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I was up early this morning for a long run in the valley, and Val had an appointment with the physiotherapist. After lunch we headed across to Mürren for a walk. Great views of the mountains from here.

Our walk takes us north along the side of the valley. The first milestone is the restaurant at Winteregg.

We just about managed to resist the temptation to stop for an ice cream, and we kept on going towards Grütschalp, where a cable car will take us back down to Lauterbrunnen. Lovely views across the valley to Wengen.

There’s a little cafe at Grütschalp where they sell the most delicious locally made ice cream. It was impossible to resist, but in our defence we did share one. The cable car is pretty impressive; it can carry 100 people and 6 tonnes of freight.

We got back to Lauterbrunnen and found we had 20 minutes to wait for the train back to Wengen. We need something for dinner, so we had a look in the little Co-op, but there was nothing tempting. Just up the road however is a splendid Turkish kebab shop, so we ended up with kebab meat and chips to take away. That rather ruined our healthy day, but it was absolutely delicious on our terrace later on.

Rocks later, and that won’t be too healthy either.

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Sure enough, on Friday evening, the runners got a complete soaking running the Abendlauf. I almost felt sorry for them as I retreated back into the comfort of Rocks.

On Saturday the weather improved, so Val had a walk, and came across these goats. I’m sure they’re more pets than livestock.

Yesterday evening we had a super dinner round at Mike and Mary-Anne’s. Boy, that girl can cook!

Val was down at the gym this morning, and after lunch we went up to the DHO clubroom to try to get their webcams working again. We did make a lot of progress, but we need some information from the telecom provider Swisscom in order to complete the job.

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We’ve got used to days and days of unbroken sunshine with no rain at all. There are a few downsides to this, like the fact that I have to get up at 7am for my run in the valley, but on the whole it’s been a great summer so far. Swiss Meteo have announced that July was Switzerland’s sunniest month since records began.

It all came to an abrupt end last night though, as the temperatures exceeded 30 degrees even after dark. We had a huge thunderstorm just after midnight which must have woken up the whole village. This morning it was much better, and it’s the Abendlauf this evening – a race around the village.

As I write this the temperature is rising again, and heavy thunderstorms are once again forecast for this evening. For us, it means nothing more than a dash from Rocks to our table for dinner at the Silberhorn, followed by another dash to the Sunstar for the usual Friday evening music. For the runners however, it’s going to be a very wet 8 kilometres.

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I had a lie in this morning. A 5k run yesterday morning and a 5k hike in the afternoon, followed by an evening in Rocks, had taken their toll. The hike in the afternoon was most significant, as Val is in training for the Jungfrau mini-marathon next month, so she needs to build some stamina. Val however was off to the gym at Wilderswil. Wilderswil is very quaint and quiet. This sign is telling you when you may and may not do your recycling, so as to limit the noise.

Since 1893, a railway has connected Wilderswil with the nearby peak of Schynige Platte. The original rolling stock is still in use, and the station at the top is now home to a mountain hotel and an alpine garden, as well as some wonderful hiking trails.

Val had some fast company at the gym. Sprinter Cynthia Reinle was training there this morning. She can run 100 metres in a smidge over 11 seconds. Cynthia competed in the last Olympics (the Swiss were fourth in the 4×100 metres relay). She lives in nearby Unterseen. Here she is picking up a car from one of her sponsors.

More running tomorrow. Every day I go a little bit further, a little bit faster, though I’m afraid I’ll never be as fast as Cynthia.

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It’s August the first, the day when we celebrate the formation of the Swiss Federation in 1291. There’s always lots to see, and we’re starting with a hang gliding display in Interlaken. It was a pretty good show.

The grand hotel Victoria Jungfrau provides a nice backdrop.

They all got down safely.

Back in Wengen, a band is playing, and of course there’s a beer tent.

Alphorns, and a flag thrower.

This stuff certainly draws the crowds – Interlaken and Wengen were both heaving. We even got lucky with the weather.