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Ben runs the ski school where Val works. Tonight it’s his birthday, so we’re off down to the valley for some drinks and food. A few pictures.

And the food was delicious.

A good night out.

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Paul and Anne-Marie are back from the U.K. for a few weeks. Good excuse for dinner at the Caprice.

We were entertained by the excellent Salvatore on the piano.

After a good meal we made our way to the Alpine hotel. Colin and Nev are were playing to a packed house.

A good evening out. Today it’s been sunny again, which was nice for Val and the kids up at Scheidegg. I got the glamorous jobs at home, namely descaling the kettle and the shower, and preparing a toad-in-the-hole for dinner.

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It’s another beautiful day. I’m off to Interlaken for shopping. The children are on holiday so the supermarkets are quiet at the moment.

Val, meanwhile, was enjoying a very good day up at Scheidegg. Her kids are getting used to the routine of going to ski school, and they get better every day.

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Across Europe the schools are on holiday. Some of the luckier children get to spend a week in the mountains learning to ski. A small army of ski instructors exists to ensure that they have a nice time, and hopefully they’ll want to come again next year. Wengen has its own nursery slopes in the village centre.

Val’s ski school is based in Grindelwald, and their lessons take place up at Kleine Scheidegg, which is a twenty minute train ride from Wengen. The nursery slopes at Scheidegg are quieter than in Wengen, and the surroundings more dramatic.

Most of the kids just have lessons in the mornings, but a few are booked in all day. This means they get lunch in the Bahnhof restaurant. Of course they need to be looked after, so Val has the role of ‘dinner lady’ making sure that they all get fed and properly dressed for the afternoon.

As you can see, the weather’s still glorious, which is exactly what everyone wants for the school holidays.

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Yesterday evening we had a big treat up at the Hotel Berghaus. We started with snails in a sauce of garlic and cheese, and then Martina delivered the main event.

A beautiful chateaubriand, served with vegetables, potatoes and bearnaise sauce. Traditionally a chateaubriand is served as 2 courses. You get a few slices of the fillet steak with some vegetables, and then 20 minutes later another jug of sauce and the remainder of the meat. It’s a nice way to serve a meal that would otherwise look far too big on the plate.

Needless to say the whole thing was absolutely delicious, and we followed it up with cocktails in Rocks.

Val is starting work again tomorrow, so we planned a quiet day today. Somehow we got dragged into the Tanne bar to watch the Ireland vs France rugby this afternoon, which was very jolly as there are lots of Irish holidaymakers in town.

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An excellent evening out with Val’s ski school colleagues last night. We went to a burger bar just up the street from the station at Interlaken. 16 people, and 2 dogs.

The food was really good. Val’s Farmer Burger came with just about everything you can think of, including bacon and a fried egg.

We’re off out again tonight; a few drinks in Rocks followed by dinner at the Berghaus.

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Steve played in Rocks last night, to a packed house.

It’s another lovely day, so off to Scheidegg we go. We skied a lot before we even thought of stopping for coffee.

After a late coffee stop we started again. The sun comes around the mountain a lot earlier now, so we had a glorious run down to Allmend, where we had a prolonged lunch. From Allmend it’s a five minute ski down the meadow back towards Wengen. It must be time for a beer.

A very good day out. Colin will be playing at the Alpine Hotel later.