Niesen Mountain - The Swiss Pyramid

I awoke to a gorgeous day but the everything does indeed look, taste and feel better after a win. I had a decision to make as I wanted to use my last free excursion courtesy of Momma Sutter's gift pass. My choices were a trip up the Niesen Mountain or a cruise on the Thunersee, a.k.a., Lake Thun.

After careful consideration, I decided to save the cruise for Laurie's arrival, too potentially romantic to go solo in my opinion. So . . .

Off to the Alps we go again! 

That is the Niesen in the distance from Thun 

Because of its shape, it is aptly nicknamed "The Swiss Pyramid."

Cool Mother of a bike 

Jenn and Vanessa what do you think?

The Flood Gates were wide open today

The snow is melting quickly due to the recent warm weather.

Once to the Thun Bahnhof, I boarded the train for the 20 minute ride to the town of Mülenen. 

The view of the Niesen from Mülenen

Now it was time to board the funicular 

There it is 

Actually, this would be the first of two funiculars that we would need to take to get to the top of the Niesen.

A random hiker on the Swiss Pyramid

Avalanche breaks near the summit 

That's 7,664 feet above sea level 

This was the altitude at the end of the second funicular ride, after hiking up to the Niesen's summit we were at an altitude of 2,362 meters which equals 7,749 feet above sea level.

Mülenen far below

The ever present Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau

Frutigen and the Thun Tigers'

home field is down there somewhere

The Thunersee with Interlaken and

Lake Brienz in the distance 

Top of the World yet again 

Some were having fun just relaxing

The Stockhorn in the distance that I

visited last week thanks to Momma Sutter 

Thun and the Northern end of Lake Thun

The Niederhorn and the central

portion of the Thunersee

The Niederhorn and the Southern

end of the Thunersee

The Niederhorn up close

Again, this was the first of the three Alps I got to visit this month courtesy of Annemarie and Ueli Sutter's Mother . . . AWESOME!!!

I believe that is the quaint village of Spiez

Alps all around us

Mountain Art

That red speck at the bottom is the funicular

coming up the Niesen

This was my view as I ate my lunch

What is this? 

Of course, a high altitude kids playground 

One last view before heading back to Thun

THANKS AGAIN

MOMMA SUTTER,

YOU'RE THE BEST!

This is why the Flood Gates in Thun are open 

A pastoral view up the Niesen

A rustic foot bridge with
water heading to Thun 

Back in Thun, with the Niesen
peering over the boat

Last Tuesday, when David and Gayle Hicks were visiting Thun, they commented on some of the beautiful homes on the left bank in this photo. I had never walked in this area.

Until today.

Very nice home

A Boathouse with . . . 

Boats

Another quaint abode 

Spring foliage in Thun 

The mysterious Villa Julia

Thun backwaters

A lazy day in a Thun park

Prinz Friedrich von Homburg

He is the title character in a drama written in an 1809 drama by Heinrich von Kliest who lived in a house that was located behind the sleeping girl and the small gate in the previous photo.

Springtime in Thun is WUNDERBAR!!!

What a peaceful place to stop
and read a book 

So I did.

A front yard fountain is always a good touch

Titanic - The Musical is opening soon 

The round-about fountain draped in a white sheet to simulate the iceberg was indeed a solid ball of ice when I first arrived in Thun three months ago.

It was now time for the traditional Monday night U-16 and U-19 practice doubleheader. The really good news tonight was that both practices would be held at the same field for the rest of the season.

I feel that this change will help attendance with both squads as we have half dozen players who play for both teams.

Two U-16 Rookies going One on One

A Wide Receiver is on the left as a natural Cover 2 Cornerback is about to funnel him.

Actually, he just tackled the WR. We may need to go over the rules one more time.

Coaches Daniel Gygax and Cyril Imadjane continue to recruit more and more new players, we had about six new players including these two at the U-16 workout tonight and their season doesn't even start until August! Again, the U-16 team will play 9 man football next season minus two tackles on offense.

U-16 scrimmage

First day Rookie vs. Rookie battling on the left. Veterans are wearing with helmets and shoulder pads.

The U-19 practice started an hour after the U-16's did and we combined forces for 30 minutes to work a very good fundamentals period for both teams.

Then our U-19s decided to have a serious, physical, full speed tackling period.

Daniel Joost may be a bit over extended 

Nice pants, Coach Denecke! Arne was still alive and kicking after playing in yesterday's Tiger-Geneva game.

Daniel Gafner with good technique

FUMBLE!!! 

Come on, FIRE UP COACH STEPHAN PULVER!

I like this tackle!

Good head placement, good pad level,

good arms and good leg drive

It's Daniel Gafner again!

Poor head placement and no leg drive = TD 

We had two great workouts tonight with the Juniors. The future is bright for the Tigers.

WOW!

WHAT A GREAT DAY

IN SWITZERLAND!!!