Lucerne

Woke up at 8.10am feeling decidedly groggy, I really shouldn’t have finished off all of my wine on a pretty much empty stomach. I finished off my blog & tried to post it with 2 videos. I later discovered that it didn’t go. Uploading videos takes too long, so I won’t be doing that again.

After a shower & getting packed up, I left the Green Marmot Capsule Hotel at 9.58am, just 2 minutes before I had to be out. I loaded up my bike and set the SatNav to take me to Interlaken on the Windiest Route to ensure it took me past the lakes. My plan was to stop early at a supermarket to get some much needed sustenance, but I soon came to realise that no supermarkets are open in Switzerland on a Sunday.

Somewhere near Zug, I stopped at McDonalds for a coffee and Big Mac that cost me close on £10. I used the opportunity to make a few phone calls, including to my parents who were celebrating their anniversary today. My mum told that she had been reading the blog, but was upset by the derogatory comments by someone called Andy Mays.

Back on the bike, now feeling much better, I was soon in the attractive town of Lucerne sitting on the shore of Lake Lucerne with snow capped mountains in the distance. I stopped for a quick photo & continued on. The road followed Lake Lucerne, then Lake Sarnersee, Lake Lungersee and Lake Brienzersee, before arriving at Interlaken. The sun had been out throughout this leg of the journey. It could not have been a more enjoyable ride…..or could it get even better.

In Interlaken I found a convenience store, where I bought a large bottle of water, a Coke Zero and 2 packets of my favourite Biscoff biscuits. I didn’t stay in long in Interlaken, mainly because there was no focal point of a lake. Instead I took a diversion from my planned route to visit a little town called Lauterbrunnen, which was 16 km south of Interlaken and had been recommended by my brother, Jonathan who is holidaying there later in the year.

The narrow windy and windy road took me through a brewery and then a farm. The road was flanked on both sides by steep mountains & it followed a river and a train track. Lauterbrunnen looked like a scene on a chocolate box. It was crammed into the valley between two mountains which had waterfalls falling from them. It was very picturesque. Lauterbrunnen looked like the perfect place to take a ski lift up the mountains and walk back down. Strangely this small municipality in the Swiss Alps was absolutely heaving with Asian tourists. They didn’t look like they were there for the skiing!

I returned to Interlaken then headed west where I followed the winding road on the northern shore of Lake Thunersee. It was absolutely stunning. I felt compelled to keep stopping to take photos and admire the beauty of the lake with its backdrop of the snow covered alps. To make this absolutely the perfect ride the sun remained out the whole way.

My left arm was aching from waving to all my fellow motorcyclists. I wasn’t doing it like I was a village idiot, I was doing it because it is the done thing that every motorcyclist does on the continent. We ignore the moped and scooter riders.

This road, the ‘Seestrasse’, took me through the villages of Merligen, Gunten, Oberhofen am Thunersee and Hilterfingen, before arriving at the town of Thun at the other end of Lake Thunersee. The villages I passed through had beautiful castles, hotels, restaurants and mansions to just increase the pleasure on the eye.

By now time was pushing on, so I hotfooted it to the outskirts of Bern, where I located Muhle Hunziken, the venue for tomorrow’s gig. It was then a 25 minute ride into Bern and to Hostel 77, my accommodation for the next 2 nights. My heart sank when I pulled up outside at 5.10pm. There were about 50 children and a handful of teachers hanging around at the front. I had visions of sharing my dormitory with a load of 10 year old boys.

Daniel, the receptionist, checked me in and assured me that the children were all on the floor above me. Daniel gave me lots of information and surprisingly all the buses and trams in Bern were free of charge to me. I just needed my hotel receipt which had a QR code for them. Breakfast is also included.

I went up to my dorm 309 and got the feeling that I would probably have the whole dorm of 6 beds to myself. It is now gone 9pm at the time of writing and no-one else has arrived. What a result.

I settled in & listened to the football commentary in time to hear Utd concede 3 goals. I decided I couldn’t be bothered to go out. I made do with my biscuits and water and enjoyed the luxury of the dorm to myself.

Today was a (very) good day. My ride should have only taken just over 2 and a half hours, but actually took over 7 hours.

Song of the Day - Slow Ride by Foghat.

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