Ins, Switzerland

Upon arrival in Ins, our first stop was... the prison. Markus, our host in Zurich, had arranged for us to stay at the Fanelhaus, the field house of an ornithological society to which he belongs. The house is owned by the Berner Ala, but the land it's on is leased from the prison, and that's where we had to pick up the keys. So, fully loaded with our packs and bags of groceries, we trudged off from the station to the prison. Obtaining the key was no problem, as in this part of the country Hannah's French came into use. We then walked through the minimum-security prison, out the unlocked gate, to the house.

The house is a little cottage with two rooms of bunk beds, a kitchen, bath and dining room. We were the only guests at the time, so we had the run of the house. Our reason for being there was the nearby marshland, the home and feeding ground of many bird species, but unfortunately recent heavy rains had flooded the marsh, and the birds left to find easier feeding. We did see more foxes, including one that was being chased around a pasture by a cow.

With the birds away, we were left to amuse ourselves. We spent one day out on the end of a jetty on Lake Neuchâtel, where we sat and relaxed and read and ate and completely forgot to apply sunscreen. We survived sunny Italy with no trouble, but we now had Swiss sunburns!

After two restful nights, we left Fanelhaus, hiking back through the prison, and on to the train station. This time we had no idea where we'd end up that night. It turned out to be Interlaken.