October 3rd: We bade farewell to Grindelwald and headed out. But our 3-day pass was still good, and we had one more mountain to climb. So we drove to Wilderswil and took the 1893 cog railway up to Schynige Platte. (On the first day, we didn’t do First. But on the second day, we did First first.)
The first part of the hike was going from the hotel to the Daube (the rocky peak) and around it to the overlook point beyond it.The overlook point, looking back at Daube.
At that point, I suddenly discovered that my camera had a panorama feature. What can I say, I’m old and slow.
Looking down at the town of Interlaken (“between lakes”).
From the overlook, we basically followed the ridgeline to the right, towards Oberberghorn.
The ridge part of the trail, with a lake on the left, and the valley below Oberberghorn on the right.The ridge got sharper and steeper …… but the views down the Interlaken side got increasingly spectacular.
Eventually though, the ridge ended at the Oberberghorn.
Oberberghorn. We cut back right at the yellow sign, and headed back by a lower route.But not before taking one more panorama of Interlaken.The trail back to Daube. The rest of the hike was somewhat boring, and I was somewhat exhausted, so no pictures.An hour later, we were back on the train.
Once we got back down, it was time to drive to Italy. The weather was overcast, but otherwise it was pretty scenic.
We stopped for lunch at a famous street-food stand called Sweet Ride, in Bönigen (near Interlaken).
I had the Lachs sandwich (foreground) with a ginger beer, while Carol went for Prosciutto. Then we had ice cream for dessert.We got to watch swans in the lake while eating.
A bit further down the rod, we heard there was this famous waterfall near Meiringen. We drove close to the top of it, over an incredibly narrow road, only to find that there was no place to park at all, except for guests of a small hotel there. So we turned around and headed back down, without even a glimpse.
Even from the ground, you can barely see any of it.
There was a small car offering rides to the top, but we just missed one, and didn’t want to wait for the next.
So, we left it behind and continued on our journey. As we climbed out of the Swiss Alps towards the Italian Alps, there were lots of scenic views with other waterfalls.
Finally, we crossed the Sustenpass (2224 m) and could start descending.
Finally we made it into Italy. Our lodging that night was at a pizzeria, Della Torre, up on a hill overlooking Como. It was pouring rain and we had a hard time finding it, but once settled we had an excellent dinner in the restaurant.
Carol had the grilled mixed fish (sea bream, salmon, shrimp, prawn, squid, monkfish), while I had a Milanese risotto with quail breast and porcini mushrooms.
September 7th: In the morning we headed for the ferry out to the island of Vis.
The plan was to relax and unwind after two busy and physically hard weeks touring Iceland. But when we arrived, we had to drag more weight each than a Marine carries into combat, nearly a mile, slightly uphill, to reach our apartment.
At least parts of the hike were shady.The apartment was spacious and very white.
Vis is probably most famous in America as the filming site of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018). I’ll probably have to rewatch it now to see what locations I can recognize.
For dinner we went to Restoran Val on the waterfront. The catch of the day included monkfish, which I had first sampled as sushi in Iceland.
The catch-of-the day selection. The two flat brownish fish in the center with wide gaping mouths are monkfish. I chose the smaller one (underneath on the left).Carol had wild boar stew with gnocchi; we shared a side of roasted vegetables.
Cooked monkfish was nearly as good as the sushi. If you get the chance to try it, you should.
September 8th: A lazy morning. We split a pizza for lunch.
anchovies, capers, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes
September 9th: Another ćevapi for lunch.
In the afternoon we had refresher scuba dives. I hadn’t dived in about 7 years. I didn’t take the GoPro because my instructor didn’t want me distracted, which was probably a good idea, but we did see two octopi that I can’t show you. 😦 On the way back we stopped at a boat bunker from the Tito era. Vis has a lot of military installations from the cold war.
September 10th: Sandwiches at Kavana Riva for lunch. (“kava” means coffee, “kavana” means cafe or coffee shop.)
I had a club sandwich, which came with a balsamic drizzle, and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Then two scuba dives. Vis harbor is one of 4 places in the Mediterranean where you can legally dive to see amphorae from old Greek and Roman shipwrecks.
Diving is easy. Dragging all your gear to and from the dive is a pain in the butt.There were lots of small fish.I saw my first polychaete worm, probably a Bearded Fireworm (Hermodice carunculata).Carol sees her first broken amphorae.Me, thinking up some bad pun about “jugs”.Buoyancy control is hard, but I can “handle” it. 🙂Perhaps a crackpot. A mishaps’ cracked pots. Can you tell the difference?Carol sees her last broken amphorae.
At dinner I tried a lemongrass-flavored sparkling mineral water, Römerquelle Emotion Limunska Trava, and really liked it. It became my go-to drink on hot days. Römerquelle is bottled in Austria, sold only in Europe, and part of the Coca Cola family.
The harbor in the evening.
