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Guess what? It’s very windy again, and there are no ski lifts running. You can go down on the train, but not up. At least it’s not raining, which is a big improvement over yesterday. What then can you do in a ski village with no skiing?

Crazy golf is popular. Rent your club and a golf ball from the tourist office.

Rent a toboggan and have some fun on what’s left of the nursery slope. The staff at the shop might not be too pleased when you return it covered in mud however.

On a sunny day like today, a drink at the Figeller bar is nice, and you can watch the tobogganers getting covered in mud.

Or, this being Easter Sunday, you could try your luck against the kids in the Easter egg hunt.

The Co-op was doing a brisk trade in ice cream. A summer’s day for Easter.

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Val has been avoiding spicy food while she recovers from her operation, but last night things got back to normal. We had a few beers in the Brasserie, before making our way to the Taj Palace a few yards down the road. The food in here is really good.

We stopped for cocktails in Rocks on our way home. Today the wind storm continues, and not a single ski lift has opened in the entire area. The wind is coming from the south, and it brings with it sand from the Sahara, which obscures the sunlight and turns everything yellow, including the snow.

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Early this morning the wind started howling, and so it has continued all day. There were a few ski lifts open at Männlichen this morning, but Scheidegg, Mürren and First have been closed all day. The wind increased this afternoon, and before long we had the rare sight of a 100% closed ski area. Even the trains have stopped.

In Rocks this evening we heard lots of stories of people getting stuck at various points on the mountain, but everyone always gets home in the end. Anyhow, we’re off to Interlaken for a few beers and a curry. Hopefully we can get back up the hill later.

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After a pause overnight, the snow returned this morning, heavier than ever. My plan to pop up to the Co-op was quickly shelved. The forecast said the snow should stop by mid-morning, but it was still going strong after midday. The daffodils are sheltered by our terrace, but they were still suffering.

Eventually the snow began to relent, and we sprinted down to Wengwald to catch the train to Interlaken. We stocked up with essentials and headed back up the mountain. We were delighted to find that the sun had come out and melted most of the snow. The railway tracks above our house are wearing out, and work has been going on overnight to prepare for their replacement. There’s tons of railway stuff by our garden path.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is a bit different. It’ll be dry, but we’re expecting more high winds. We shall see.

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It was pouring with rain when we woke up this morning, and by lunchtime it had turned to snow. Fortunately, we have…

We watched ‘Drive to survive’ this afternoon, and then the new BBC series ‘Kin’ after dinner. It would be nice to think that the weather might improve tomorrow, but it won’t. The sky cleared this evening, but soon the föhn clouds appeared over the Jungfrau, and we’ll have another storm tomorrow.

As long as we don’t run out of food or booze, we don’t really mind. The weather in the mountains is unpredictable at best, and at worst, completely random.

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We had a very nice meal at the Japanese restaurant with Anne-Marie and Paul last night. I ate far too much, and I was glad of a cocktail in the Tanne bar to settle my overfilled tummy.

The Alpine hotel closed at the weekend, and over the summer it will undergo a total renovation from top to bottom. The owners therefore want to dispose of the entire contents of the building. There’s tons of stuff, some of it for sale and some given away. One enterprising couple brought a big trolley with them and bought all the leftover firewood.

There was very little skiing today owing to high winds on the mountain, but after all that food last night I’m not sure I could have managed it anyway.

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We booked a table at the Caprice last night, our plan was to have pizza. A glance at the menu revealed that the hotel guests were having lamb. Lamb is very expensive here, and we hardly ever have it, so we asked if we could have some.

Of course, we ended up having starters, desserts, and coffee too, so our plan for a cheap dinner didn’t really happen. It was all delicious though. The weather forecast for today was good, so we were up early and off to Kleine Scheidegg. Sure enough, it was a beautiful day.

We had coffee in the Hütte (behind Val) before returning to Wengen, and we met Emily and Colin for lunch at the Crystal bar. Tonight we’re going back to the Japanese restaurant that we first tried a few weeks ago.