotel Chemihüttli, which is run by a very nice Swiss family. Ruedi, the patriarch, is a huge guy of about 6'6" and sounds a bit like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets (see a pic of him at work here). He even wears a chef's hat after 5pm since he runs the hotel's restaurant. Naturally, the hat exacerbates the Swedish Chef association! During our stay, we saw him completing a variety of tasks, including landscaping, catering, handyman duties, auto repair and lumberjacking. Every time we turned around, he was there doing something different - we suspect he might have had a twin involved in the operation. He has also competed in professional woodsman competitions, as evidenced by the many photos adorning the lounge area. Here are a few shots of Axalp and Chemihüttli:
Axalp, the day we arrived
Hotel Chemihüttli, and Ruedi's collection of vintage Land Rovers
View from our balcony
Axalp
Axalp
Axalp residents primarily consist of these guys. We finally got our fill of cowbell.
The next day was a bit dreary/rainy, so we decided to put off our hiking plans and headed into Interlaken to check out the town. Interlaken, which means 'between lakes', is nestled between the shores of Lake Brienz on the east and Lake Thun on the west. It is incredibly picturesque, even in the rain.
Rivers flowing through Interlaken
Interlaken's great lawn - a constant stream of paragliders lands here!
The fancy Victoria Jungfrau hotel
Unfortunately, the afternoon brought more of the same weather, so with our hiking plans further delayed, we decided to make the approximately 1.5 hour drive over to Lucerne to see the city. Lucerne is a much larger city situated on the shores of the beautiful Reuss River. We spent a while walking around the riverbanks and taking in the sights.
Lovely Lucerne on a dreary day
Swans on the Ruess River
The beautiful Chapel Bridge, built in 1333! It's the oldest covered bridge in Europe (however some of it was rebuilt in 1993 due to a fire.
The Chapel Bridge with the Water Tower behind.
On the way back, we stopped off at our local town of Brienz, which is a quaint little town on the shores of the lake. Here we saw the sun trying to finally peek through the clouds, which made for some nice photos.
The sun peeking through over Brienz
Lake Brienz
When we got back to Axalp around 6pm, the weather had improved - slightly - and with a few hours of light still remaining, we decided to check out a nearby hiking trail. The area around the lakes is full of hundreds of miles of great hiking though all different elevations. One could spend days hiking from town to town through all types of terrain, from lake shores to snowy alpine peaks. All of the trails are interconnected and well-marked, and so expansive that you rarely encounter other hikers. The segment near Axalp and heading toward Brienz led toward a remote alpine lake, and along this section of trail, you pass by many wooden sculptures carved out of tree trunks. This area is famous for its wood carving, and many of the local artisans had contributed to the sculptures They were quite remarkable:
Wooden sculptures along our hike in Axalp.
They eat a lot of these guys here!
Unfortunately, this high up the mountain, the weather can change quickly. The skies opened up causing it also to get very dark, so we abandoned our hike about 30 minutes in. We decided to try a 'shortcut' back, which ended up bringing us through someone's farm amongst their cows, which brought another challenge of both trying to both avoid falling down the steep, wet inclines and avoid the big, juicy cow pies all around us. We eventually found our way back to the lodge, dried off and called it a night.
Fortunately, the next day brought better weather - at least in the valley by the lakes. While we wanted to do one of the alpine paths, the tops of the mountains were still completely immersed in cloud cover, so we decided to head up to Harder Klum, the mountain just north of Interlaken, so that we could enjoy the views. Here are some photos from the top and along the trail:
Fortunately, the next day brought better weather - at least in the valley by the lakes. While we wanted to do one of the alpine paths, the tops of the mountains were still completely immersed in cloud cover, so we decided to head up to Harder Klum, the mountain just north of Interlaken, so that we could enjoy the views. Here are some photos from the top and along the trail:
Team Barbier over Interlaken
Chris on the Harder Klum peak
I'm pretty sure that's Jungfrau Mountain behind the clouds in the distance.
Interlaken, looking west toward Lake Thun
Flyby
A cool meadow on our hike down
When we got back, I was totally beat, but Chris still wanted to try to get to the lake from the path near Axalp, so he set off again on the path we took the previous day. This time the rain held off. Here are a few shots from the lake.
Mountain lake near Axalp
The next morning, we headed back to Italy and to Lake Como. We had to drive Susten Pass again to get back to Italy and this time, it was snowing which made for a much slower (and scarier) drive.
While the Swiss weather was less than ideal, we still found it breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately, Switzerland has also become a very expensive place to visit. We only ate out one night while we were there, as we had a hard time justifying the prices. As an example, a cheap entree at a budget restaurant in Switzerland costs about as much as a fancy dinner in South Africa, and probably twice as much as the same dish would cost in Italy or France. And on top of this, the Swiss food was not really my cup of tea. Although, we did come across an interesting local brew from Interlaken:
While the Swiss weather was less than ideal, we still found it breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately, Switzerland has also become a very expensive place to visit. We only ate out one night while we were there, as we had a hard time justifying the prices. As an example, a cheap entree at a budget restaurant in Switzerland costs about as much as a fancy dinner in South Africa, and probably twice as much as the same dish would cost in Italy or France. And on top of this, the Swiss food was not really my cup of tea. Although, we did come across an interesting local brew from Interlaken:
Despite the label, it was actually pretty good.
We were speaking to Ruedi about the high prices, and he explained how tourism from other parts of Europe and the US has really dropped off due to the prices. While the Swiss economy is actually doing ok overall, the tourism industry has changed. Ten years ago, most tourists came from other parts of Europe or the US, however now it has become too expensive for these tourists. Switzerland's tourism department heavily advertises in other countries, where people are willing to pay the high prices. Therefore, a large percentage of today's visitors come from the Middle East or parts of South America. Despite the high prices, we are glad to have visited. Most remarkable is the amazing scenery, which was unlike anything we've ever seen!
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