March 14, 2020
From the start of my Switzerland adventure, I had known that Interlaken was a must-see in Switzerland. And from the color of the beautiful lake to the train ride itself, Interlaken did not disappoint.
After my solo trip to Versailles, I was more determined than ever to not let others’ plans hold me back. So, for my final weekend in Switzerland, I planned a day-trip to Interlaken. I had originally wanted to take the boat tour of Lake Brienze, but as my luck would have it, it was closed for the winter. While disappointed, I soon hopped on a bus to see Isetvald, a small town within Interlaken.
My reason for going to Isetvald was very simple: #CrashLandingOnYou. I had begun watching the KDrama on Netflix before the start of my semester in Switzerland and had promised myself to find the film sites while in the country. And Isetvald featured one of my favorite scenes in the show: the piano scene.
When I got off the bus at Isetvald, it was drizzling and cold. And I was hungry. And confused. When I asked the one stranger I spotted where the pier was, I received a strange look – it clearly wasn’t the season for tourists. And there it was! The small pier overlooking the lake. I sat down with my legs dangling off of the pier, listening to the piano track, utterly entranced by the scene.
But very quickly I realized the biggest disadvantage of solo traveling: pictures. Selfies are all well and good, but when my focus is the landscape and not my face… it doesn’t work as well. As I was bracing myself to just accept my lack of pictures, a group of Asians came wandering down to the pier. I immediately guessed why they were there – the town really had nothing going on in the winter – and they confirmed it for me when one of them sat by the edge of the pier and mimed playing the piano. They were also here for the drama! The group was kind enough – and tactful enough – to take some pictures for me 🙂
After Iseltvald, I didn’t have any concrete plans, so I wandered around Lake Brienz. The lake was absolutely gorgeous up close and very serene. It was a calming and refreshing walk.
I considered going back to Gland as I had no other plans but ended up heading to Sigriswil Suspension Bridge because, yes, again, it was a key scene from the show! Of course, my fear of heights was reevaluated after I stepped onto the bridge – a huge cable bridge stretching across a chasm. On the left of the bridge was the knee-shakingly deep chasm and on the right, it overlooked the two lakes of Interlaken. I was very high up and as sturdy as the cables looked, I could feel the vibrations of the bridge with my every step.
There was a kind mom who took some pictures for me, but I really got my photoshoot soon afterward. I happened to run into a group of older Asian women who were also tourists. They seemed kind so my plan was to ask if they wanted a group picture (pro tip I picked up while traveling alone). Usually, after such an offer, people are tactful enough to offer to take my picture. These Asian women absolutely went above and beyond and after some casual conversation that revealed they were also here for “Captain Ri” (the show’s protagonist), one of the women started taking pictures for me. Considering that I had expected no pictures but had managed to run into multiple kind-hearted photographers, I was more than satisfied.
But while our little group was crossing back over, my kind photographer turned to me and half-exclaimed that she didn’t approve of my pictures. I was quite taken aback. After all, she had been the one to take them for me. Should I have somehow posed better?
She quickly explained that she knew that I wanted good pictures, and she felt bad that my pictures weren’t in high quality (with my crappy emergency Paris phone). And being the absolute sweetheart that I now realize she is, she offered (actually, she insisted), on taking pictures of me on her phone, adding me on FB, and sending me the pictures. I was more than happy to oblige – especially as the others in the group had fun with making sure my hair was arranged to their satisfaction and I was posing “right”. It really was quite an extensive photoshoot!
What a lovely day. As I recounted my adventure to my Swiss mum at dinner, I told her laughingly that without my fellow KDrama fans, I would have walked away picture-less, without my new-found fond memories.
