Before we left the station yesterday afternoon, we bought a combined ticket to Aare Gorge and the Reichenbach Falls via the Funicular. Cost CHF15 each. Best money we ever spent.

Had an awesome day . And what beautiful and sunny weather.
 
We set off about 9 am to walk to the gorge. After about 20 minutes (10 minutes to the main bridge and then 10 minutes along the river) we spotted a cafe on the other side of the river. Restuarant du Pont. This was near the Aareschlucht West train station which wasn’t open as the line was being repaired. We crossed over for coffee and a sandwich (breakfast). Seemed to be a locals hangout.

Another 5 minutes walk and we arrived at the gorge. We'd been passed by several Ferraris - there were quite a few of them parked. The drivers and passengers were all partaking of brunch in the restaurant so they didn't get in our way!

The gorge was fantastic. There were tunnels in places for those who wanted shelter, but we chose the suspended walkways. The gorge is narrowest in the west. We walked west to east and it took us about 45 minutes to do the 1.4km as we did a lot of gawking. There were information signs about geology and history at various points . Instead of catching a bus at the other end we walked back - only took 30 minutes this way. We ran into a few of the Ferrari people towards the end.

Back to the cafe - for a beer this time. Lunchtime locals there now. The walk to the Reichenbach Funicular took another 15 minutes.

It seemed a long way up in the funicular, but we then walked to the top. It was a case of thinking "we've gone this far, we must be there soon" quite often. It seemed like it took ages, but in fact, it only took 30 minutes. A beer on the sundeck of the restaurant at the top of the falls was just the thing. The sun was shining and the view was breathtaking.

The walk down seemed shorter! I think we've done a week's worth of walking today. We were going to go up in the gondolas/chair lifts/cable cars tomorrow, but there are only 3 open as we're too early in the season. If anybody remembers that I wanted to do the Trift Suspension Bridge, I had to give up on that because of the amount of walking involved . I doubt we'd have been able to get up there anyway.

After a short rest at our B & B, we strolled (hobbled) around the village. Had to check out Conan Doyle Square etc. There were a couple of very old bells in a churchyard; then we came across the museum. The museum was free and extremely interesting, but there was no way I was walking up the stairs to the top floor. It was interesting to read how the Aare river used to meander about after it came out of the gorge; and how they dug a deep channel ...... I asked about the big cow bells, and there is a ritual in this area whereby the people parade through the streets with the bells to ward off bad spirits. This is about 6 days agter Christmas, as I recall. Should check.

We found a proper restaurant for dinner tonight, after the pizza last night. The Adler cooked on an open fire. I had lamb and Bryan had steak.