Securing the ground in Spiez

Usually when we are in Spiez at the beginning we like to "secure the ground". That means we go around for the day, taking a look at the area, see the changes (if any) and get back the feeling to be "home away from home".

This time being Winter we first wanted to experience some snow, which is why we went up to the Grindelwald glacier (which is above 1700m) in the hope to find some. Which we did not. Just the street was icy and the the mountains around were snow-capped. Still it was extremely nice, because there were almost no tourists and we could enjoy the view (even though we were a bit disappointed because there was no snow at all where we were).

The parking space up at the Upper Glacier usually is our starting point for explorations, but the dirt roads were closed because of possible avalanches and so all we could do is have a look at the mountains from there. The view is great - but we still missed the snow we could play with.

There are actually people living at Grindelwald (the town not the glaciers). I do not want to change! Incredible how it might be to live high up in the mountains with tons and tons of snow usually and a zillion of visitors every year. They accept it gracefully, but still it must be a totally different kind of living there.

Then we went down to Interlaken, our favorite village in the area. The name says it all "Inter-Laken" - "between the lakes". Still it is a great place with lovely hotels, a nice shopping mile and lots of tourists dropping dead when they see a "White shepherd." No kidding, if we took a cent from each person (Japanese or Indian) who wanted to take a photo of sweet Indy we would be dead rich by now! Honestly, the first time you smile, the 50th time you do not step aside anymore when they wave you to get lost so they can take a photo of your dog and the 100th time you tell them to "sod off". Really...

Coming down from the mountains it still seemed a bit cool. But for January it was definately quite comfy, which I realized after hanging out at the shopping mile for a bit. (I did not buy anything!)

Then it was time to go around the Thuner See. We love this big lake and the boats that go there. In Summer you will find a lot of tourist boats but in Winter you only get the boats that actually function as public transport. People use them going to and from work.

The Beatenbucht is not only a ship station but also the place where you can go up the Niederhorn. Still during Winter it is a very quiet place for hikers.

Ladies and gentlemen - I give you the Thuner See! What a fine place to go in Winter, even if you do not go skiing.

And after such a big day it is sooooo good to relax, have some nice food and do nothing at all anymore before you go to bed and dream of lots of more great things to do.....