This morning we were up at 06:00 with the plan to leave by 06:30. By the time we finished emptying the garbage, stripping the beds, starting the dishwasher, and getting ready, it was already 06:45. We hurriedly walked to the metro. Luckily the we only had to wait 2 minutes. We went 3 stops and switched metros. The second one arrived just as we approached. We went 1 stop to the Gare de Lyon train station, arriving around 07:05. We then went through a maze of stairs and hallways to find the actual train station. We found a screen as soon as possible to find which platform we needed to be at. We then very quickly made our way to the train and found carriage 16 and found our assigned seats. We boarded at 07:15 and teh train pulled out of the train station right on time at 07:22. We were on our way to Switzerland. This was our last reservation of our Europe trip. We were finally on our way to visit Terris and Sandra.
There was a couple that came and told me I was sitting in their seat. When I looked at their ticket, I noticed they were assigned the same seat in carriage 17. That probably happens a lot. The train was a t TGV train and it was really nice and spacious. The best thing was the free wifi and it was actually quite spacious.
We arrived in Basel around 10:30, and had to ask where to purchase our Swiss Travel pass. We cued up to get a number and waited 30 minutes to see a ticket agent. We finally got our passes and had just enough time to catch the 11:28 train to Spiez. We spread out a bit because there wasn’t assigned seating and many single riders claimed the seats of 4. It all worked out though and it really wasn’t too busy. We arrived in Spiez just after 13:00 and met Sandra.
After meeting Sandra, she had the car so pull all 10 bags in and went shopping at Migros. After, we put the groceries in teh car and went to the train to meet Terris. Ari and Sandra came home in the car, and the rest of us took the bus. We all arrived around the same time.
We got to see their new house. It is perfect! They have the most amazing view and it is a great neighbourhood. It is about 200 meters from their old apartment that they rented. It is also quite cool in the summer. We sat around and visited for a couple hours. Then we went to get the keys to the basement suite re also rented down the street. We dropped off our bags and walked down to the lake for a swim. The diving board was gone this year, but we still had fun jumping off the platform and swimming. The water was only 19 degrees. Apparently it was much earlier a few days ago but since the heat wave, the glacier is melting and has cooled off the lake. It was quite refreshing in 27 degree weather though!
After we walked back we enjoyed hotdogs and salad out on the table in the back yard. It was a perfect evening. We visited for a while and at 22:30, Tavis, Ari, and I went to our place to get some sleep. Terris had been up since 03:00 and Sandra was up at 05:00 so we figured everyone was tired. When we were in bed, we heard noise outside. We didn’t think much of it, but apparently there were fireworks in Interlaken. Terris, Sandra, Addison, and Ayva had a perfect view so they sat outside and enjoyed it. Then Sandra and Ayva went to bed while Addison and Terris stayed up until 01:00!