Moving down....

“The first time I passed through Switzerland I had the impression it was swept down with a broom from one end to the other every morning by housewives who dumped all the dirt in Italy”

Ernesto Sabato

Interlaken is almost in the centre of Switzerland and also serves the gateway to Bernese Highlands due to its excellent connectivity to other Swiss towns. As such there is nothing much to do in the town, except for shopping and all. It is rather touristy with souvenir shops dotting every nook and corner. Among others, I

found it to the best place for buying Swiss Trademark products like knives, watches or mountain gear. Around the town though, there are endless opportunities for indulging in all kinds of adventure sports, including skydiving, mountaineering and kayaking.

I was happy to spend a few hours looking for some watches and stuff. The weather was perfect: clear and sunny, contrary to the forecasts on the web; so we just went around the shops and spent some time enjoying the views of the lake and the mountains. I was a bit surprised to see a hell lot of Indian tourists in Swiss towns, but its pretty much justified when one considers the

dream-destination status imparted to Switzerland in Bollywood movies.

Next we went aboard a ferry in the Lake of Thun for a 4 hour cruise. I was amazed to see the

crystal clear blue waters of the lake wherein one could easily see the bottom deep below.

Numerous swans and other birds added to the pristine beauty of

the lake, and since it was a weekend so I could see many locals heading for swimming and kayaking. Passing small villages along the way, we reached Thun in the evening.

Our destination for the day was Zurich, and we reached there in a jiffy thanks once more to the SBB trains. Some ready-to-eat packets came

handy during the day because being a vegetarian is nothing short of being an idiot in Europe.

Zurich is a beautiful big city with a huge railways station. The lake of Zurich and the the churches dotting the lakefront look really beautiful in the

night and we found it worthwhile to sit there with our feet dipped in the waters of the lake, soaking in the tranquillity of the surroundings.

We planned a nightout in Zurich and thanks to the IIT life, it never seemed like an issue. So we went around the city, explored the lake and the lakeside parties, and even got into a brawl with the police :P who mistook us as the members of a drunk group breaking chairs and windows of the pubs. Fortunately though, we were able to convince them of the truth, and they released us after apologising for their mistake. Early in the morning we reached the station and hopped onto the SBB train for Lausanne........