THUN, SWITZERLAND
Headed to Thun today.
The stay last night was at the Hotel Rischli. I really enjoyed it. The desk clerk, Yvonne, was very nice. She had presented me with a complimentary transportation card that I could use for the aerial tram. But I did not use it yesterday.
But first – goats. Just outside the dining patio was an enclosure of the cutest goats. They also had an enclosure of rabbits too. It made the stay more enjoyable.
Yesterday I had gone by the gondola on my descent to the hotel. When Yvonne offered the transportation card I did not feel like pedaling the 4.5 km back up the mountain. But with a great night’s sleep, I looked at it differently, one from a fresh mind. And body.
The ride over to Thul was supposed to be a short one and why should I be in a hurry. I decided I would bike back up to the gondola. Slow down. Enjoy the day.
I had no clue where I was in Switzerland in relationship to other landmarks but in looking at the advertisements of the region I saw they also advertised a cog railway. I realized that I took that train with [Friend] three years ago and it dawned on me that at the summit we saw a gondola come up the mountain.
I rode to the gondola, presented my comp pass, and saved 38 CHF (which was about $40). The staff at the gondola put my bike in the engine room while I rode up to the summit.
It was cool being back there. This time I could look down and see the cog railway engine sputtering away bringing back pleasant memories of this trip three years earlier.
On the ride back down on the gondola, the “conductor” made sure to point out where there were mountain goats. He asked me if we have them in the U.S. and I told him Colorado (of course other states do too).
It was a quick descent back to Söreneberg and a stop at the hotel. My luggage hadn’t been picked up so I decided I would carry an extra set of clothes just in case I got to Thun before my luggage. I couldn’t imagine I would with the trip being so short and now it was after 11:00 a.m. and I hadn’t left Söreneberg.
But first, there was time for a ride on their Alpine slide. This one was cool because the ski lift dragged the rider and sled to the top on an enclosed course. The ones I have been on all used a ski lift to carry the passenger and sleds to the top of the mountain for the slide down. But this was a fully-enclosed course in which the rider rode up the mountain (towed by a cable) before sliding back down.
The River Aare in Thun is split by an island. The swimming channel was clearly slower than the other side. But one only needed to jump in and float and be carried away. Pretty fun!
Dinner tonight was at McDonalds – 8,90 instead of 35 or 40 CHF for a real meal. My only issue was I went for WiFi and a little A/C. But it seems WiFi is available only if you have a code that will be texted to you – if you have WiFi to receive the text. Sigh.
The hotel was AM Schloss. It had no A/C and only a small window over a busy street. It was pretty miserable sleeping.
