A glimpse of the Eiger in poor weather while Jen stands at cliff edge
Twenty minutes from destination, a hamlet, part way-up mountain base
We were on the trail for five hours and saw little. Pre-sunset produced this sight
If you’re going to build towns and farms on mountains then one must expect ups-and-downs. We don’t
think there’s any place but Main Strasse which is relatively level—apparently, someone made a mistake. We
don’t even remember the name of the main street now that we think of it. At a guess, we’d probably say it’s
a German name.
With the weather playing up, our editor had an interesting thought. 'How about some culture? Let's try the
ballet,' she mentioned. "What about Swan Lake?" we replied, thinking it a very good idea. Fortunately,
we managed to capture a picture at the setting.
Swan Lake, Interlaken style.
When we sat in the restaurant at Busalp sipping the usual black and peppermint teas, following elevation gain
of 2,600 feet and nine miles (roundtrip) of hiking, we spoke with Cecelia and Michel from Stockholm. We had
met on the trail earlier, gave them our understanding of the weather, then left them to ponder the wisdom of
our thoughts. We hope they are very broad-minded. In a sort of coincidence, during our hike in Tsitsikamma
recently, we were together with a European couple who had met and courted in Ireland. The circumstances were
the same with this Swedish couple who too came together in Ireland, the land of the ‘shidduch’ (match-making) and
we suppose, Bushmills.
The melting process continues, snowfalls make instant 'waterfalls'
What we find interesting is the integration of Europe. We are not talking politics, though. People
move about freely and tend to understand and speak some of each other’s languages. It might seem naïve but
between wars, the Europeans have potential to enjoy the different countries with relative ease. It would
be nice to believe they might think of protecting the civilization formulated over many centuries.
The going is slow and slippery, getting worse, but the destination is close
Perspective: A few days later, we climbed to Holenstein Station and viewed the area to which we had
hiked on this day. The mountain top, cloudless.
We have discovered it does not make sense to challenge the sun in this part of the world. We have
had five cloudy, rainy and snow days in a row. Fortunately, we have not allowed the lack of sun to hinder us.
Brave talk! Anyway, when the sun shone brightly this morning, we covered our arms and faces with sunscreen,
put on short pants and headed for a walk. Mistake! We think that was just too much for the sun to face. Block-out
must have been the last straw because its immediate reaction was to hide; probably went off to another part of
the world. It's June already and the weather is more akin to early winter although we admit we are not familiar
with the weather patterns in Europe.
Although a different town, some sunshine makes a difference in Berner Oberland
What we do notice on this continent is that smoking appears to be an important pastime or fulltime. It seems
everyone smokes over here. Perhaps it is only to keep warm. Who knows. These days with smoking forbidden inside
restaurants, the fumes are pretty vicious on the sidewalks—unitentended consequences. Anyway, we enjoy a Marlboro,
lite for the missus, with a glass of wine as we sit back and watch the crazies hiking up these ridiculously steep
mountains. Some people are really dumb.
Beauty and the beast. The question is: 'Which is the beast?'...close call. 'Why don't you scratch
my back and I'll ring your bell, belle?'
The sun makes an enormous difference especially when it hits the spot
The hike took us through a gorgeous forest, well, up-upwards through a forest. The low clouds and
mist made things very attractive; the low clouds also took away the beautiful views—there’s that trade-off
again. We then cut across a mountain, through a smaller forest and over a tricky snowfield to reach the
restaurant, sitting under Faulhorn. We know what we were facing although we could not see it—it should be a
spectacular sight as Busalp is high, without hindered views. Nevertheless, we had the feeling, by the time
we arrived back at the house, the sun would make a guest appearance. A couple of hours before sunset, it
did appear and put on a show for which five days was a worthwhile wait.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Pixies playing hide-and-go-seek somewhere in the misty forest, must be a local tradition.
Later in the evening, the sun made a guest appearance, thank you very much, Sir
The incomparable Wetterhorn, preparing for the night
Guess which one, although a little sunburnt from the...sun?
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