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| Bernese Oberland; Swiss Alps Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
ONE OF the things we really wanted to see was the Swiss and German countryside, and in particular, the Alps. One of the tallest and largest mountain ranges in Europe, The Alps run in a horseshoe pattern from the seacoast of the French Riviera up through France, Switzerland, bordering on the south of Germany, then back through Austria, and - fittingly ("balkan," from Turkish origin, means "mountain") - the Balkans, as far south on the Adriatic Sea as the tip of the Italian Peninsula reaches. Some maps and accounts have the range ending at the Austrian/Slovenian border. Others show the range all the way south to Albania. No matter. It is safe enough to say you can see these mountains almost everywhere you go in southern and eastern Europe.
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| Lungern, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved |
WE HAVE. In 2022, on an excursion into The Provence region, we saw them in one of France's national parks. In 2015, we saw them in Montenegro. This time, we saw them twice: in Switzerland and in Germany.
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| Swiss Alps - Lungern, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR CONTINUING whirlwind of excursions early in our trip continued. For a third day, we were on the move. Fortunately, after spending the better part of the previous two days on our feet, we would be alternatively on our feet, and on a tour van and our private driver. I learned a nuance on this occasion. I referred to our driver as a guide, and my wife pointed out to me (Just FYI, you know) that he wasn't really a guide - that the excursion we had purchase definitely described him as a driver. Nonetheless, he seemed to have an itinerary that had some good stops, and though his English was not perfect, we all communicated well, and he seemed like a nice guy.
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| Lungernsee - Lungern, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR DRIVE took us southwest again, past Zug and Lucerne, and toward what is known as the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Our first stop was a small lake in a tiny little berg of Lungern; Lungernsee. After a short "photo-stop" here, we continued on to what would be our lunch destination: Interlaken. There is a series of beautiful, deep, blue lakes along the mountain route, and the next one was Brienzersee, where we made a stop at what was pretty obviously a resort area at the northern end of the lake. There were, in spite of the rather touristy nature of the actual stop, some great views south down the lake.
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| Brienzersee; Bernese Oberland, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
THE THEME of the trip - mostly cloudy and rainy producing a gloomy, deep gray - continued, as you can see from the image above, though we did see a few brief peeks of sunshine and what might have been in better weather. Still, the beauty and relative vastness of the region was certainly as impressive as I had imagined.
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| Brienzersee - Bernese Oberlands, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
AS FORESHADOWED, we continued on to our lunchtime - and as it turned out penultimate - stop on the drive: Interlaken. Dead center between two of Switzerland's most beautiful lakes, Thunersee and Brienzersee (10.5 and 9 miles long, respectively), Interlaken is known as Switzerland's "Adventure Capital." The touristy town lies at the base of three of Switzerland's most famous mountains: Eiger, Jungfrau, and Monch. In addition to recreation on the lakes, the area is reknowned for its hiking, mountaineering, skiing, and not-to-be-missed: paragliding. As we drove into the small town, and our driver dropped us off on the main street, the atmosphere eerily reminded me of my own outdoor adventure - laden hometown, Traverse City, Michigan (a sought-after vacation destination in Michigan, where boating, skiing, hiking, and all forms of other outdoor recreation were prevailent). Sans the Alps, of course. 😃
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| Victoria Jungfrau Hotel - Interlaken, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
IT ALL started out innocently enough. We could see the beautiful central greens space in the middle of town, flanked by flowers and impressive buildings. You can see the grandiose 150-year plus 5-star Victoria Jungfrau Hotel as you approach the small, downtown shopping district.
