Let It Snow!

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Around December 25, on the first day of Chanukah and Christmas, God's gift to the inhabitants of Switzerland was a big dusting of snow, opening all the ski lifts in the country, giving us the opportunity to travel down to Leysin, where we lived in the 70's when I taught at the Leysin American School and Evi worked as assistant to the registrar of the American College. Although Leysin has only about 2500 inhabitants, we managed to run into a dozen people we knew back then...

Melanie flew from London to Basel for the weekend, then we all bundled into our rental car, (which had, unfortunately, summer tyres), and drove 3 hours south and then up winding mountain roads, to the 1500 meter level, about 100 meters higher than the snow level. We slid and slud and slod and sloshed until putting on snow chains, and all was well.

Gadi and I went skiing and Melanie and Evi had a girls day in the village, visiting cafes, the ice skating rink, Melanie partaking of the opportunity to toboggan, and Evi of course sitting outside bundled up in the -5 degree C temperatures, trying to capture a bit of the sun's rays.

We stayed with our old friends, Larry and Martine Ware, who live at the end of the village, down a long mountain road, one mile past the last place we could drive and park our car, so you should have seen Melanie shlepping her suitcase through the snow. But it was worthwhile, as we had an extremely cozy reunion (and a great meal, and too much wine), in their beautiful warm chalet while the snow fell outside all night. It brought to mind the 1954 song by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne,
"Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"

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Photos

Snowy Small Swiss Street
In a quiet neighborhood of Aigle, the town in the Rhone valley at the bottom of the hill from Leysin. That's our rented car on the right.

Melanie arriving at the Basel Airport
Grasping her new British Passport...

The slopes in Leysin
That's a revolving restaurant at the top...

Gadi eats snow.
He's resting, not falling

Ski Lifts
The Dents Du Midi mountain, visible in the background, is covered with snow all year round.

It's cold up here
Bundle up for the ski lifts and enjoy the views.

Vast terrain
Ski for miles and short ski lines.

Chill out - warm up
After a long morning skiing, it's time to warm up at a chalet restaurant on the slopes.

Lunch break
Skiiers line up at the outdoor bar, featuring reggae music, food and drink.

Dinner at the Wares
Oh, they just had 20 people for x-mas, and now about 8 more arrive.

Driving in the mountains
Vines in the summer that produce Aigle white wine, blanketed by snow in the winter... (photo by Gadi)

Aigle castle
Castle of Aigle, built in the 12th century, looms over an attractive quarter of old houses.