And the rest as they say is history!!
( Officially I'm not DDLJ buff but I do watch the songs or some mushy scenes whenever I set eyes on them! Talk of hypocrites 🫣')
Day 1: Paris to Interlaken by train
So after two nights in Paris, we boarded the train for Basel from Gare de Lyon station just next to our hotel. Traveling with luggages, getting them up on train, putting them on the shelves inside compartment.... these seem mammoth tasks and we did miss our men folk here, I mean these twenty five kg suit cases... and we had a feeling of victory each time we could board and unboard! Rest of the time as Monalisa said once, ' Soma di really here we can travel without our men' ' Obviously' I had quipped ' Here men are useless ' .
The train went past the beautiful French countryside, vineyards before entering Switzerland. We changed at Basel for our train to Interlaken. Deboarding and boarding later we were taking in the Swiss country side with our Swiss Pass. Well Swiss Pass is a magical entity giving you a kind of flexibility in trains, buses, cruises, cable cars you name it and gives a total bohemian feel because you can roam about with no fixed itinerary and just breathe in the amazing Swiss landscapes! We crossed Bern, the Swiss capital city, some amazing lakes and were flabbergasted at the first sight of Lake Brienz. I've been to Austria before and the topography of the Alps and the lakes was a bit similar but the ethereal beauty of it all made us glue to the train window and gasp. Here as I was trying to decipher German boards...so it was written
Nachster Halt
Bern
So I assumed after Nachster Halt station, next was Bern. I was waiting eagerly for the Swiss capital and the stations kept changing and no sign of Nachster Halt!! Only when Monalisa told me we crossed Bern long back and I was still mad why we were not crossing the Nachster Halt station so long, it struck ( almost like lightning) that Nachster Halt was actually next halt!!
Directions were there in our itinerary to our apartment with cryptical instructions to recover our apartment key from the mail box . We connected via video call with the owner to locate our building and then I tried to decode the instructions while Monalisa tried to get hold of the keys. Seems as I was trying hard to read aloud step 2 and comprehend , she was already in step 3 with her brain! So she got the keys way before I kept reading and reading and reached the end! Later my husband told me this is how he also got his apartment keys from mail box with a code in a quaint town at Germany. But no point of his gyan now when we are already been there done that types!
Beautiful one bedroom apartment with a tv, sitting room, books ( German most of them) and a balcony overlooking mountains. It was a quaint what we call pada in Bengali. We've heard of the store Coop from our agent and once inside we were like spoiled with the choice of ready to eat, packed foods! We stocked the kitchen with food, wine and had a round of coffee and sandwiches, of course all assembled by Monalisa. We were a bit relaxed as this was going to be our home for the next five nights.
Beautiful quite Swiss town with expensive watch stores around every corner and Alps surrounding her valleys.
Dinner was wine , prawns brought from Coop, store bought salad and amazingly done roasted chicken from Coop again with some heart to heart girlie talk.. unromantic husbands as opposed to the ones in rom coms or Mills and Boons, mom in laws, existing non existing other women , lost friends in the humdrum of life and ended with lots of wine ,some tears.. confessions!
Day 2: Trip to Jungfrau, top of Europe
Morning was lazy, we had scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, fresh raspberry and set for our visit to Jungfrau. Well the itinerary was complicated, first train from Interlaken OST station which wasn't the one we got down the day before (we got down at Interlaken West), then to get down at Grindelwald, from there cable car to Eiger then again cogwheel train to the top. To be honest though I travel a lot, most of the time husband doest it all ( he won't be reading this so I can get honest). He's a meticulous planner and loves everything in order. Other times my travel buddy does it, I only comply. But this was Monalisa's first time, so I felt a bit responsible ( something new to me)! So I was murmuring the itinerary through out so that we don't miss.
Train to Grindelwald offered an amazing view which I guess is quite normal at Swiss country side....after a point you cease to be amazed! The beautiful wooden chalets, the lush green meadows..and I keep wondering about the umpteen Hindi movie songs I saw being shot in these locales including some Govinda songs as well!
After getting down at Grindelwald, Monalisa simply scanned our tickets at the nearest station for Jungfrau. Though I mumbled as per itinerary we were to take the cable car... this is not looking like cable car point but who cares really! We hopped in to the first train we could set our eyes on ensuring it was going to Jungfrau! Till date I wonder 🤔 where was that cable car point!
