Follow

It was very mild when we awoke this morning.

Temperatures like this obviously don’t benefit the skiing, but at least we can walk up to the village without worrying about taking a tumble on an icy path. The MeteoSwiss app tells us there’s a storm coming.

We head up to the village for supplies. If the storm is anything like as intense as the forecast believes, we may not want to leave the house tomorrow. As we climb the hill we begin to hear music. The army are in town doing work on the race track, and this afternoon their band was playing on the tennis court.

They were really good, and one soldier was handing out chocolates to the kids (Val got some).

So, we’ll wait for the storm and hope it doesn’t do any damage. Val starts work on Sunday, so hopefully everything will have settled down by then.

Follow

Super dinner at the Eiger last night. Henri took a pic for us.

Today we were shopping – there’s bad weather on the way. We wanted to buy sprouts for Christmas dinner, but the co-op had sold out!

Follow

The mild weather continues, but today the sun is absent without leave. We popped up to Scheidegg anyway. Val wore her new outfit.

There isn’t enough light to cast a shadow, so visibility is poor. I’m pleased to report though, that since getting my eyes fixed I can cope with this much better than I used to.

The mild temperatures have reduced the village centre to something resembling a lake, and this afternoon an avalanche came down from Männlichen, something we don’t normally see until spring.

Val is off to the hairdresser, and this evening we have a table booked at the Eiger.

Follow

It’s Oskar’s birthday this week, so yesterday we met him and mum Jana to give him his presents. His mind was elsewhere however, as he’s been challenged to a ski race by his mate.

Off they go!

This morning the sun put in an appearance, so we headed up to Scheidegg.

There were very few people around, and the weather is mild.

Val’s leg appears to be fully healed, and she can ski as well as ever. We met her colleagues after skiing, it looks like she’ll be starting work at the weekend.

Follow

For many years, we’ve had an event called village opening the week before Christmas. Recently it’s been rebranded the ‘Glühwein Festival’, but the format remains unchanged. The village street is closed for the evening.

The businesses along the main street set up stalls dispensing hot drinks like glühwein or Irish coffee. The stall outside the Skiset ski rental shop has mince pies which, despite their obvious popularity, are virtually unobtainable in Switzerland. It’s all very jolly.

After a while the cold got the better of us, and we retreated to Rocks where the apres ski party was in full swing. We followed this up with dinner at the Caprice, and a few drinks in the Pickel bar. Opposite the Pickel, someone has a really rubbish job.

Spraying the snow with a fire hose makes a solid base for the temporary buildings which will be here during the Lauberhorn races next month. It has to be done at night, when temperatures are at their lowest. That guy must be freezing.

Follow

We had some snow overnight, but this morning the weather’s cleared up. At 11.04am, the sun appeared over the Jungfrau.

Snow or no snow, I had to be out early to go to the post office. It’s only open for a couple of hours on a Saturday, and I need to collect a parcel which contains my Secret Santa gift. If you’re unfamiliar with Secret Santa, it’s a fun way of ensuring that everyone has a gift to open on Christmas Day. Traditionally, each person’s name is written on a scrap of paper, and a draw is made to find out who is buying a gift for who. Names that are drawn are kept secret, so you don’t know who bought you your gift. Nowadays of course, the whole thing is powered by the internet, and Emily uses a website which sends each of us an email telling us who to buy for.

It only remains to set a budget, in our case 30 Francs, and get to the shops, online or otherwise. Of course you are welcome to make your gift, in which case the budget goes a lot further. Someone* made a brilliant one for Colin last year.

It’s the official opening of the season this evening, so there’ll be mince pies and glühwein in the street. All the remaining hotels have opened today, and we have a table booked at the Caprice. It should be a good one.

* Although Secret Santa is meant to be kept a secret, as the drink flows the truth gradually emerges. Emily made Colin’s survival kit.

Follow

I was bored yesterday, on account of having to fast all day (all will become clear). To relieve the tedium, I thought I’d do a beer run. Beer runs emerged during lockdown. All the bars were closed, so if we wanted beer we had to buy it from one of Wengen’s two supermarkets. It seemed expensive, but we’re used to that, as beer is heavy and it has to come up on the train.

Eventually however, our need for cheaper beer got the better of us. With all the sports shops, ski schools, bars and restaurants closed, no-one was earning any money. We soon discovered that by trawling around the supermarkets in Interlaken, we could find beer at less than half what we’d been paying in Wengen. We have the recent arrival of Aldi and Lidl to thank for this – there’s genuine competition in Interlaken now, and you can always find a bargain.

Yesterday I didn’t have to go any further than the Co-op to find my treasure trove. 24 cans of my favourite Franziskaner, all the way from Bavaria, for 29.95.

Anyhow, about that fasting. I won’t go into any details about the procedure I was preparing for, as you may be having dinner, but I had to follow up my 24 hour starvation diet with 2 litres of a powerful laxative. Not fun. I had the procedure this morning. It was nice to see the Swiss sense of humour very much in evidence at the hospital.

The caption reads, ‘Why not even take your trousers down’? ‘For a good cause!’. The joke, of course, was entirely on me. At least tonight I can make a start on that beer.

P.S. For the avoidance of doubt, I am perfectly well.