Switzerland, along with half a dozen other countries, was added to the U.K. ‘green list’ yesterday. This makes it easier to have a holiday here. The Daily Telegraph ran the story, and included a nice Swiss picture.
That’s where we live! Our house is just out of shot on the left.
Today it’s been bright but cold, with a biting north wind. We had a walk this afternoon.
On the way home through the village we popped in at the Caprice and booked a table for pizza later.
Yesterday was Michael’s birthday. Naturally we celebrated over a few beers.
Today was a cleaning day. The house is spotless.
It was pretty chilly in the village this morning, so we made our sandwiches and headed down to the valley. If we get off the train at Wilderswil we can walk to Bönigen on the lake, where it will be warmer. On the way we pass the shooting club. Sport shooting is incredibly popular in Switzerland. There are more than 3000 clubs (one in almost every village), and more than 130,000 active participants.
Our route takes us past Interlaken airport. It hasn’t been used for aeroplanes for many years, though there is still a heliport here. Much of it is now used for commercial purposes.
After a good walk we arrive at the lake and have our lunch. The steamer pulls in, and it’s impossible to resist a photo.
It’s a nice bright morning, and I popped up to the village for a coffee and some shopping while Val did her German class. By the time I got home the postman had delivered an ominously thick envelope from the immigration office in Bern.
Sure enough, it contained a sheaf of forms to fill in. We have learned that it pays to deal with this stuff as quickly as possible, so our plans for the afternoon were abandoned. We spent an hour getting all the necessary information together, and set off for the council office in Lauterbrunnen, where we handed everything over. The process is entirely paper-based, so everything has to be laboriously photocopied and sent back to Bern. At no point was a computer employed. You might think, in a country where more than a quarter of the population are immigrants, that the authorities would make the process a bit slicker. I couldn’t possibly comment.
We hadn’t planned anything for today, as I had another appointment at the eye clinic. Unfortunately my doctor is sick, so that was cancelled. It’s dry and a bit chilly, so we set off for Grindelwald. Spookily quiet when we got there.
We had a very nice lunch while we waited for the shops to reopen for the afternoon. We’re sort of between seasons at the moment, and they don’t seem to know whether to stock summer stuff or winter wear. We left empty handed.
We usually get home by going ‘over the top’, which involves getting the gondola up to Männlichen and the cable car back down to Wengen. Today however, it would have been far too cold up there, so we got the train. One of our fellow passengers certainly likes flowers.
Angela has gone to the U.K. for a few days, so last night Aneta was running things in Rocks. Our party grew as the night wore on, as Michael’s friend Laurie arrived from Heidelberg. Later on Laurie’s friend Sam arrived from Vienna, and Emily popped in on her way home from football in Interlaken. A few snaps.
It’s raining today, but that’s ok as our only plans were getting shopping in the village.
It’s a sunny Saturday, and the village and all the public transport will be crammed with day trippers. We can avoid all that by hiking on our local trails high above the village. We got the ski lift up to Allmend and paused to see the racers on their way down. It’s the Inferno Triathlon today, and the guys and girls who do it are the toughest of the tough.
Here’s the programme for this crazy race:
Swim in lake Thun: 3.1 kilometres,
Road bike: Oberhöfen to Grindelwald, 97 kilometres,
Mountain bike: Grindelwald to Stechelberg via Kleine Scheidegg and Wengen, 30 kilometres,
Run: Stechelberg to the summit of the Schilthorn, 25 kilometres.
So that’s 155 kilometres, or almost 100 miles. Here they go.
We watched for a while and climbed towards Männlichen, stopping at a bench for our lunch.
Inspired by the triathletes, we continued to climb and we got a good deal higher than we’ve ever managed before. Eventually we turned for home.
Here’s an airborne view of the triathlon course. Press play.
The winner was Samuel Hürzeler from nearby Wilderswil. He completed the course in 8 hours and 47 minutes.
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