I was taking pictures, gasping at the unparalleled beauty but at the back of my mind I was recalling Gulmarg and Mount Apharwat! I was lucky to have amazing views of both the phases of Mount Apharwat in cable car and I guess to some extent both can compete with each other. Yes we do not have these trains connecting to glaciers and making them so easily accessible. It was cold and I was a bit apprehensive being under dressed ( this is always the case with me). Also I carried a thermal in my back pack, did not put on because of the fear of suffocation! After pictures were done I settled comfortably in the train and as the train was passing through the tunnels, dozed off... bit of jet leg, wine talks, uploading.. checking pics had its toll and well...snored as well. The
train came to a halt and announced that passengers may deboard and get a glimpse of the Eiger glacier for five minutes and come back. I was in trance , could faintly hear Monalisa calling ...' Somadii.... glacier...nambe ( will you get down)'
My answer was ' Baad dao, charo ( leave it)' before I dozed off again! And I strongly suspect Monalisa was half asleep too and hence the story of the missing glacier!!
@ Ice Palace
Very soon I let go of my Gulmarg hangover and drenched myself in the marvel called Jungfrau. There was a blizzard and since I forgot my pair of gloves, I was wearing one of Monalisa's...haw how to shoot a reel...I tried and failed! More than the nature I marvelled at the train ride.. though was scared of the altitude...I for one did not feel any gradient while climbing up the train! Though Monalisa said that could be because of my slumber! After getting down at the station we boarded the lift to reach the top of the tower, climbed a few stairs where did feel a bit of breathless, that could be due to nervousness. I mean there were senior citizens, kids and things were built in such a way there was hardly any huffing puffing...you can go out in the mountains , look at the glacier and come inside if you feel cold or breathless... as simple as that!
An ' Everesty ' feeling with the Swiss flag!! Wonder why I was holding on to it with my might!
After the feeling of the job being done, we looked around in the souvenir shops and settled for lunch at the exorbitant restaurant. Well complimentary breads were all complimentary and we were hungry!
We returned via Lauterbrunen, had a quick glimpse of the village before the last train. We knew we had to come back here for the Staubbach Falls and insta clicks.
The red skirt white sweater look was in my mind yes.... from Kajol's ' Zara sa jhoom loon main' ....huh people can be real cheesy 😜
Lauterbrunen
Yash Chopra park at Interlaken
We had a Caesar salad at Hooter's... though husband frowned at the choice but who was listening! And late evening it was wine and pasta and more talks, cursing of hubbies
Some reality bites 🙄...I didn't enjoy at all. These bartans don't ever leave me!! And I woke up the next morning with sight back ache courtesy the utensil cleaning!
Day 3 : Cruise at Lake Brienz, Visit to Thun
Our agent insisted we go to Gstaad where Shahrukh says Palat...well life has its own ' Palat' moments 😅.
Some weird insta ' Flamingo' pose we tried!
The Decathlon zero degrees puffer jacket bought before the trip and H&M jumper underneath kept me warm..so did the fleece leggings.
Beautiful town of Spiez
Jubilant me 😬
Outside Thun station
First time at the sight of an Indian name we were excited after getting off at Thun and ordered for Biryani! Lady turned out to be Sri Lankan and Biryani turned out to be more mutton curry rice nevertheless we savoured the spicy Indian taste... desis at heart!
We wandered at Thun, shopped a bit, I got a nice overcoat at a fab discount 😍, did some shopping at an Italian store at discount of course and some cosmetics, perfumes watches for gifts and stuff. We returned by bus, the beauty of Swiss pass.
Evening was some prawns, dim sums and coke at a Chinese place run by a family probably , a little seven/ eight year old presented our bill in her skates! Back at the apartment it was wine and carbonara pasta for the night.
Day 4: Visit to Lauterbrunen and Murren
This is the day we passed chasing insta dreams and Yash Chopra locales. Lauterbrunen, one of the most beautiful villages of Europe...we clicked and clicked, shot reels . Just like that took the cable car to Murren utilising our Swiss Pass...I mean honestly I didn't ever hear of Murren. But like little birds who learnt to fly we had the sky to us!