September 11th: Our day to drive around the island (counterclockwise). We rented a tiny car that surprisingly had plenty of legroom on the passenger side.
First stop was the 2nd-largest town on the island, Komiža (population about 1400). We considered staying there.
Komiža has a nice little beach.The rest of the harbor isn’t too bad either.
A bit further around the island, and higher up in the hills, we found the entrance to the “Tito Cave”, where Yugoslav partizans hid out during WWII. It’s actually a series of different caves, with overlook posts guarding the approaches.
It looks innocent enough, but it’s 206 stairs up to the LOWEST cave.The lowest cave isn’t very large, just one room. We didn’t continue on to the others.Probably a Dalmatian Wall Lizard (Podarcis melisellensis). Maybe subtype gigas since that’s native to Vis.
Then we drove as high as we could get by car, without entering the restricted military base on top of the mountain.
From near the summit we could see most of the island. The south side (to the right) has good sun and is mostly agricultural, with many vineyards. There’s a large solar power installation.We had lunch at Aerodrom Gostionica Wine House. I had a tuna-pasta salad, Carol went for the cheese sampler plate.
Then we went looking for the local nude beach. This sign clearly wasn’t for it; FKK = Freikörperkultur (“free body culture”), a prominent German naturism/nudism movement started in the 1800s, which has become shorthand for nudism across much of Europe despite the tendency to use English for everything else.
But we couldn’t see how else to proceed, so we ended up reaching the water in the wrong place, and had to hike over wet uneven rocks.
The actual nude beach was about as far beyond that point as the point is from the camera.
Once we found it, it was rocky with almost no shade, because it’s a south-facing beach and it was early afternoon. We saw a few other couples and singles around, some swimming, some just sunbathing. There was pretty good snorkeling, with some deep pockets just offshore.
On the way back, we tried going higher, and found a better route that included a small bunker.
Carol even hiked out nude until we got close to people.
Naughty bits redacted.
In the evening we saw Shang-Chi in an outdoor theater. Half the movie was in Chinese with Croatian subtitles, which made it challenging.
September 12th: Carol went snorkeling in the morning while I rested and blogged.
This nice beach was walking distance from our apartment
Then it was time to pack up and drag our stuff back to the ferry. But we broke up the slog by having lunch at Bistro Frutarija.
The food is great, but they’re particularly renowned for their smoothies and fresh juices. I got the Avocado Toast, but here am finishing Carol’s Mango & Sea Bass Salad.
After that it was just travel. Hike to ferry, take ferry to Split, hike to bus terminal, take bus to Zadar, hike to our new apartment, eat something, and sleep.
The graded gravel road we were supposed to take was blocked by a backhoe and a dump truck. We took this to mean that they really really didn’t want anyone to take it. This is how it is. We found an alternate route.
But Google Maps didn’t know that there was a west-side road, parking lot, or visitor center for Dettifoss. It wanted us to drive an extra hour to get to the east-side access point. We ignored it. The west side was all new-ish and in great condition, so it was a pleasant and easy drive.
A short hike later we were at the falls. It boasts the 2nd-highest flow rate among Icelandic waterfalls.
Dettifoss from the west sideThe mist made a rainbow downstream.
For lunch we stopped at Fjallakaffi, a farm-cafe with a good reputation. They are famous for reindeer steak, but sadly weren’t serving the dinner menu yet.
The restaurant is insulated with turf blocks and a grass roof.Carol had the lamb soup. Have I mentioned that the lamb soup is always good everywhere?I tried the Icelandic Moss soup. Yes, that’s moss. Tasted a bit like seaweed.
For dinner, we had a long drive, right through the largish town of Egilsstaðir and out to the small town of Seyðisfjörður at the end of a narrow fjord. It has an excellent harbor, and Viking cruise ships stop here. It’s perhaps best known for its “Rainbow Street” and “Blue Church”.
We were on a grail quest for Icelandic sushi, and after having our “Viking sushi” tour canceled, this was our best shot. We were not disappointed. The sushi at Norð Austur – Sushi & Bar is all fresh, all local. We started with a “sashimi plus hot rock” plate, where you sear the items as much as you want. The smoked monkfish in particular was a delight.
On rock: smoked Monkfish. On plate: Scallops, Lemon Sole, Salmon belly.
Then we had the large nigiri/sashimi combination:
Nigiri plate: top: Uni, Mackerel, smoked Salmon, Clam, seared Salmon; bottom: Scallop, Salmon, Shrimp, smoked Char, Lemon Sole. Sashimi plate: Scallop, Char, Lemon Sole, Salmon belly. 6500 ISK = US$51.31. But no tipping or tax added to that, so would be about the same as $41 + 8% tax + 15% tip.
This was the best and most memorable meal we had had in Iceland so far, ranging from very good to astonishing. I joked that we should just stay in town for the rest of our trip, and eat here every night. (Note: Reservations are advisable, and some dishes have to be ordered well in advance as they take hours to prepare.)
Energy and Time 