Yesterday’s rain turned to snow at about 4pm. It was so heavy the snow plough had to clear the ice rink before the kids could have their skating session.
By morning the snow had stopped, but no sooner had we got off the train at Scheidegg than it started again. Windy too.
We were soon back in Wengen. Val’s turn to clear the steps.
It’s still snowing now, and it looks like my turn for snow shovelling will come round sooner than expected.
It’s wet and miserable today, but it doesn’t matter as we’re off to see another apartment. This one is in the centre of the village behind the Co-op, and you can ski all the way back to the door down the nursery slope.
It looks brand new inside and out, but the building is actually 100 years old.
Soggy skiers coming home in the rain (view from bedroom).
View to the church.
The first floor is being converted from a huge 5 bedroom apartment into 2 smaller properties. This bedroom becomes a lounge.
Nice balcony.
The conversion will be finished by late spring or early summer. The price is right and the location is fantastic. I think we’ve found the one for us.
I had to shovel the snow off our steps last night when we got home from the quiz (we were 4th, thanks for asking). This morning it was still snowing. After breakfast a few shafts of sunlight began to peep through the clouds.
It looks like the weather is improving so up the hill we go. At Scheidegg there are not many people about, and there’s no scenery at all.
We start by skiing down the hill – maybe we can get under the cloud. This works, but it’s pretty dark!
We did get a few tantalising bright spots.
Ok so we’ll go high and perhaps we can get above the cloud. Up the Lauberhorn we go, and yay!
The problem is that, as you can see from the photo, we are only a hundred metres above the cloud. We are about eleven hundred metres above the village. We stand at the top for a few minutes enjoying the sunshine, before Val sets off into the gloom.
The clouds came and went on the way down and we actually had a pretty good descent. Tonight we’re going to Andrew and Hayley’s for dinner, which will be lovely.
Foggy when we woke up this morning, and as regular readers will know, we don’t ski in fog. It started snowing at lunchtime – we spent most of the day doing laundry.
Popped up to the village for some shopping after lunch, and I can barely remember a more gloomy day all winter.
Val’s just off to her Pilates class, I’ll make a start on dinner, and later we’ll be off to Rocks for quiz night. Never a dull moment here.
It’s a damp, cold day here, it must be awful down in the valley with the cloud over Stechelberg.
We met Beanie & Sandro and the kids in the village. Lots of fun.
Aliena is fascinated by the phone, and she quickly learned to take selfies. Here’s a selection.
Fun and games on the way home.
A few years back the Berner Oberland Bahn wanted to widen the railway line so that they could create a passing place between Zweilutchinen and Wilderswil. Permission was granted on condition that the BOB also built and maintained a walking path alongside the river. The path makes a very nice walk. We start at Lauterbrunnen. It’s a mild day and the river is swollen with melt water from the mountains.
The path takes us past the little hydro station and past numerous little hamlets alongside the river. It’s all very chocolate-boxy.
The train stops on request at this tiny village.
The valley has been plagued by floods over the years, most recently in 2005 when much of the road and railway was destroyed.
There have been many attempts to prevent this over the years, mostly by removing the rocks from the river and making it as wide as possible. An unfortunate side-effect of this is that the fish could no longer swim up to their spawning pools in the mountains. Fish ladders have therefore been built to help them get around the most difficult bits.
Further downstream we come to an iron – smelting furnace. This was built in 1638, and it eventually employed 54 people. A small village sprang up nearby to accommodate them.
In 1831 the village was badly damaged by a flood, and subsequently destroyed by fire in 1854. Nothing remains other than the furnace.
Further down the path the valley broadens out. There’s still work taking place on the river here.
And eventually we arrive at the tiny village of Zweilutchinen. Despite its size it’s an important road and rail junction.
The train from Grindelwald pulls in.
Followed a minute later by the train from Lauterbrunnen.
The Lauterbrunnen train gently collides with the rear carriage of the Grindelwald service, and the two are coupled together for the rest of the journey down to Interlaken.
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