2026-06-26 We took the funicular from Interlaken to Schynige Platte
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It was very hot in Zürich and bearable up there. We took the funicular
up to Schynige Platte -- an old, open air thing that just goes up,
up, up to 1967 m.

We ate lunch and then we went on a guided tour through the Botanical
Alpine Garden. A super nice gardener took us on a walk, named all the
flowers for us, answered all our questions, told us about their work
of raising plants and planting them, and then we went for a short walk
up there. A perfect day.

(All plant identifications by the Flora Incognita app because I
couldn't write everything down.)

Claudia and I in the funicular car, with no windows. The engine room
of the funicular locomotive looks old. The plaque says it was built
in Baden by Brown Boveri & Cie in 1914. Gewöhnliches Sonnenröschen /
Helianthemum nummularium Alpen-Grasnelke / Armeria alpina
Kriechendes Gipskraut / Gypsophila repens Berg-Distel / Carduus
defloratus Frühblühender Thymian (Artengruppe) / Thymus praecox agg.
Alpen-Frauenmantel (Artengruppe) / Alchemilla alpina agg.
Saat-Esparsette (Artengruppe) / Onobrychis viciifolia agg. The view
into the valley of Grindelwald on the left and Lauterbrunnen on the
right. The funicular tracks in the foreground. They have two Alphorn
players playing every now and then between the hotel and station. The
tour begins with a visit to the shed where they keep their collection
of plaques. Alpen-Helmkraut / Scutellaria alpina Feuer-Lilie /
Lilium bulbiferum Ausdauernder Lein (Artengruppe) / Linum perenne
agg. Allermannsharnisch / Allium victorialis Blaue Himmelsleiter /
Polemonium caeruleum Alpen-Süssklee / Hedysarum hedysaroides
Rostblättrige Alpenrose / Rhododendron ferrugineum Gelber Enzian /
Gentiana lutea Rote Lichtnelke / Silene dioica Kugelorchis /
Traunsteinera globosa Zwerg-Pippau / Crepis pygmaea Gletscher-Nelke
/ Dianthus glacialis Felsen-Ehrenpreis / Veronica fruticans
Alpen-Edelweiss / Leontopodium nivale Pyrenäen-Drachenmaul / Horminum
pyrenaicum Echte Rosenwurz / Rhodiola rosea Koriander-Schmuckblume /
Callianthemum coriandrifolium Rundblättriger Steinbrech / Saxifraga
rotundifolia Reichblättriges Läusekraut / Pedicularis foliosa
Scabiosa with two insects on it, and the Alps in the background, out
of focus Braun-Klee / Trifolium badium Hallers Teufelskralle /
Phyteuma ovatum A mound with dead and living coniferous trees and
some yellow gorse. A view of Interlaken between the two lakes,
Thunersee on the left and Brienzersee on the right. The view along
the ridge towards Gumihorn. The rickety stairs up to Oberberghorn.
The view from up there along the ridge towards Loucherhorn, Faulhorn,
and Schwarzhoren.