I’m due for a run today, but the forecast is for thunderstorms, so I don’t want to go all the way down to the valley only to get drenched. Time for a run around Wengen. A few pictures.
It was hot in the sunshine, and sure enough the first drops of rain fell as I was nearing home.
It’s much warmer today, so we’ll continue our walk around lake Brienz. We start at the grand hotel at Giessbach.
There is still a lot of snow in the mountains, so the waterfall is impressive.
The path takes us alongside the lake. Every so often we hear a hoot and get a glimpse of a steamer.
We stopped at a picnic place for lunch. The path passes through a fissure in the rock.
Eventually we get a glimpse of our destination – the fishing village of Iseltwald.
Iseltwald is very pretty.
The Koreans still come here in droves. They’re after a selfie on a jetty that appeared in a Korean film a few years ago. The cunning Swiss have cottoned on to the popularity of the jetty, and have installed a turnstile which charges 5 francs for access.
A nice day out.
Rocks reopened for the summer season last night, and naturally we went for a few beers before enjoying a nice dinner at the Eiger, which also reopened earlier this week. This afternoon we had a wander around the village, and we went to the Co-op to find it besieged by geraniums. It’s not compulsory to fill your window boxes with these colourful plants, but everyone does it. It’ll probably be another month before the temperatures are high enough to leave them outside at night.
In the field in front of our house, sheep and lambs have arrived.
Despite all these signs that summer is on its way, it’s still pretty chilly, particularly after dark.
Yesterday it rained all day, so it would be nice to get out today. The problem is the weather. It’s bitterly cold, with snow just above the village. We decided to have a trip to Thun, which is our nearest city. A few pictures of the attractive old town.
We browsed the shops and bought a few things, but to be honest it was too cold even here to spend much time outside. Apparently it should warm up at the weekend.
Our neighbour popped round yesterday to warn us that they’re having new windows fitted this week. Some of the windows will be really heavy – triple glazed panoramic frames that go from floor to ceiling. We wondered how they might be delivered, as access via helicopter is difficult here. We didn’t have to wait long to find out. This morning a strange looking machine arrived at the bottom of our steps.
It turned out that this is a mobile crane. It’s enormous!
The guy standing on the back of the truck has a remote control which operates the crane.
So it looks like we’re in for a noisy few days.
Last night was all about Eurovision in our house. Pity about the U.K. entry being so lame.
Today the weather forecast says we’ll have a dry spell after lunch. We head for the valley and get the bus to the Schilthornbahn cable car station. The Mürrenbach waterfall is pretty spectacular.
About 10 minutes after I started my run the heavens opened. I felt sorry for Val, who was walking.
It was impossible to avoid getting extremely wet, but at least the path was nice and quiet. Arriving at Lauterbrunnen we pass the Staubach waterfall.
To be fair, we don’t often get caught in the rain, so it comes as a bit of a shock when we do.
The rain that’s been plaguing us lately finally stopped just before lunch, and the sun came out. This changeable weather isn’t great for us, but of course it’s perfect for flowers, both cultivated and wild. We had a wander around the village. A few pictures:
The rain returned a couple of hours later, but it was nice to get out for an hour.
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