Day 6: Interlaken, Switzerland - Harder Kulm & Fast Friends

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Interlaken, Switzerland

Each morning, we make our own breakfast.  Switzerland Style. This usually means eggs, bread, butter, cheese, sliced meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, fruit, cereal, and coffee. 

For big days like today, we need to get up early and get to the translation to leave Mürren and head down the mountain.  

This morning “commute” is the most beautiful daily routine we can imagine.  We pull down the windows on the train to see and feel the cold mountains before the sun rises. 

After descending into the Lauterbrunnen valley, we boarded a train for Interlaken.  

This trip required a transfer to another train, but unfortunately, I got us off at the wrong stop because both stops started with the letter Z and I can’t pronounce either.  

So… a 40 minute delay with a quick drone flight… we were back on track to Interlaken.  

We got off at the correct place and walked our way through the “Inner lake” city— the city between two lakes.  

We went to a recommended coffee destination called, “Hotel Aarburg”— an instagram influencer’s caffeine fever dream.  Very cool.  Very photogenic.

After a hangry family meltdown, we soothed our tears with sweet espresso and chocolate drinks.  There may have been some dissension about the choice of chocolate cake… but ultimately sugar sated the savage beast inside us all. 

After bringing balance to the force, we trotted off to our bus station destination.

We went to the Interlaken Ost train station and found the boating booth.  Our Berner Oberlan travel pass gives us access to free boat rides, but unfortunately, we missed this one by minutes.  So, instead, we walked along the river to plan B, which was Harder Kulm.  The Interlaken Tickets describes it well:

• Visit Interlaken's local mountain, the Harder Kulm, a unique Swiss vantage point at an altitude of 1,322 metres / 4337 feet.
• Your funicular ride up the mountain begins at Interlaken Ost station and offers scenic views of Interlaken, Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.

While waiting in line to ride the funicular, we met a Saudi family who had a little girl named Selene, who was 7 years old and a ton a fun.  She started talking to Jonas right away— trying to get him to play “I spy with my little eye” and trying to interact with him, in spite of his contrarian stance on conversation.  It was adorable.  

Apparently, she broke through to Jonas, because he wanted to sit next to her on our way up the mountain. (Totes adorbs😍). When we left the family, Jonas was disappointed.

We made it to the top and the views were breathtaking.  

When we left Selene and her family, Jonas was disappointed.

The top of the path led us to the Harder Kulm panoramic restaurant and overlook.  

We reconnected with our new friends and Jonas and Selene were able to hang out some more. 

We enjoyed some coffee, slushies, bratwurst and fries. 

It was time to say goodbye, so we grabbed a selfie with Selene and her mom.  

We rode the funicular down the mountain and wandered the city of Interlaken to an old church. 

We went back to the train station and made a stop at the giant Co Op (Coop?  Co-op?) store for some groceries.  

We took the train back to Lauterbrunnen and eventually Mürren.  

I'm really glad we had a great day because the next day... let's just say, 

"It was the best of times and it was the worst of times"