Christopher Rowe

It is now two minutes til eight in the morning, the sun has barely risen, most of what I can see from my window is still shrouded in darkness. The only indication of colour, of any light at all is coming from the snow covered mountain peaks surrounding the town of Interlaken.

As I write this I unfortunately find myself on a train preparing to depart this much loved winter wonderland for Zurich. The train is massive, about eighteen cars in total, each car capable of accommodating over eighty persons and Michelle and I are two of five people onboard. Most of the seats on the train appear to be reserved but with most of them indicating the owner will board after we depart the train, so all going well, it should be a quiet trip.

We were also fortunate with our train connections from Munich, Germany to Interlaken, Switzerland. It took two trains to get to Interlaken; the first train we had our own private cabin, which was great since with each of us carting about two suitcases each and handbags private cabins provided the extra storage space normal seats did not. We had reserved seats on a connecting train at Karlsberg with a two hour layover – however the night before we noticed there was an earlier connection with a layover of ten minutes. If all things went to plan; if the train arrived on time and we were able to drag our luggage to the connecting platform in time we could save ourselves two hours. Sure enough, with six minutes to spare we had made it to the connecting platform and again scored for ourselves our own private compartment – just what you want for a five hour train trip (in total there was eight hours travel time on the trains from Munich to Interlaken).

The arrival into Interlaken was like a scene from a Hollywood film; as we exited a tunnel and rounded a bend we were greeted by a massive lake, surrounding the lake were snow capped mountains, spanning all the way from left to right as far as the eye could see. We arrived at the Interlaken (west) station, there is also an east (ost) station at the other end of town, as it turns out our hotel is pretty much in the middle.

Interlaken reminded me of the towns of the old west seen in Clint Eastwood films; the similarity being that the entire town ran down one main street, following the railway line. All the shop fronts and buildings were all intricately designed, except for our hotel, the Metropole which looked like a concrete slab of a tower, rising above everything else on the street. The inside of the hotel was another matter though, it was immaculately set out, and spacious and this generous allocation of space extended to the rooms as well, with our room comprising of three separate rooms, the bedroom, bathroom – complete with spa sized bath tub and mountain views, a living room and most impressively a balcony with a view of the Swiss Alps.

The Alps had never appeared so close, and with the crystal clear blue skies, they looked ever so inviting. Knowing that the forecast of the coming days was looking to be a bit dodgy we were determined to make the most of the good weather and headed out to the tourist bureau to arrange tickets for passage up the mountain.

There are several mountain peaks accessible in the region, the two most popular ones being Jungfrau (the top of Europe) and Schilthorn made popular for its appearance in James Bond: OHMSS and both are well worth the look.

Since it was already approaching two in the afternoon and the ride to Jungfrau takes two hours by train we decided to put off Jungfrau for another day. Looking at the maps of the region the mountain sides were busting with activities, restaurants, cable cars and villages – with Interlaken, as beautiful as it was it became obvious to us that we wanted to spend most of our stay in the mountains, not looking at them from a distance. With that decided we purchased two 3 day ski passes, which amongst other things gave us unlimited access to trains and cable cars and spent what little was left of the day walking down main street Interlaken.

Each morning started the same; we got up and were leaving our hotel just as the sun had risen walking towards the Ost train station to take us into the mountains. On the way, a few blocks up from our hotel we called into Hooters for breakfast, and we both became quite fond of the breakfasts as well as the dinner meals on offer.

It was dark by the time the train would finally arrive back at Interlaken Ost, completely exhausted from the days trek in the snowy alps, we would make our way back to our hotel, following the main street running parallel to the train line, stopping for a meal along the way. Two of the four nights we stopped at the friendly and familiar orange glow of the Hooters restaurant, the other two nights at an Italian restaurant just a little bit further down from our hotel.

Each night we would assess the weather forecast for the coming days, wanting as clear a day as possible for Jungfrau, partially because it was the top of Europe and you wanted nothing short of clear skies to see everything, the other reason, it costs an additional $120.00 to get there – so you want it to be worth your while.

You might think that dark cloudy weather would make for a nice backdrop for a scene of snow capped mountains (as a photographer you definitely do) the problem is, with peaks this high up, they tend to punch straight through the cloud – so rather than having a nice backdrop of clouds in your photos, you end up in the cloud shrouded in the fog.
As it turned out, a promising day for Jungfrau was coming up the following day, so we decided to visit the former James Bond Mountain, Schilthorn, instead. From our morning breakfast at Hooters we then walked to the Interlaken Ost station at the end of town, although this station is an international one, connecting you to Germany and other surrounding countries, platform 2 takes passengers into the mountain. What you need to know though is that one third up the mountain the train line forks off in two directions, and the train you are in will all of a sudden split into two, one half continuing up the mountain towards Schilthorn, the other going towards First Point, a mountain range on the far left. Knowing that the front of the train will go towards the direction of Schilthorn we boarded it as close to the front as possible. Sure enough, three stops in the train splits apart and begins to head in opposite directions. The journey to Schilthorn was a lot more complicated than either of us had anticipated and given that it was our first day navigating the Swiss Alps it definitely put us to the test. At the end, it took us two separate trains, a long walk, and two cable cars to get to Schilthorn.

