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It was a bit gloomy when we got up this morning, but it usually pays to be optimistic, so up we go. Val, Ali and the Lauberhorn.

This run is called Moos, and it goes to a place called Wixi. The Jungfrau overlooks us.

At the top of the Lauberhorn, with views of the Eiger and Mönch.

On the way back to Wengen is a place called Wengernalp. Contrary to popular belief, if you see ‘alp’ in a place name it doesn’t refer to the mountains. Alps, in this context are the flat pastures where cattle can graze. The Jungfrau again.

At the moment, restaurants are not allowed to offer seating for customers – everything must be takeaway. Needless to say, the restaurant owners are not happy about this, and some have come up with creative solutions. Here at Allmend everyone is given a toboggan to sit on. If anyone should ask, we’re all out tobogganing.

We had a delicious lunch on our toboggans, and headed home. What a super day.

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Ali made a super curry last night. Two curries in fact. In the foreground is an authentic lamb rogan josh, and Val is sitting next to a butternut squash and green bean curry. We had rice, naan breads and poppadoms too.

Today Val is off to her dentist in Brienz alongside the lake.

The railway line runs above the water.

I headed up to the village to do the usual chores. To say it’s quiet would be an understatement.

The last bits of the childrens’ snow garden are being dismantled.

The cable car has stopped running, and trains up to Scheidegg are only once an hour. We still have about 10 days until the ski area is completely closed down though, so everyone’s hoping for some good weather.

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It’s a lovely morning, and a bunch of us have arranged to get the train up to Scheidegg. Here we are.

Down to Arven, and up to Eigergletscher.

Down Schwarzen and Fallboden, and up to the top of the Lauberhorn.

We did a couple of these circuits, with coffee in between, before skiing back to the village. It’s very unusual for the village run to still be open in the middle of April, though it was getting a bit threadbare at the very bottom. A very nice morning.

Ali is cooking tonight.

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Cold but dry today, and we stayed indoors this morning as Val had her German class. This afternoon we’re off down to Lauterbrunnen. Last September we popped into the Gemeinde (local council) to enquire about becoming Swiss residents. We filled in a lot of forms, paid some money (naturally) and waited. 6 months went by, during which we answered a few more questions and provided more documents. We had been told it would take a long time, but at last we’ve had a letter telling us that our application has been approved. So we went to the Gemeinde this afternoon and Nicole presented us with our residence permits. This means we can come and go as we please from now on, without having to worry about overstaying our welcome.

I want to do another steak night soon – last time we did this I tried in vain to find onion rings in any of the supermarkets. There are recipes online suggesting that I can make some in the airfryer. Tonight I had a dry run to see how they turned out.

They don’t look too bad, and they tasted great.

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It was Emily’s 25th this weekend, and last night we had a big dinner of hirsch served with potatoes and veg. Of course we had a cake.

Val was up early to go to the dentist this morning. It was a chilly journey, as the weather’s completely changed since yesterday, and it’s been snowing all day. I’m happy to be able to stay indoors until it improves.

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The wind is blowing warm, moist air from the south. It’s called a föhn (pronounced fern). The air hits the mountains and climbs rapidly, producing clouds which topple over the summits.

I tried out one of our DIY covid tests at lunchtime – negative!

Lots of flowers now.

Despite the very mild weather, it’s still possible to ski back to the village, but you have to be pretty determined.

My turn to cook tonight.

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Not much happening today, we went shopping and Val is making tie-backs for the kitchen curtains. It’s been mild but cloudy. We got 10 Covid self-tests free from the pharmacy, so perhaps we’ll have a testing party.