Grindelwald

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We moved into the apartment yesterday and it brought back memories. Unfortunately the bad one was that this is where we were when we were told of Robin's death. On the plus side it still feels like a familiar second home. We've stayed here 9 times over 22 years. It still continues to "wow" us as you come up the Lutschen Valley and have the first view of the Eiger. I thought the Dolomites were magnificent, but so are the Bernese Alps. Maybe 10/10 each. The area around Grindelwald is stunning with the shear face of the Eiger, the Jungfrau alongside, the glaciers hanging and the Wetterhorn along further. The glaciers have moved back hugely since we first visited and are a shadow of their former selves.

We paid a visit to the village in the afternoon and watched some teenagers in the Youth Climbing competition down at the Sports Centre. A wall had been constructed outside with climbs of various hardness's to try. They were not roped but had a soft landings. Very entertaining.

We have two possibilities with TV - CNN and Sport! The rest is unintelligible for us. The radio has a few more possibilities. No English, but plenty of music we know and like.

We've found a number of events that are on while we're here. We just missed the Mannlichen Half Marathon, but the Tour de Suisse bike race is on this weekend and the Grindelwald leg is on Monday. The start and finish is about 10minutues walk from here so we'll be there to see that.

There is a national Yodelling competition on next week. Many huge tents are being set up in Interlaken for that event and a music festival. A Land Festival is being held down by Grund station later this month. I gather people come from countries all around and they make and sell stuff from the land and forest. Something like that. There is a Saturday farmers market on every Saturday morning down in the village so hopefully we can get a huge slab of cheese to last for several weeks as it's quite expensive from the shops.

Today was another stock up with groceries with the back packs and then the haul uphill to the house. In the afternoon we headed up onto the hiking trails behind the house to 1400m and through the forest. We watched the clouds gather on the Eiger and avalanches coming off the glaciers, and then we got drenched in the rain heading home along Terrasenweg. No coats off course. It stopped raining as we arrived at the house!

We have a German man living downstairs in our usual apartment. He has an Italian mother and is called Gido. He has a beautiful dog called Asko living with him who he takes out walking twice a day. He'll be absent for a couple of weeks from tomorrow so it'll be fairly quiet for a while.

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Photos

Uf dr Ofni house
The house Uf dr Ofni. Our apartment is the top storey.

Terrasenweg towards the Upper Glacier
Outside the house looking along Terrasenweg towards the Upper Glacier