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Published: August 2nd 2011
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What a place for a picnic!
Me lunching with a most awesome view of the Alps all around. In this picture, the Eiger. It’s the Swiss National Day today and one of the reasons we came back here before leaving for home. Our memories of the last one we saw encouraged us to stay a couple of days longer. We’ll see if this evenings celebrations live up to expectation.
Today we did another favourite but it also meant being in amongst large numbers of people. It is a Public Holiday and the weather is superb so we cannot expect any less given our route for the day - Mannlichen, Kleine Scheidegg, Wengin, Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Grusalp, back to Lauterbrunnen and home.
We walked to Grund and took the cable car up to Mannlichen and walked to Kleine Scheidegg. The mountains are in their most absolute magnificence today. Clear blue skies, a lot of snow and 360 degree views. We sat up in the grass above the walking paths to have our lunch in the front of the Eiger.
From the Scheidegg we got the train down to Wengen and Lauterbrunnen. Strangely, over the years we have never done this as we always walk it. At Lauterbrunnen we got a bus up to the cable way at Stechelberg and then the cable car
And you thought the Tongariro Crossing was bad?
Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg. This picture make the Tongariro Crossing seem tame for people numbers. However, it is understandable given the ease of the path and the scenic views. to Murren. We walked across the top of the glacial cliffs through Murren and onto Grusalp about an hour and a half walk. Then down in the cable car again to Lauterbrunnen, a train to Zweitlutschenin and train to Grindelwald to make the full circuilt. Yes, we had to deal with the continuous stream of people which spoilt the experience compared with what we had 8 weeks ago, but the weather made it infinitely better. We haven’t exactly had great weather while here and having a clear, warm day made it worthwhile. This circuit shows the Berner Oberland area at it’s best - it's everything you see on the postcards.
As mentioned, today is National Day and houses, buses, cable cars, and garden have the Swiss and Bernese Flags flying everywhere. It’s a wonderful experience to see people who really value their country and celebrate it in a cohesive way instead of the shambles of dissention we in New Zealand.
At 8.30pm we headed down into the town for the National Day celebrations. They had a band, some dancing and alphorns on stage and this was followed by the arrival of the parade. What a sound! I was
National Day in Grindelwald
The fireworks ending National Day in Grindelwald. (not easy to capture on film). Our last day in Switzerland. so busy filming it that I forgot to take a photo. There were 30 men with the largest cow bells you can imagine, all walking and swinging the bells in unison like a very loud drum beat. It was awesome. This was followed by the crowd carrying fire sticks. There were then all the official speeches for 1200 years of the Swiss Conferation. Lastly, what we'd been waiting for - the fires were lit all around the valley high up on the Alps. We could count 10 from where we were. This has been a tradition since the Conferation began - that fires would be lit high in the mountains to celebrate. Finally, there was the fireworks. These had been ongoing all evening (like our Guy Fawkes), but the final one was huge. Afterwards we wandered slowly back to our last night at the house whilst fireworks continued from all directions well into the night. What a Grand Finale to our last day in Switzerland.
It hasn’t been exactly pleasant knowing that this is our last day of hiking in what feels to be our second home. No, we don’t belong because we don’t speak the language, but the familiarity of the surroundings and the way the system works makes it feel comfortable. It would be a hard ask to say that this is a last time visit.
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