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Published: January 29th 2007
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Alps
Looking down the valley from the Lookout at the Top Of Europe And so after being made to wait outside the terminal at Heathrow for half an hour in a marquee before being allowed in to check in, and then a 40min wait in line to fast check my bag (i had express checked for a boarding pass) and then another 20min wait to get through passport control (and having an unopened NZ marmite and marmalade confiscated due to new handluggage rules....mad), and then delayed for 40 odd mins due to the knockon effect of the fog that closed the airport just before christmas, i eventually made it to Zurich thinking where am i going to find Daniel and Leeza, but as it turns out their flight was late also. When they eventually come through they are in shorts and singlets and jandals while everyone else is all rugged up against the chill in the air. All to the amusement of the locals.
Made our way up into the mountains to Grindelwald which had snow, to Mums delight. It was great to see everyone again as i havent seen them since April and Haylee and Chris had both grown up heaps!! It was a quick catch up down in the house bar while
Alps 2
Looking out towards France from the Lookout at the Top of Europe trying Black Vodka and Iced Tea (Not bad actually in fact Very Nice and went down a treat) we headed into town and tried the local cusine of Kase Fondue also known as Cheese Fondue. I didnt mind it at all but no one else seemed to take to it.... Midnight mass had been sussed in advance so we made our way to the local catholic church for a very uninspiring mass said in Swiss. The next day was totally out of the norm as we went snowboarding......but seen as it takes a few days to get the hang of it and we only had a couple of days we gave up and found it much easier to go down the hill on the boards as a tabogan. More fun and loads of crashes and snow up and down pants and jackets. All Good. It was present time that evening and a Christmas meal at the hotel. Interesting meal in that there was no turkey but rabbit instead and no potatoes but lentils instead.... was entertaining. The following day we took to tobaganing down this 7.5km track that the bus also drives up and down to drop us off at
Alps and village
A wee village we passed on our way to somewhere the top. Awesome fun!! Flying down the hill head first taking corners fast and sharp and regularly crashing!!! I took out a pole twice - once head on and i left the tabogan behind while i carried on down the hill infront of spectators, dead legged myself on the same leg twice and eventually made it to the bottom with frozen feet, bruised legs and sore arms from steering. Absolutely brilliant!!!
That Afternoon we headed to Thun where we stayed for a couple of nights. Daniel, Leeza and I took this train up to the "Top Of Europe" which is really high up in the alps and a 'cog train' takes us up there. Really neat and we went past a lot of really cute villages. Mum, Dad and the rest of the whanau had done it a couple of days before Christmas. The Top was -9.5oC but was really warm when out of the wind as it was really nice and sunny. Beautifull views!! It even had an Ice Palace which was made entirely out of Ice so had to be extra carefull walking around.
The following day was mass exodus to Holland via Frankfurt. Waiting at Thun for
Grindelwald
Part of the village we stayed in the train. It came and while finding our reserved seats Leeza manages to get slightly seperated from us and the next thing we know we're moving and Leeza is outside on the platform waving at us. She manages to catch the next train and meet up with us in Bern as we had a wee wait. She had got on the train sat down, realised we were in the wrong seat got up to move and got stuck behind the snack trolley lady so she hopped off the train and got back on a carriage down and then one of the glass doors (between coaches) wouldnt open so she got off to go around and thats when the train left.....all this happened in Thun. So Basically she boarded the train twice and even sat down and still missed the train. Stupid!! 8) Frankfurt and Holland next blog....
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