Berner Oberland A Few Weeks in Switzerland, September 2022

[Pauline]

Thursday September 22, 2022
Sunny and warm, low 60sF.

Well this is it. The last day, the last walk. We are getting packed up and both feeling sad about leaving.

We had a nice morning in the sun on the balcony then did the walk along the river. The day was beautiful and the mountains and the river looked spectacular.

Tomorrow, heading south.

Walking along the river.

View from Lenk’s small lake.

 

[Pauline]

I will post the rest of this trip in the France Trip Reports.

Provence - A Week in Sablet

After 3 weeks in the Swiss alps, we drove 6 hours south to Sablet, a village near Vaison la Romaine. The drive went well and it got warmer as we drove. We arrived at 5:30pm, couldn’t find the house, then found the house but no one was there, then found keys under the mat. I texted the owner and...

www.sloweurope.com

 

[Georgia & Zig]

Monday September 5, 2022
Partial sun and hot (77F but didn’t feel that hot).

Sore thighs after yesterday’s climb! Today we did an easy hike taking the gondola to the top, Leiterli, then walking a nice trail down to the middle station, Stoss.

Sometimes these trails going down between stations are too steep. This one is not. It starts by walking back into the mountains then cuts down for the descent. Wide trail, easy walking. We had lunch along the way (we brought ours but there is a restaurant along the way that we’ve stopped at before.

We got a good discount on the gondola today. It is 30CHF for a return trip if you have a visitor’s card (you get one with the tourist tax you pay on accommodation) but the agency we rented from have a coupon for an additional 30% off, so it was 21CHF each. The coupon is one time only but we’ll only use the gondola a couple of more times.

I booked this apartment for 2 weeks even though we’ve been staying 3 or 4 weeks in Lenk on previous trips. I wasn’t sure we would like the apartment but we like it. It is quiet here, I love the view and the balcony and the apartment is comfortable, so I booked a 3rd week. We still have another week before we have to go home and are thinking of staying somewhere in France, either Burgundy or Normandy. I don’t want to extend our drive by going further south.

I’ve also though of Baden-Baden in Germany. Steve’s been working on his German for 2 years now and I’ve noticed a big change this trip. He is speaking more and seems more comfortable with the language. He is fluent in French and his Italian is pretty good too. A good person for me to travel with because I do not have a talent for languages (or am too lazy to learn).

This is a good time to be away from the UK. New PM today - Liz Truss, heaven help us. Gas/electric bills rising at alarming rates. Small businesses will be closing. Our yearly bill for gas/electric has gone from £1700/year last year, to £2880 right now, going up to £5290/year starting in October!! For a small house, under 1500sqft, built 20 years ago, well insulated. And we live in a more moderate climate than many parts of the UK!

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Hiking signs at Leiterli.

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Views on the hike.

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My view right now as I sit on the balcony tapping this into my iPad.

Here in Kentucky we are billed by the month. Gas and electric are two separate bills. Our electric bill for February is $286 and gas is $76. I think the electric bill was over $300 last month! And we have a heat pump.

 

[Georgia & Zig]

Monday September 19, 2022
Some sun, colder (mid 50s).

Tired! We did a big hike today and it wore me out. We took the gondola to the top, Leiterli, then did the long walk back down. For the first hour we walked back into the mountains with a good climb up to a ridge, Gryden. Then on a narrow path across the ridge. A bit further along and you start the decline through fields and woods. It is about 3 hours from there walking down. It was a long walk - 7.97mi/541ft ascent/5hr.

The sun was out for the first two hours and even though it was only around 54F it felt warm. After our lunch, when we started down, the sun disappeared. It reappeared occasionally but it would have been better if it was sunny the whole hike.

It is a lovely walk and we do it every time we are here, but today the descent (1000m) and length (5 hours) was a bit too much for me, but I did it. We took some extra breaks. I was hoping for a hot chocolate and kuchen at Wallegg Stube, a mountain restaurant towards the end of the hike, but it was closed for repairs!

I had another hike with a big descent planned for tomorrow, but I think we will take a day off again and drive into Gstaad.

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Starting out from Leiterli. You can see the ridge, Gryden, that we will reach in an hour.

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Steve walking across Gryden.

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Another shot of Gryden.

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Looking back at the climb to Gryden.

Zig wants to do it!