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Switzerland 2007 - Ridereport Part 2

3rd day, June 9th - Day trip "to the Bernese Oberland"

On this day I wanted to show my passengers the beauty of the Bernese Oberland - for me simply the most scenic part of the whole Alps!
So we started at 9 o'clock and after a short drive we reached the lake of Brienz. Photo stop!

We continued leisurely along the shore road to Interlaken. From there via Wilderswil into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. The path led us left to Grindelwald. We stopped at the entrance of the village and stared fascinated at the gigantic north face of the Eiger!

Through Grindelwald the path then led us to the foot of the upper Grindelwald glacier. Here the road for public transport ends. A continuation of the journey is only possible with post buses.
After this stop we went down again to the Lauterbrunnen valley, which we followed in the direction of Lauterbrunnen. There, the Staubbach Falls plunge over a vertical drop of almost 300 m into the valley - one of the highest waterfalls in Europe! In the Lauterbrunnen Valley itself there are a total of 72 waterfalls!

We followed the valley to Stechelberg and then returned to Interlaken. From there we first went up to Habkern - a track with great curve combinations!
At the entrance of the village a small road branches off (in a right-hand bend) straight ahead (signposting "Bort"). The road is very narrow and if you meet a car, you should be careful, but it offers wonderful views down to Lake Thun and the magnificent mountain world of the Bernese Oberland. After a few kilometres - to the right - Beatenberg is signposted. This was our next destination. Before Beatenberg, however, we allowed ourselves a break and enjoyed the landscape. On the left, we saw many paragliders, which used the thermal for a "high-altitude flight".

Then we continued on to Beatenberg and over a - also very small - toll road to Sigriswil. Impressive views of Lake Thun accompany the route. In Sigriswil, we then turned north, following the signs for "Schwanden". A little after Meiersmaad we turn right towards "Horrenbach". We followed this and reached Eriz via "Berg und Tal" (literally: up and down! The route is really a roller coaster ride). From here on the road is much wider again and the rest of the way is made for motorcycles again! A coffee break interrupted the "wild chase" and then we reached the Schallenberg (1167 m). After the top of the pass we went on to Marbach and Escholzmatt. This route is very popular with motorcyclists and so we met again many other bikers, which was not the case before. Then the last "highlight" was the Glaubenbüelenpass (1611 m). The route is still quite wide until Sörenberg, but then it becomes narrow again and you have to be careful of oncoming traffic. Partly the road was humid, although we hadn't had rain until then. Up to the top of the pass the rule was "free driving" again and everybody could tackle the route according to his own ideas. Downhill we had to be very careful, because we met some motorcyclists or groups of motorcyclists who didn't stay on their side of the road and one or the other encounter almost went wrong! Especially on such a narrow road you should stay "on your side", otherwise accidents are inevitable - unfortunately not everybody takes this to heart!

Arriving in the valley we finally passed the Lunger Lake and a photo stop above the lake was made. During this stop a lot of FIAT 500 drove down into the valley. I never knew that there were still so many! Countless of these small vehicles drove past us waving and honking and enjoyed their tour together.
After this intermezzo we finally drove over the Brünigpass (1008 m) back to Meiringen.
There the roads were very wet and the rain had probably stopped only minutes before - break before correctly timed!
By the way, we were very lucky with the weather that day anyway, because we weren't even caught up by the rain. But in the news afterwards I noticed that exactly this weekend there were some thunderstorms in the Bernese Oberland, where there were many floods.
The weather god was well-disposed towards us!

In the evening there was another "special" experience!
We had gone for a walk on the first evening and chose a restaurant for the last evening in Meiringen. The choice was a pizzeria right next to the train station. The ambience was promising and the prices were high (13 - 14 € for the pizza!), but that's the way it is in Switzerland.
So we had ordered a table for 10 people and went to eat expectantly.
After we had taken a seat it took a while until the waiter took our orders for drinks. Only after he had brought the drinks, he gave us the menu. Also this order finally worked out and we waited for the food. It took a relatively long time, but finally it came! Big plate, small pizza! In addition a broad hard edge, which required the strong use of the knife. But the food was very good in taste.

After we were done and wanted to leave I gave the waiter a sign that we wanted to pay. Again it took a little longer, but then he put the total bill in front of my nose and signalled me that we should settle this among ourselves. "You can share equally." We told him that we wanted to pay each one separately and he told us (you have to call it that way!) that he would come back when he had time again! When he came, I complained that the wine Werner, Petra and I had drunk would only cost 18.50 francs and not 22 francs according to the drinks menu. He then corrected this by hand.
It still took a while until everyone could finally pay.
Not only I, but also all the others, had a very bad impression of this pizzeria and can only advise other Meiringen visitors against it!
As they say: often, appearances are deceptive!

4th day, June 10th, return journey - Meiringen - Sonthofen

In the morning there was still the bill to pay and to thank for the good hospitality and reception and then we could start!
Before we said goodbye to Fred, who had kept up very well with his Honda CBR 600 in spite of his lack of experience with the pass - my appreciation!
Shortly before 9am we drove - in bright sunshine - back towards the Grimsel Pass (2165 m).

Then down to Gletsch and there left to the Furka pass (2431 m). Uphill the road is still quite wide and very easy to ride, but downhill it is quite narrow and the steep slope on the right side awakes bad feelings! Afterwards we came back to Andermatt and finally drove up to the Oberalp pass (2044 m).
After a short break we continued via Sedrun and Disentis to Chur. Shortly before Chur we had lunch break. There I met some friends from the Swiss Chopper Forum (www.chopperforum.ch). A short talk to say goodbye and the rest of the journey home could follow. Via Chur I went on to Landquart. There a building site confused us! Straight ahead was blocked (although a traffic light would have allowed us to continue our trip). We were directed to the right for a few kilometers, then under the highway to the other side of the road and back again! Pass the driveway and continue to the next roundabout. There again on the opposite side and finally off the expressway again. We arrived exactly on the other side of the previously mentioned traffic light and had about 6 - 7 km of detour behind us due to the "clever" traffic guidance!
Okay, let's go on! Via Maienfeld and Balzers we arrived in Vaduz. From there via Feldkirch and Götzis to Dornbirn. Here we turned right and finally reached Hittisau via Bödele and Schwarzenberg. After refuelling we said goodbye to each other and then drove back to Sonthofen.

Conclusion:

It was a wonderful weekend and it was great fun again to ride the Swiss passes and enjoy the beautiful landscape!

 

Fantastic landscape!

Wonderful winding roads!

Pure fun!


Complement:
Many thanks to Fred and Mäggi (driving photos), who kindly provided me with their photos in addition.

and here are all photos from the tour!

the complete ridereport for download:

ESwitzerland2007.pdf


Unterkunftsempfehlung:
Italien: Hotel Cristallo (Levico Terme)