For Immediate Release

This majestic view of a mountain valley and village was rudely disrupted by a crazy American with a walking stick.

Let me tell you about Interlaken, Switzerland. It is a tiny town nestled between two mountain lakes, thus its name. For real. I did not make that up. It came straight out of a brochure.

What the brochure did not tell me was that everything in that tiny town has an outrageous fee attached. From the moment I entered the hostel, I was bombarded with offers to join people in an adrenaline pumping adventure. Of course, the cheapest of these activities was about $125. The prices were shocking. Imagine paying $12 for a Big Mac meal at McDonalds. And that was pretty much the only food we could afford. By the way, McDonalds tastes wretched everywhere you go.

Fortunately for my savings account, hiking (in most areas) was free. So we hiked up a very steep mountain to a tiny town called Gimmelwald perched on top of a cliff. While there, I ate a very overpriced desert called "Horse$#!@ balls." But I could not pass on such a well-named delicacy.

The hike was probably the most spectacular I have ever taken. Mostly, we hiked through lush forests past countless streams and brooks. There were dozens of waterfalls and occasionally we would break into a mountain meadow with amazing alpine views of the Jungfrau (German for virgin), the Munch and the Eiger peaks.

On the way back to town, we walked along a valley full of immaculately clean villages and farms. I saw more ornate cowbells on that hike than anyone should in a lifetime. I'm pretty sure they caused some permanent hearing loss.

That was it for my Swiss adventure and the next day, we rode the train back to Frankfurt, but I have already covered that part.

Please choose another country

Germany

France

Spain

Italy

Austria

--##--