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We had a night out in Interlaken yesterday – it was one of Val’s colleagues’ birthday. This week we have to be very careful not to miss the 10.30pm train back up to Wengen, as it’s the last one. The reason for this is maintenance on the track. As soon as the last train has passed by, gangs of workers spring into action to repair the tracks. Here they are waiting outside our house as we got back last night.

To make matters worse, starting next Monday there are no trains at all down in the valley. Busses will replace them for a fortnight, which will be a pain. Today we went to Interlaken and got as much shopping as we could carry, so hopefully we won’t need to use the busses too often.

As I write this it’s snowing hard outside, so there should be some good skiing once it all clears up. I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow morning, and hopefully he’ll pronounce my ribs fully healed, and I’ll be able to enjoy the last few days of the ski season.

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Val was up early for a doctors appointment this morning, and once she’d finished I met her in the village and we headed over to Grindelwald. We haven’t been here for ages, and we were looking forward to some shopping. Grindelwald is a nice looking village on a sunny day.

We bought lunch from the bakery, and enjoyed it on a bench with a lovely view of the Eiger. Afterwards we trawled the sports shops hoping to find some new gear for spring, but sadly (or perhaps happily), we failed to find anything that convinced us to part with our money. We did get some nice food though, as Grindelwald’s Co-op is much bigger than the one in Wengen.

Easter is over and it will be quiet everywhere for the next couple of months. In Wengen, all the hotels will close now, along with some of the bars and almost all the restaurants. It’s a nice time of year – everyone has time to stop for a chat and a coffee.

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Every morning our friend Michael sits on the Crystal bar terrace and has breakfast. Without a word being said to the hosts, he is served an espresso, and then, 5 minutes later, a beer. I join him for this ritual whenever I can, and this morning it was Val’s turn as she had an earlier appointment at the doctors.

It really is a lovely spot to sit for an hour in the morning sunshine. I came up to the village a little later as I had a ton of recycling to get rid of. This afternoon I went for my first run of the summer season. My ribs still aren’t completely healed so it hurt a bit, but I was happy to find I could go reasonably fast.

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We often visit the hotel Caprice for pizza. It’s inexpensive and delicious, and the dining room is the nicest in Wengen. View from our table yesterday evening.

The hotel will be closing after the Easter weekend, so that’ll be our last pizza of the winter season.

This morning the sun was out, but the temperature was struggling to get above zero, and there was a biting north wind. We headed down to Interlaken where it was a little less cold. Bowls of soup at the Cafe de Paris warmed us up.

We had a walk along the river before heading back to Wengen, where it was still uncomfortably chilly. It may officially be spring, but it seems the weather gods didn’t get the memo.

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Val went skiing today, she met Rachel at Männlichen. Up at the top it’s a lovely day, with lots of kids enjoying the sunshine.

The problem, unfortunately, is the fog that clings to the mountainside. If you ski down from the summit you immediately have problems seeing where you’re going.

Nevertheless she had a good ski, and got back in time for a late lunch. It’s still cold down here in the village, and everyone’s complaining that spring should be here now.

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Very nice meal at the Steakhouse last night with Anne-Marie and Paul.

This morning Val was off to the gym at Wilderswil. Here is the school bus from the small farming village of Saxeten. As well as delivering the kids to school, it collects the milk from the farmers.

It’s been cold today, and I didn’t go far. Deer stew and mash should make for a warming dinner.

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Yesterday the weather was simply awful. High winds and rain meant no skiing at all.

About the only thing still operating was the nursery slope at Scheidegg, so Val still had to go to work. She returned at lunchtime absolutely drenched. Not to worry, it’s Friday, and there’s no work tomorrow. Time for a night out. We caught the train down to Interlaken and headed for the Brasserie. It’s popular for an after-work drink on Fridays, so it was busy. We had a couple of beers and walked a few paces down the street to our favourite Indian restaurant, the Taj Palace. Great food.

The restaurant has recently been refurbished, and it now features a rickshaw.

We popped into Rocks for a quick cocktail on the way home. Nice night out. Today the weather’s been much better, which was nice as we needed to get shopping from Interlaken.