Oberhofen Castle

My lack of sleep finally caught up to me! I slept through my 7 am alarm. I was really tired, but it also didn't help that the alarm was not audible because Alice had turned the ringer way down on my phone! I woke up at 8 and my parents were already up and my dad was starting to make breakfast. I was a little frustrated that I'd slept through the alarm but I also knew that I really needed the sleep so I didn't feel too bad.

We had a few ideas of things to do today but were waiting to see the weather. On channel 1 on TV they tell the weather for the different parts of the country and even show you the webcams from the mountain peaks. The weather report was not great, the mountains were cloudy and there would be rain later in the day. We decided to stick close to home and go to the Oberhofen Castle on Lake Thun. My kids have never been to a castle so they were excited.

After breakfast I hopped in the shower to get ready for the day. When I got out,, my kids were gone! I found my dad who was doing the dishes and he told me Peter had come up and asked if they wanted to come run the trains. My mom later told me that my kids had never got dressed faster in their lives (they were in their pajamas when he came to the door). After I got dressed I headed down to see how it was going. Connor was in boy heaven. He had a remote control and was driving the train. Peter also showed him how to use the control board. Now when I say model train this set up is totally amazing! It goes all over the backyard, there are multiple trains, tunnels, and even cable cars. It is the most elaborate set up I've ever seen! There was another boy running the trains, his name was Nick and he was 10 years old. We couldn't quite figure out if he was a neighbor boy or maybe a grandchild here for a visit.

Connor and Ali by the train

The train has so much detail

Peter showing Connor the control board

The other train that Nick was controlling

One of several tunnels

Connor would have stayed out there all day if we would have let him. Eventually we told him he had to come in so we could get ready to go. It was so awesome of Peter to let Connor run the train, I know that experience will definitely be on Connor's list of highlights from the trip. Like I've said before, travel isn't just about seeing things and places, it is about the people you meet and the experiences you have.

Our off schedule morning gave us a later start than normal for our day, the extra sleep and the time with the trains was definitely worth it though! We got on the 10:30 train and headed to Thun. Thun is a city on a beautiful lake. From Thun we took a bus to the castle. The transportation system is so amazing here, everything is so seamless. The buses are incredibly nice. They are all handicapped accessible and also easy to roll a baby stroller onto. The Swiss have obviously invested a lot into public transportation and I think it is money well spent.

Our admission to the Oberhofen Castle was covered with our Swiss Pass. We had to put our backpacks into lockers before we could enter the castle, you needed a 1 Franc coin for the locker but the coin is returned to you when you pick up your bag. You also needed a 1 Franc coin to use the restroom, this one wasn't returned to you. The restrooms were very nice and since our admission was free with the pass, paying 1 Franc for the bathroom wasn't bad.

The Castle is right on Lake Thun with beautiful views of the water. It was very interesting touring the castle, the rooms were decorated in different periods to represent the castle's history. Ali loved the room with children's toys and dolls. Connor liked the room with the armor. We spent about 45 minutes touring the rooms and then we looked around the gardens. There was a wedding at the site today so we were not able to see everything.

The Library

Connor loved the armor

Turkish Smoking Room

Ali thought this cradle would be perfect for dolls

Ali in the gardens

It was getting to the time of day when we needed to eat lunch, we decided instead of eating in Oberhofen we'd head back to Thun and eat there. We took a boat back to Thun. It was great being out on the beautiful lake. This was the 4th different type of public transportation we'd used in 3 days, so cool! There are some beautiful houses on the lake.

Waiting for the boat

The castle from the lake

Pretty church we saw from the boat

Connor enjoying the ride

Ali just relaxing and checking out the sites

When we arrived in Thun we started looking for a restaurant. This turned into wild goose chase. First we went in the department store because they had a self serve restaurant, well it was almost 2:00 and they were out of lunch food. Then we walked further and we found an Italian place but I really didn't want to pay 30 Francs for spaghetti for my children. We stopped in a little cafe but it didn't seem like it would work either. At this point I checked the train schedule and told my parents we should just head back to Frutigen and eat at the house.

We walked to the station and the kids were starving, my dad bought three soft pretzels at a kiosk at the station. They were excellent and took the edge off everyone's hunger. When we got back to Frutigen we stopped at the store and made sure we had bread to make sandwiches. We headed back to the house and by the time it was all said and done we had lunch at around 4:00. Not exactly how we'd planned things but it was OK. We relaxed for the rest of the day and decided that we would need to plan better for future days and take food with us if we weren't sure where to eat.

 

Connor really wanted to get a Swiss Army Knife. I told him I needed to think about it and if I said yes there would definitely be rules attached. After our late lunch my dad asked if it would be OK to take Connor to the hardware store in town to let him choose which knife he'd want for a birthday gift. I told him that was fine and they walked downtown to the store. Connor came back with his new knife and he was very excited! We talked about the rules and how at home we'd be keeping it in a safe spot.

Happy boy with his birthday gift a day early

We had a small dinner at about 6:30 and talked about plans for the next day. The weather forecast wasn't looking good. Tomorrow was Connor's birthday and he really wanted to go to the Schilthorn but that would only be possible with great weather. We made three possible plans and they all involved being on the 8 am train.

The doorbell rang and we had a surprise visit from a neighbor of Peter and Esther's who we'd met our first day. She stopped by to drop off a birthday gift for Connor and a gift for Ali. Isn't that awesome? I know I've said it before it before, but the people here are just so kind. What an amazing place to visit!

Lights were out early and Ali fell asleep in record time!

It was a good day minus the food fiasco. We needed a short day after our long day hiking. The Oberhofen was cool to see and made for a relaxing day.

 

 

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