Tavis woke up 5:30 and read for 75 minutes before going to the house. Then Tavis and Sandra enjoyed their coffee and came up with an itinerary for the next 10 days while the rest of us slept.
At 8:00, Ari and I went to the house and at 8:30 we had breakfast on the balcony. We had hard boiled eggs, bread and cheeses for breakfast. Then we packed our bathing suits and towels incase we ended up at the lake.
Niesenbahn
We caught the bus at 9:36 to Spiez then transferred to the train that took us to the base of Niesen mountain. There we took the Niesenbahn (cable train) up to the peak. The view was amazing! The cable car reminded us so much of rides at Disneyland. The cart has been running for over 100 years! You go through tunnels and half way up you switch trains and catch the next one to the top. The other interesting thing about the track is that it is a single track except a short spot in the middle where the 2 carts pass each other. The pictures just don’t do it justice. Then when we got to the top the view was breathtaking. We walked around the peak, then past a restaurant and over to another peak on a think trail. We walked through gates to keep the cattle out because the cattle just roam around all summer up in the mountains. We could hear the bells as they walked around. The bells are used so the famers can find their cattle.
Lake Thun (tune)
Just after lunch we decided to go back to Krattigen to eat. We picked up some fresh bread and a few groceries and made some sandwiches, Then we put on our bathing suits and walked down to the lake. It was a 15 minute walk down a steep gully to the water. The public beach was a grassy hill with a metal structure in the water with a diving board. The kids were jumping off the diving board before we even had our towels down! It was a gorgeous day and we all enjoyed cooling off in the crystal clear lake. We spent 2 hours relaxing and enjoying the sun and water.
After we had enough of the lake we walked back up the hill to the house and had burgers for dinner. We then spent the rest of the evening working on our plans for tomorrow.