Up early for kitchen duty with Tim as my co-assistant (and few others). Then it was the sandwich making/lunch preparation and fairly rushed breakfast prior to heading off to the bus to the station and up to the slopes. Luke protested mightily and it should have heralded the mood of the day but I persevered and took him with me for the morning ahead.
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| Alpbahn |
Taking the little Wengenalpbahn train up to Wengen was delightful. Snow had fallen over night and the trees looked like Christmas trees according to Luke and everything was sprinkled with a dose of icing sugar! Luke seemed to be in good spirits and who wouldn't be seeing such beauty?!
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| Scenery en route to Wengen |
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| So black and white!! |
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| Love the trees |
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| ...and the houses |
Next we called into the ski hire shop to borrow some goggles for Luke as in our rush, his sunglasses had been misplaced. The shop kindly lent him a pair for the day with no charge. Then onto the gondola and up the mountain in a snow cloud...and the snow continued ALL morning...soft and clean and quiet.
Quiet, that is except for me, egging Luke on and pulling him up and assisting him again and again and AGAIN to put his skis on and he wasn't going to put in an effort. Clearly, our ski class moved on and we eventually caught up with tears from Luke and me. I wanted to take him down to Lauterbrunnen again but he didn't want to do that, either.
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| Cool ski dude...Tim!!! |
Once we had reached the group, Luke was happy to build snow caves and amphitheatres a la our recent Roman ruins in Turkey, so he was happy for a bit and I could finally ski a few times up and down a nursery slope so I could check on him. Annika was managing really well and Tim's group went off on a blue run and he was clearly thriving on the thrill of it all.
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| Luke building snow caves |
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| Snowbunny...with sore feet! |
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| Luke's re-creation of Roman ruins in the snow! |
Luke, after a reasonable time, announced that he was bored and wanted to go back to the chalet. He and I set off on the arduous journey of me carrying his skis up and down the hills to the gondola station. Thankfully, the gondola was waiting there and we had a smooth transition to the train and then bus back to Chalet Jungfrau.
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| Avalanche fences |
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| Swiss flag flying in the whiteness |
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| Wengen from the gondola |
After some refreshments, Karl returned from his walk and took care of Luke and I was able to walk back through the village of Lauterbrunnen to the station and head back to Wengen to pay the ski hire shop for Luke's ski and boots (38 Swiss Franc - about $50AD) for two days of use.
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| One of many waterfalls |
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| More avalanche fences |
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| Typical house and backdrop |
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| Chalet Jungfrau - what a great setting! |
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| Lauterbrunnen church and mountains in the background |
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| Lauterbrunnen church from a different perspective |
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| Little bird who was singing so beautifully |
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| Of course we have seen Swiss army knives |
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| Bit of blue sky but mostly white... |
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| Lauterbrunnen Station |
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| Gondola to Mannlichen |
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| Christmas trees! |
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| There goes another gondola! |
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| Susanna - a Kylie Gosbell look alike and same gentle personality - a duppelganger for sure! |
Lauterbrunnen was so quiet on this Sunday afternoon but I think it is normally like that anyhow! It is SO pretty that it feels as if you are walking in a postcard! The sheer walls of cliffs and little waterfalls pouring down, the birds, the neat typical Swiss mountain houses and the snow covered mountains create a most beautiful vista. I so enjoyed just walking on my own!!
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| Chalet Jungfrau |
After reaching Lauterbrunnen again, I chose to walk back from the station now that I was not carrying skis and poles and could enjoy the exercise instead of struggling and juggling.
Evening meal was once again delicious and Tim and I were on kitchen duty which is always a bit of fun on a camp!
The people here are so friendly and tolerant of Luke and nice Kirsten played cards with him and me for quite a while. The big kids are so tired from their days on the slopes and Luke's energy hasn't waned as much as I had hoped! Luke was happy to watch some Lego YouTube while Karl and I went to hear the evening speaker and enjoy some good conversation afterwards with David, a baptist minister from Croydon, Surrey, and his wife, Sue. It is great that there is a mix of ages on this holiday and it is easy to talk to them all.
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| Waterfall down sheer cliff |
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| This stream burbles outside our window and that is what we hear for our morning wake up call. |
Hey, there's one photo in here that is absolutely spiffin'. That silvery church one above the bird. It looks like you've put a filter on your camera or something? Comes out like something you'd want to enlarge, frame and keep forever on the wall. Lovely!! PS So cool seeing you in a ski helmet.
ReplyDeleteYep I must have twiddled the dial and some of the photos came out really well..I like the bird xxxHelen
DeleteWhat a gorgeous setting Helen!! Looks like a fairy tale. Lovely to take some walks on your own :)
ReplyDeleteoh susanna, at least my doppleganger is having a lovely swiss holiday!! Helen these photos are beautiful, what special memories :) The camp you are talking about, is this something you booked before your trip?
ReplyDeletesorry Helen, just read your reply to the last post comment! Sounds like the camp is a wonderful thing to be involved in! We'll keep praying for patience!!! xoxo
DeleteKylie, I became a Christian on an Oak Hall ski trip in 1988 in Austria, when I was working in UK...special memories for me so I pleaded with Karl to go on another holiday with them~ It is the most expensive part of our trip even though their holidays are budget bUT so worthwhile x Helen
Deleteoh what lovely memories! have a terrific day today, we're just off to ballet now :) life goes on in Blacky north!
DeleteWhat a special place for you Helen, and now to share it with your family, even more so!!
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