Travelling Notes in France, Italy and Switzerland of an Invalid [J. Strang]. (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1863. Excerpt: ... LETTER XIV. INTERLAKEN--GRINDELWALD--BERNE. Berne, 22d July, 186S. During these last few days we have been enjoying ourselves in this interesting and charming country of the Swiss, by rambling wherever our fancy led us--the true way to see this land of the mountain, the lake, and the valley, the only obstacle to its perfect accomplishment being the accompaniment of heavy luggage, which is not only expensive to convey by train, but difficult to transport otherwise. We would advise any one who wishes to travel through Alpine highways and byeways to carry little else in the way of baggage, save a carpet bag, or a light knapsack, as in this way you can easily cross the highest mountain ridge, moving from one valley to another, and thereby beholding what is never seen by the beaten-road tourist. There is another way, too, of really enjoying Switzerland, and that is, to make choice of some central spot, and from that spot to make excursions. We chose the latter, having with us not a little deadweight, which we had required for our Italian journey; and the spot we chose was Interlaken, beautifully situated between the Lakes of Brienz and Thun, from which excursions may be made to some of the most beautiful and most sublime objects of interest in Switzerland. Interlaken of itself, too, is a charming place of residence, and is resorted to by strangers more as a permanent home than almost any other place in this country. The town itself is composed of a succession of picturesque chalets, many of them being lodging-houses, while there are at least twenty or thirty first-rate hotels or pensions open either for the accommodation of the passing tourist, or for families living, as many do, as boarders, after the manner of our English watering-places, at a fixed rate per...