Hot tubs by the lake, fireworks on the green...

New Year's Day, and with our afternoon and evening already committed, we needed something to occupy our morning. And so it was that we made our way back to Interlaken Ost station to board the Lucerne-Interlaken Express - our destination, Brienz.

Brienz sits as the eastern end of the Brienzersee, one of the two lakes that lie either side of Interlaken, and the Zentralbahn runs along the northern edge of the lake, providing some scenic views across the water to the mountains beyond.  It isn't a big place, but the setting is attractive and it offered an opportunity to walk along the lakeshore.

And there, we discovered something unexpected - a clutch of hot tubs and saunas, set up for public use, as part of a winter event, "Hot Pot Brienz". Now I'm not sure if I'd have the courage to use an outdoor hot tub when it's below freezing, but clearly the locals are up for it.

The rest of the lake promenade is rather pretty, but we had more pampering planned, so it was back to Interlaken for us. The afternoon was spent with more spa activity, courtesy of Ariane, before a buffet dinner and the evening's big excitement, a serious firework display.

Interlaken isn't as big a town as I had expected, so the crowd gathered for the display did lead me to suspect that we might be in for a treat. We weren't let down, as the sky was filled with explosions of colour for nearly half an hour as an enthusiastic crowd sipped gluhwein and the town was as lively as I had rather expected it to be on New Year's Eve.

We wandered back to our hotel, swept along by a well-organised crowd, to get some sleep for our last day...