The view from Schilthorn was incredible; you can understand why it was chosen for a James Bond centrepiece. The rotating restaurant at Schilthorn was used in OHMSS as a secret laboratory. James Bond, then played by Australian actor George Lazenby (not our proudest moment – for Australians and the James Bond franchise) has a chase sequence from the laboratory down the mountain side into a village.

As we exited the cable car we took the first exit available to walk around the outside promenade for some scenic shots before going into the restaurant for lunch. The air was crisp and cool at 3 degrees Celsius. The skies were clear and the view was magnificent. The promenade extended right the way around the circular restaurant, noting a sign indicating the main lookout was on the other side of the structure I followed another cable car passenger around the corner to head for the lookout. As we turned the corner a chilling gust of wind blew us both back – the air was so blistering cold, the shock of it making us both gasp for air, it felt like you were punched in the stomach. To the side of me was a digital barometer, the temperature had plummeted to minus 11 degrees.

It took a few moments to recover from the physical shock, my sun glasses which had initially fogged up from my rapid exhale of air had now frosted over, and my lips had started to sting from exposure of the cold dry air, but with the view as breath taking as it obviously was, I ventured forth, set up my tripod and started taking some shots.
I wasn’t the only crazy one, there were a few others with tripods and bit by bit more people ventured out into the chill. It was so incredibly cold, I struggled to even talk to Michelle – a great deal of focus was going into my breathing and making sure my camera and tripod didn’t blow over at the next gust of wind.

After a very thorough round of panoramic shots, I packed up my camera gear to retreat inside into the warmth. The metal legs on the tripod were hand numbingly cold to the touch – even with my gloves on!

The restaurant provided a beautiful panoramic view of the Alps, the restaurant floor slowly rotating around giving you the complete 360 degrees which was a nice touch. Best of all it was shielded from the wind and toasty warm. The restaurant took its 007 fame to heart, with 007 stickers on the glass, a gift shop with 007 merchandise and even a James Bond inspired menu – I chose the ‘James Bond Spaghetti’ which really was no different to any other spaghetti, but it was fun all the same.

By the time we got back down to the bottom, it was fastly approaching 3.30pm, with sundown at 4pm, the day had pretty much gone. We made our way back to our hotel, stopping for dinner along the way and prepared for the coming day.

The next day we journeyed for Jungfrau, and just as with Schilthorn it should be noted that this is an all-day activity, especially in winter when there is only 6hrs of daylight. Unlike the trip to Schilthorn that required more transfers and modes of transport than I care to recall Jungfrau required only two trains; the one caught from Interlarken Ost station and then the ‘Jungfrau’ specific train which connects further up the mountain. It should also be noted that unlike Schilthorn, the journey to Jungfrau is not covered on a ski pass, you are required to pay an additional $57 for that leg of the trip – but it is worth it – especially on a clear day!

It took us around 2 hours (and some) from Interlaken to Jungfrau. Unfortunately the second train leg to Jungfrau is all within a tunnel going up the mountain, so there are not any spectacular views to be had. On the flip side to this, the train does make two stops on its journey to Jungfrau where caves from the station lead passengers to viewing platforms where you can see the most incredible views of the Swiss Alps.. the best part is, it continues to get better the higher you go, Jungfrau definitely doesn’t disappoint.
We arrived at Jungfrau just after midday and immediately went up to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Unfortunately, unlike its 007 sister, there was no revolving restaurant but the view was stellar all the same. In addition to its panoramic views Jungfrau also featured an ice cave, an outdoor activities area (though only open during summer months ? ) and a few other novel activities, making the two hour journey there well worth the effort.

I cannot quite put my finger on it, but there is something very relaxing sitting at over 10,000 feet, in the icey cold surrounded by snow and mountains. Up til this point, we had visited 007 on the far right, Junfrau in the middle, so being our last full day in Interlaken, we decided to catch the train/cable cars to ‘First Point’, the mountain range on the left side of the map.

On the way to First we passed through the village Grindelwald (3300ft). It goes without say, if anyone is intending to visit the Interlaken area and go skiing, book accommodation at Grindlewald – I will be next time! It is a very quaint town with plenty of restaurants and hotels, it also has a diverse range of ski hire places and has both bus and cable car access connecting it to nearby ski fields.

It was from Grindelwald that we caught the cable car to First. The cable car network to First was the longest I had ever been on, it took us over 20 minutes with opportunities to stop along the way. The exit at First drops you off right outside the entrance to the restaurants. We walked through the doors and was instantly greeted by the familiar odor of skiers taking my mind back to 2006 when I first went skiing. It didn’t bother Michelle since her nose was blocked from a cold she had started to come down with, but I wasn’t going to have any part of it, especially when I wasn’t even skiing. I navigated through the crowded restaurant to the alfresco area outside, the temperature wouldn’t of been much higher than zero (which by then was warm for us!) the view overlooking the mountain range and ski fields was beautiful. Although we were the first ‘crazies’ out there, it wasn’t long before the alfresco area started to fill up.

It goes without say, Switzerland, in particular Interlaken was the best stop on our trip – no tours, no museums, shops or other attractions – just the mountains and snow.