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| Interlaken, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
BUT EVERY modern tourist town has to have at least one glitzy, gauche commercial feature to distinguish it. Interlaken is no exception - though this may be the first time I have seen this (popular?) chain restaurant in Europe. Being in Switzerland's recreation center, perhaps they originally mistook it for a raptor center? But seriously? Right next to the 5-star crown jewel of Interlaken? 😅
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| Hooters - Interlaken, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved BY THE way, did I mention paragliding? We saw the signs and storefront in a more commercialized area just as we entered town. I really didn't know - and wasn't prepared for - them coming in for their landing though, right in the middle of that park! I got lucky, as the restaurant we chose for lunch was on the edge of the park, and I was able to get out into the park and make a few photographs. These things had all the ingredients I love about a picture: color, interest, and action. Thinking back, there were many things I could have done more creatively. Timing and to some extent, surprise, was somewhat of an issue. If you have an opportunity, I would recommend considering a visit to Interlaken, with some time on your hands and a plan to do some shooting. They will draw you in!    
WE FOUND a nice restaurant for lunch and I had an apparently traditional local dish which was some king of puff pastry with pork and gravy inside. It was delicious, and as Bruce and I had established as more or less a habit, I had the local, on-tap, lager. It was good.  DURING OUR time in Interlaken, we were heartened, as the sun had come out and it was looking like this time it might be for real. But not to be. What turned out to be our final stop of the day was the rather famous ski area: Grindelwald. I think our driver was a bit taken aback, as the itinerary for the driving tour included a ride up the renowned cog railway cable car up Jungenfrau. However, we had read a number of accounts during our pre-trip research and knew that although the view from up on top was said to be spectacular, it was very dependent upon visibility. Our judgment was that we would be up in pure fog, with now view. We opted out of the cog. Instead, we walked the touristy little town of Grindelwald. I don't know if I have ever seen so many, different, outdoor outfitter shops on one street. I did get a decent view of the mountain valley with the traditional Swiss cottages and buildings, but once again, Mother Nature conspired against me, creating dreary, gray conditions.  The Swiss Alps - Grindelwald, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved THE COG lifts were among the first ski lifts in the world, and the mountains - particularly the 13,000 foot (above sea-level) Eiger's vaunted "North Face" (one of the inspirations for the popular outdoor outfitter line "North Face"), considered one of the most sought-after climbing destinations. The North Face is a challenging and dangerous climb of nearly 6,000 feet. The internet reports at least 64 deaths over the years from people attempting to ascent the Eiger's North Face, including the "1936 Disaster," claiming the lives of 5 climbers.  Grindelwald, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 WHEN VISIBILITY is good, the profile of the three peaks - Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, present the iconic view of the Swiss Alps. For those (most of us, I presume) who aren't going to risk the technical climb, there is a tunneled cog railroad that you can ride to get the views from the top (as noted, we opted not to do this because of the poor visibility).  Grindelwald, Switzerland Copyright Andy Richards 2024 THE ADVERTISED narrative for our day was to include a stop at a traditional Swiss Dairy Farm for cheese tasting. Unfortunately, as we pulled into the last stop the skies opened up. Our driver told us that to get to the farm was about a 10 - 15 minute walk. None of us were up for that, so we headed back to our hotel. We were tired and hungry by the time we arrived, but it was a long, but good day. We had scoped out a restaurant directly across a back street from the hotel, and had a nice dinner and a relatively early night.  Bernese Oberland - Swiss Alps Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved |
4 comments:
Andy,
Thanks again for leading us on another journey, even if it’s through your eyes and not ours. Although I loved the countryside when we visited, I found them difficult to photograph what I was seeing. As serene as they are, I could never get the composition where I felt I was capturing the true essence.
Of the images you posted here, I found the “anchoring” of the Alps with the valleys below to be the most pleasing for me. Regardless of the weather, there is always something magical about those shots. The other image that stood out for me was the bridge(?) out into the lake. Nice work
All nicely done, too bad about the weather, but still got some nice ones.
Thanks Rich. I know what you mean about sometimes feeling that it is difficult to capture the essence of what you are seeing. I think this is especially true of the "grand landscape" images. When I make a landscape image, I try to remember our mutal friend Al's "rule" of thumb, that every good landscape picture has to have a three tier depth to it: foreground, middle ground usually the subject), and background; that the all need to be interesting. I am not always successful. I am also mindful that when you were there you were very early into your photographic journey. I have to believe if you were there today, our photography would be very different!
Thanks Janice! I really appreciate your following and comments.
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