Hirschen Grindelwald

... to see the peaks and the blue sky. I then hiked back.
People are nice around here, they wave to mean through their windows. The hostel owners are also very, very nice. I also sat with some Koreans and we shared meals (there's being much better than mine). When I returned from my hike the two Americans offered me some of their Mexican dinner. It was very yummy. All in all not a bad day.

Yesterday I got the good news that the weather is supposed to clear. I ...

... chalets. Some chalets were so close together in narrow streets that I'm sure you would be able to hear the neighbour’s conversations.

We went back to Interlaken and went to a chocolate shop to buy some Pave which I had heard about and to do some grocery shopping and then get in to cook dinner before the kitchen got crowded.

... went up to the Phoenix which is the weather station. While there, it started snowing and the weather started to close in so we decided to head back down to the bottom of the mountain so that we had views on the way down. By the time we left on the train and had got through the tunnel, all we could see was cloud or mist and it had started to rain.

When we got to Grindlewald we got warm in a restaurant (although ...

... were full of Japanese buying label goods, with Swiss watches being popular. We also came across 2 chocolate shops but decided to look for a cafe to have coffee and icecream.

Interlaken is a very pretty town and the river running through it is a glacial blue colour. I decided that as I had not been able to find my gloves (not sure if I had lost them or just left them at home), maybe I should buy some at a sports store. I ended up buying ...

... drop full of avalanche protection fences for a much less gradual descent. These would also come in handy if either of us lost our footing… luckily not necessary.

In the next two days I did a couple more hikes, much easier. I took a walk down to the end of the valley, hiked up a bit of a hill, but nothing as strenuous as the first day. Got some more good views and considered that day ...

... sports centre Grindelwald Sports AG in the town centre. The afternoon we spent practicing heel-edge and toe-edge as safe and easy ways of getting down the mountains. Once we all had this comfortably under our utility belt of skills it would allow us to gracefully decline a mountain face as if a leaf falling from a tree; backwards and forwards, side to side. The final portion of our tuition which ...

Really! I did! I skied! I only fell down twice, but one of those times was trying to learn how to parallel turn, as opposed to the "pizza" turning I had been doing, and was rather good at. My instructor, a young Swiss man named Matthias (cute, but not throw down in the snow cute), said I was an excellent student, because I wasn´t afraid to try. I didn`t break anything, but my left ankle/shin muscle issue is still ...

... in the mountains inbetween, and rafting that afternoon. I guess we were the lame ones:) After our cancelled trip, we sat at the tent bar with our free drinks and met some boys from Decatur, Illinois; although 2 of them actually live in Switzerland now. We shared tales of the midwest, and ended up staying for a few drinks instead, where we caught up with Kevin and Ryan coming off there rafting trip. We all eventually made it back ...

... the presentations. What I found freaky was the images of people speaking were such that it appeared as if they were in fact speaking the words. Most likely, my brain was assuming the visual was dictating words in English when it actually may not have been. All in all, an interesting messing with the mind. I did enjoy much of the technology employed in the shows. For example, the material on Stonehenge was conveyed in a Laser Light show. Each of the main areas ...

... and is a snowboard instructor from Slovakia of all places. So we hang out in Zurich for the day (despite the fact I wanted to explore by myself!!! But am to kind to tell him this) We had a great day and saw all of the city in under 4 hours. It is truly beautiful and is now on my list of places to visit again in the future for a nice weekend away!!! We bid each other farewell as he goes off to catch his flight back to JoBo, we exchange email address's and he ...