From our apartment balcony
The Staubbach Falls
The dream country side....
Err I wanted to shoot a reel here! Dekho Maine dekha hai ye ek sapna ..phoolo ke sheher mein ho ghar apna'... And was showed away by the screaming lady from the window... there was a ' Private ' board somewhere!
The insta Lauterbrunen pic
Well you have to give time for chasing dreams. Touch and go doesn't help always..we walked to the Staubbach Falls, munched snacks we carried there. Yes Switzerland is expensive, once in a while it is wise to carry something. Shot reels at the falls, with checklist ticked, I told Monalisa I have few more check boxes , the country side and the meadows.
Well all boxes almost ticked , we took the cable car to Murren. The train gave serene view of the Alpines, tracks were covered in snow... the topography so reminded me of Pahalgam! And this wanderlust thing like hopping on to the some cable car getting down nowhere , then taking train to Murren...I mean these unplanned surprises give soul to the trip where you can break free really! At Murren station we did not know what to do, grabbed the boiled eggs Monalisa had packed , since we did not want to walk further..after loitering a bit we returned to Lauterbrunen.
Murren
View on the way to Murren
Back at Interlaken, we strolled through the park. Tulips, daffodils we were just so filled with joy!
Some shopping, dinner Monalisa tossed in some prawns into the Coop brought salad and left over roasted chicken. That night I slumped in very early, I was exhausted, grabbed the salad and slept off! Though woke up again to watch the reels!
Our initial plan was to visit Gstaad the next day but just an expensive town feeling put me off, Monalisa wanted Zurich for shopping but two hours train ride one way would drain us out and the next day was very early train to Basel for flight to Venice. I wanted Lucerne, at last we settled for a relaxed day and visit to Grindelwald.
Day 5: Tuk tuk ride to Lake Brienz and visit to Grindelwald
We were lazy, first Monalisa did her watch shopping for her husband's upcoming birthday, then we started for Grindelwald Station taking lots of pics surrounding a Magnolia tree.
She spoke to the cabbie, it was expensive as usual...we thought and rethought...and took the plunge.
It was a ride through the villages, non touristy and amazing. The view of Lake Brienz was so ethereal... well I have to admit I have seen nothing as beautiful in life!! It's difficult to put in words it was mesmerizing...I mean one can die for it!He stopped there and took few pics as per his itinerary and started calling as soon as the time was over!! But we could be there for eternity! Monalisa whispered, ' Somadii I must have done something pious in life and I'm here today!'
After that we took the train to Grindelwald, we were so overwhelmed with our tuk tuk ride that we just chose to relax at a cafe near the station taking in the sight of the mountains.
Nah some sort of sour cherry icecream which looks good in insta only!
We ordered Country Fries from the menu hoping for some local food , what we got were crispy potato wedges!
Would I ever be in Grindelwald again!
Back at Interlaken, we shopped souvenirs, soaked in the beautiful garden. Monalisa showed me the Daffodils.. these are the little moments when you feel the essence of the little Swiss town!
Finally we had roti and chana masala at an Indian/ Pakistani restaurant because I was like meat meat all these days.. let's take a break! Dinner was carbonara again.. which I could not have as I was overstuffed already! But I wasn't the one to waste...I had it early morning before leaving for Interlaken station. Yes we cleaned the kitchen meticulously lest he fines us, dried the utensils, followed all the instructions to the core, left 35 Swiss Francs as city tax, left the keys in the mail box.
We scurried our suitcases in the early morning along the Interlaken roads, taking in the shops we crossed many times, the watch prices we stared many times counting the zeroes and sighing! We boarded the train for Basel and took the bus to Basel airport!
All didn't end that well...one I left my H&M white crop sweat shirt at the apartment and the second I had to pay 72 Francs as my hand bag was oversized!! It was an economy airline and our agent repeatedly warned me the handbag should fit within the specific dimensions.. else he'd book extra luggage. Well there were boxes with the specified dimension and my bag didn't fit! I guess like desi mentality we went ahead that if nobody finds out it's fine! Well the formidable looking German lady did find me and a heart broken me dished our her my credit card!
But what's traveling without these anecdotes! For someone as casual as me I'd say the loss was minimum and I was way richer with memories and marvel!
To more travelling!
