Spiez is a small city on the lake of Thun. My friends from Regensburg in Germany have an apartment at Spiez. They take it as a entry point to hike or ski in the Bernese Alps. I regularly join them and stay in the friendly hotel Seegarten bordering the lake, where I love to fall asleep, while the ducks and the crested crebes are quaking under my balcony.

Source: Google Maps

In winter, we like to ski in the Mürren-Schilthorn area. From Spiez, we reach the cable car to Mürren in about half an hour. From the revolving restaurant on the Schilthorn, we have the gorgeous view of the “Grand Trio” of the Bernese Alps, Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau…

… and, after a turn of 180 degrees, we enjoy the view of the Lake of Thun and the bay of Spiez.

When skiing, we love to have lunch on the Schilthorn, where we hear the voice of James Bond saying: “My name is Bond – JAMES Bond”. And we see him fight wearing a perfect suit with tie.

The bay of Spiez is dominated by the castle and the church as well as by the Spiezerberg (mountain of Spiez) with vineyards facing the sun.

In February 2020, I took the small path called “Strandweg” from Spiez to Faulensee. The “Strandweg” has been installed by August Mützenberg in 1914. Mützenberg was a hotel owner at Spiez. He even invoked the federal court to expropriate land to build the continuous path along the lake (see Hans Wininger, “Hundert Jahre Strandweg, Spiez – Faulensee”, Werd und Weber Verlag Thun 2014).

Football players stand here. They remind us of the “miracle of Thun” (“Wunder von Thun”), when in 1954, just after the Second World War, the German team won the championship against Hungary, after having formed “the (team) spirit of Spiez” or “Geist von Spiez” by walking along this path. Among others, I get to know Sepp Herberger, the trainer, …

… and the scorer Helmut Rahn (he scored two goals).

Across the lake I can see the Niederhorn (right) and the Sigriswilgrat (left). The valley between the steep and rocky slopes is called “Justistal” and it is famous for the “Justistal” cheese.

In the middle of the lake is the iron bridge that is to shorten the distance to the opposite shore of the lake creating the illusion of meeting others (Marianne Lütz, Burgdorf, see Wininger, p. 65).

There is more art to see such as the “Gegen-Teil” (“Opposite Part”) by Zryd Björn from Adelboden (not exactly a name that I have met in the Bernese Alps so far…).

At this beach, people and dogs can go for a swim. But dogs, please, do behave yourself, as the sign tells you: “When I take a swim here, I am respectful – NO – (and) walkers will stay dry”. I must admit, I have not observed one dog studying this sign…

The small bar “Pura Vida” is closed now. At Costa Rica, “pura vida” alludes to how great life is, and the Ticos keep on saying “pura vida” at all circumstances such as “how are you?” – “pura vida!”.

Yes, pura vida! I always enjoy it at Spiez.

 

Kiental

In August 2020, I am back with my friends, and we enjoy two sunny days to go for walks in the mountains.

Our first walk takes us to the Kiental. From Griesalp we walk up to the “Oberi Bundalp”, where Peter, being a typical Bavarian, has a beer and we, the ladies, have  “lighter” drinks.

After about two hours, we have our next stop at Gamchi, a friendly restaurant that serves an excellent cheese melted over bread.

The friendly Gamchi dogs enjoy to play with Peter. They come back again and again and Peter throws the ball again and again.

Walking back to Griesalp along the canyon, we enjoy the view of the Blüemlisalp chain…

… and we also look downstream to the Prealps around the Kiental.

We continue along waterfalls…

… that shape rocks.

For me, it was a very intense feeling to return to the Kiental, where I had been with Ernst so many times (my husband who now watches from above). Every winter we came here to climb the Bundstock with skis; I spotted the route to the top that we used to take. I also identified the slope that we once skied down in great powder snow, after having decided to stop and return – there was danger of avalanches and it was not recommended to cross the so-called “Bärentritt” which is  very steep. Near an alpine hut, away from that slope, we had a relaxed picnic in the sun, and about an hour later, the whole slope had slid down – yes, we were right to return –  there WAS danger of avalanches! And it was a shock for us.

 

Doldenhornhütte (Doldenhorn hut)

Our second walk took us to the Doldenhorn hut that sits on the top of a rock like an eagle’s nest, some 800m above Kandersteg and below the Doldenhorn.

When going up, the view broadens: Kandersteg and the Kandertal are below us.

The climb is rewarded by this wonderful view of the Oeschinensee…

… and of the Kandertal with the mountain village Kandern.

The Doldenhorn hut serves excellent Röschti (grated potatoes).

Unfortunately hiking wears the boots and the sole came off. Luckily, the hut manager had a solution: Cable straps…

… which allowed us to continue walking. It was a steep and winding path, going down some 800m, up to Kandersteg.

We had dinner in the restaurant Altels in Kandergrund and watched the clouds cover the sky. Now we look forward to two days of culture instead of hiking. And there is some culture in and around Spiez waiting for us.