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After 3 years of construction, the new cable car from Stechelberg to Mürren opened today. We thought we’d go and have a look. Smart new ticket counter.

We were expecting big crowds for this event, but the cold and murky weather seemed to have persuaded people to stay at home. Zero queuing.

The cabins are nice and spacious, with room for 85 passengers.

The ride up to Mürren takes less than 4 minutes. A cabin approaches the top station.

The route from the valley floor ascends a sheer cliff face. The new lift is therefore the steepest cable car in the world. Here’s the mildly terrifying view down to the valley station.

After all that excitement we caught the bus back to Lauterbrunnen and were home in time for lunch.

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Last night we headed down to Interlaken for dinner with Wil and Amanda. There’s a Christmas market at the casino, so we thought we’d take a look. A few pictures.

We had beers at the Brasserie, followed by a lovely curry at the Taj Palace.

This morning the sun was out, so we headed up to Scheidegg. Val’s been to Central Sport and borrowed some posh new ski boots that she wants to try out. The ski season hasn’t really got underway yet, so it was very quiet.

It’s always nice to find that mind, body and equipment are still capable of skiing down a snowy mountain. Wengen is still pretty quiet, but a few bars are open and most of the hotels will open their doors over the next week or so.

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Last year we had a family dinner with an overnight stay at the Gaskell Arms in the nearby village of Much Wenlock. It was a big success, so we thought we’d do it again this year.

The pub is very cosy, with real fires and nice rooms. The food was pretty good too. After a good night’s sleep we enjoyed a Shropshire breakfast before heading home.

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Yesterday’s coloured sticks have now been supplemented by lots of bauprofils (build profiles). These wooden structures aim to provide us residents with an idea of the shape and scale of the proposed building work, including the space that the second railway track will occupy, and the pedestrian underpass.

What happens now is that the railway company will start a charm offensive. There will be presentations (with wine and snacks) as they try to convince us that the village will benefit from the additional railway track. Of course, when planning permission is applied for we will all object anyway, in the expectation that some ‘sweeteners’ might be offered. Ah well, at least nothing will happen until spring.

Tomorrow we’re leaving for the UK, so today has been taken up with last minute shopping and packing. It’s hard to imagine that when we return in a month’s time it will be winter.

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It’s another day of t-shirt weather, so we had a walk along the valley before lunch.

We had lunch at cafe Waldschluecht, and made our way back down the hill towards home. On the path down to the railway track, a forest of colourful sticks has appeared.

These sticks are bad news, as they are placed there by engineering surveyors. We have known for years that the railway company would like to add another track past our house. The problem with this is that whereas now we just hop across the railway line to get to our garden path, a double track would mean that an underpass will have to be provided. This would involve a huge amount of excavation and general disruption. We can only hope it never happens.

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We had a good time at the Caprice last night, with lots of pizza and drinks. It was really busy. Today started slowly, but we did get out for a walk this afternoon. It’s still bright and very mild.

Wengen is pretty quiet now. Many of the shops and most of the hotels are closed. A few cattle will remain on the pastures in the village until the weather turns.

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Lovely dinner at the Caprice on Wednesday night. I had pork and Val had turbot.

Today we set off for Neuhaus on Lake Thun. It’s a 10 minute bus ride from Interlaken, and a very picturesque spot on a beautiful autumn afternoon.

The steamer calls in a few times a day.

There’s a nice walk back to Interlaken around a golf course and through a nature reserve. We ate our sandwiches and set off. The river Aare runs between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, but it flows very quickly and it’s too shallow for steamers. A canal has therefore been built from Lake Thun to Interlaken.

A nice walk of about 10 kilometres back to Interlaken Ost station. There’s an ‘Ustrinkete’ at the Caprice tomorrow, so we’ll certainly be going along for the cheap beer and pizza. An Ustrinkete is an end of season booze-up to use up all the beer which would otherwise go out of date during the off-season.