Interlaken - A mission worth the effort
London – Zurich – Interlaken started on a good vibe, getting away from work to meet up with some familiar faces & enjoy some drinks far away from stress. (Actually, it was a working weekend in Interlaken for the Gomio conference!)
Heathrow tends to be the easiest London airport to get to from the centre…however not everything went smoothly for us. Our friend who organized the flight couldn’t make it, but also was the person who organized the flight, and also had his credit card expiring recently, even if was valid while flights booked, trouble started then, B.A agents started sending us here and there for an hour while the closing gate time never came faster, check-in desk, C.S, check-in desk… An unbelievable nightmare, at this time none of us could believe we’ll get on the place, rushing, asking questions, pressure rising, we finally managed to get answer from them, their policy was that the credit card need to be valid when ticket are used, now, all sorted, we need to rush to the get, 10 minutes left, running through customers, trying to find the gate, finally making it, and see on the screen: “flight delayed, 45 min.” well done guys!
A short flight followed by a great improvised journey Zurich – Interlaken, as a family booked a van to get to “The Valley” had two spare seats for a reasonable price…and as taking the train would have meant changing 3 times over 3 hours the minibus seemed ideal.
“Welcome to Interlaken” said Philippe, the driver, straight to our door, at that moment, the Hotel Blume looked ok, seemed pretty central, but no real idea about where we were.
We met Polo at reception, a really quite friendly guy, from Mexico who runs the best (and only!) Mexican restaurant in Interlaken. Now we have to drop bags, get changed and run to the party at “Balmer’s Herberge”, a huge Backpacker’s complex, we were invited to. We thought it would be quite a walk to get there, especially with snow and low temperature, in fact 5 minutes away. Within 30 min watch in hand, we were there, with a pint in our hands, smiling, mission accomplished!!!
The night went on and on with pounding music and flowing drinks, until we woke up the following day with no memories of the night before. Hotel Blume provided a huge nice breakfast, ham, cheese, cereals, yogurts, juices, toast, tea, coffee.
On to the conference proper, and a day of talks from various industry experts, hostel owners, tourist board personnel etc. Fair play to Gomio - the conference was well organized, in a fantastic venue (Interlaken’s famous casino), and some top food during the breaks. Overall a worthy day, though it was most certainly the out of hours networking that provided the most value 
After all this effort (walking around and enjoying the sun), the night finally came, and here was a pint in our hands, again at the K44, an indoor climbing club. One more time, free alcohol and the cream of Europe’s hostel industry ensured that it was a night to remember, though several people have to be dragged off the climbing walls during the course of the evening!!
After a good night’s sleep, the party carried on from 10am at Funny – Farm Backpackers, with a cider tasting session, courtesy of conference sponsors Scottish & Newcastle brewery. A day of glorious sunny weather in the Alps meant we were free to walk around Interlaken - a small, pleasant town with plenty for backpackers to do. Interlaken seems to be the European capital of adrenalin sports, from sky diving and rafting, to zorbing and para-gliding – take your pick! And the prices are fairly reasonable too, with some hostels actually arranging deals, so you don’t have to negotiate yourself.
After that, a day trip to the Lakes will most likely be the best views you will have in town, only 10 min away. On the way, we passed the mystery park - closed at the moment, but still hosting animals such as camels and lamas, as well as an Egyptian & Aztec pyramids, and Polynesians statues…all very surreal high in the Alps!
So, Monday soon came around, the trip was over, we had to head to Zurich (there are two train stations in Interlaken, so make sure you’ve going to the right one!). Zurich’s two hours away, so be sure to have your cameras ready – the views from Interlaken to Zurich are quite simply stunning!! Once in Zurich and as we were a bit early, we enjoyed a couple of pizzas on the grass between Zentralstrasse and Stationstrasse, little nap little pint, and straight to the airport. For photographers, Zurich Airport remains one of the nicest ever, in a matter of modern architecture & sculptures. There we were, on time flight, back to London after an hour and fifteen minutes. A mission worth the effort…
