It’s a much better day today, not exactly wall to wall sunshine, but at least we’re not shrouded in fog as we have been for the past few days.
We have a lap of the village before shopping at the Co-op. It’s looking lovely.
And now, something that I haven’t done for over two months. A visit to the cash machine.
I almost needed a refresher course on how to use it. We’re off to Interlaken later for a proper night out, so we’ll need cash, and plenty of it.
There’s an artisan food shop near Geneva that makes English pies, and they will send them by post. That’s impossible to resist, so a few days ago I ordered 4 pies. They arrived yesterday, so we wasted no time in putting them to the test. Here’s Emily’s steak and Guinness pie, served with real chips, gravy and brown sauce.
Needless to say they were absolutely delicious.
Today it was foggy again, and cold. Val got herself some new trainers in Interlaken, but apart from that we’ve no further news.
I’m due a run, and this morning it’s a long one. The weather is anything but inviting.
I set off for the railway halt at Wengwald, hoping, but not really expecting, that it might be a bit warmer down in the valley. I can hear the train approaching, but I can’t see it until it’s almost at the platform.
On the train I try to gather my thoughts, and banish the murmur of self-doubt that always seems to find its way into my head before a long run. I contemplate my 61 year old feet, and tell myself not to worry. It’s going to be awesome.
The train pulls into Lauterbrunnen, and I head for my favourite bench. Headphones on – beep! Radio 2 on the phone – this morning it’s Ken Bruce. On my left wrist is my Garmin running watch – another beep as it picks up the GPS signal. On my right wrist is a sweat band emblazoned with the Swiss flag. OK, everything’s ready. Coach Michael Johnson speaks words of encouragement and I set off up the hill to warm up. Time to start running.
Don’t go too fast.
Don’t get tired.
Garmin keeps spitting out the stats: 1km, 2km, 3km, 4km..
Pace – ok.
Heart rate – good.
Before I know it, I’m done. The mind games and the ritual of preparation have combined to give me the mental strength to overcome my self-doubt. Those feet didn’t fail me after all. That could be a good slogan for a running shirt. Oh wait…
James & Julie came for dinner last night, we had dim sum and a Thai curry. Judging by the amount of bottles in our shopping trolley this morning it must have been an entertaining evening.
Now that all the shops are open we can buy some of the household stuff we’ve been promising ourselves since we moved in. Off to Interlaken we go. The trains are back to their normal half-hourly schedule now, so we get twice as many trains for the same amount of passengers.
The trains weren’t exactly busy on the hourly schedule. Now you get a carriage to yourself.
After dinner last night, it occurred to us that we could go out for a drink if we wanted. It’s been 8 weeks since we sat in a bar, so this seemed a bit strange. We did a lap of the village to see what was open. The Waldschluecht looked like it had been open, but it closed at 7.30 as usual. The Eiger was doing OK – people were in there eating. Eventually we settled on the Crystal bar, and to begin with we were the only customers.
Ali arrived after a while, followed by two of the kitchen staff from the Eiger, and that was it. It was nice to sit in the pub – we must do it more often.
This morning it was grey and only just above freezing. I need it to warm up a bit so I can go for my run. Eventually I got fed up waiting for the temperature to rise, so I wrapped up and went anyway. You can’t tell from the photo, but I’m freezing.
While I was running, Val did her German class via a video call with her mates back in the UK. We’re expecting Julie and James for dinner later, pub again maybe?
We had a splendid lasagne round at Ali’s last night, followed by a fiendishly difficult card game called Phase 10. This morning the weather’s a bit grey, and it’s cooler than we’ve been used to. It’s a big day for the village, and for the whole country. Kids have gone back to school, and all the shops can open.
We popped in and bought the coffee mugs we’ve been eying up in the shop window for the past few weeks. Better than this though, bars and restaurants can open.
We’ll be back here later for a few beers.
We had a huge thunderstorm yesterday evening, with heavy rain and hail, but this morning it’s warm and sunny again. Here in Switzerland it’s mother’s day, we saw lots of kids with flowers on the way down to Lauterbrunnen earlier.
The hill just before the campsite seems to get steeper every time I climb it.
New mini garden centre by the Horner pub. Very popular as it saves going to Interlaken for plants for your window boxes.
Ali’s for dinner tonight.
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