Arrived back very late last night from Switzerland, after 17 hours on the road – or in this case on the tracks. Left Wilderswil hotel at about 7.40 Swiss time, and arrived home about 23.40 Norwich time. Journey was as follows:
Train from Wilderswil to Interlaken East, then Interlaken East to Bern, then Bern to Lausanne, TGV Lausanne to Paris Gare du Lyon, bus to Gare du Nord, Eurostar to St Pancras, Circle Line to Liverpool Street, train to Norwich. In between we had a croque madame (or in Dot’s case monsieur), at a cafe outside the Gare du Nord with our friends Peter and Joan Altman, from Hertfordshire.
The whole enterprise had started just over a week before, after Sunday Communion and lunch, when we got the rather full train to Cambridge, where we changed for King’s Cross – equally full. But we got seats OK. Our hotel, the California, was very close to the station and the room was comfortable, though at the top of three flights of stairs.
We walked across to St Pancras to check the meeting place for the following day and had a meal at Carluccio’s. Watched Poldark and went to bed by 10.15pm. Didn’t sleep particularly well, as usually happens when anticipating an early start next day.
On Monday morning we were up at 6, had quite a good breakfast at 7 (scrambled egg, bacon, sausage) and happily found that not only could we check out, we could also leave. We were at St Pancras by about 7.50 and met our manager Richard Johnson, who started as he meant to continue by being vague about where we should meet at 8.30. It turned out to be the other side of the check-in, which meant we were about last through. Eurostar check-in is much like an airport, without the liquid obsession, and the travel conditions are not much better than an aeroplane: very little space and no window (in both directions).
At the Gare du Nord Richard had another bad moment, not being able to find the way to the Gare d’Est and having to receive help from other members of the party (18 of us). Still, we made it, and Dot and I had a drink and sandwich in the Starbucks and spent 70 cents each on the loo. Afterwards, spoke to Marian, an oldish woman from Wimborne, who’s travelling alone (and who later proved to be pretty nippy on her feet).
The TGV to Strasbourg was brilliant, travelling at nearly 200mph. We were upstairs (with a window) but very tired. Reached Strasbourg in two hours and booked into Le Grand Hotel. Nice room. Temperature outside 23C, a trend that was to continue. In the evening the group walked 15 minutes to a restaurant which was pretty average. Heavy rain overnight.
Tuesday was again dry and warm. We had the morning to look round Strasbourg, which is a beautiful but very dangerous city for pedestrians, with cyclists (and in rare cases cars) appearing from all directions, or toutes directions, as the French have it. Anyway we visited the Cathedral, walked by the river and had a snack in a cafe before taking the train to Basel and then Interlaken and Wilderswil. From the station we walked gradually uphill for about ten minutes to the Hotel Alpenblick. We were upgraded to a room with a balcony because our large case had arrived courtesy of Baggageman and they needed somewhere to put it. Excellent meal of meat fondue in the evening. One of our group complained at having to cook his own food; he also thought our starts were too late, because he usually gets up at 5.30am. We had a good conversation with Peter and Joan, who were more on our wavelength and, interestingly, Jewish.
Another beautiful day on Wednesday, when we were again free to do as we liked. Eventually decided on the Schilthorn, a high point with a revolving restaurant famous for its use in the 1968 Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, starring (for once only) George Lazenby. Met Nigel and Angela from Devon on the station and travelled with them: train to Lauterbrunnen, cable car and train to Mürren, walk through the village, then two more cable cars to the top. Stupendous views of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
Had tea and coffee in the revolving restaurant and ventured out onto the mountain, where we ate our sandwiches (packed lunch every day). Stopped off at Birg on the way back (Nigel and Angela had gone one ahead), to do the “Thrill Walk” around the mountain, part on metal, part cable, part glass. Not as death-defying as it sounds, but you had to concentrate. Bumped into our Devonian friends again on the way back, and bought some postcards from an Australian. On our return we took aperitifs on the hotel terrace to celebrate the owners’ 25th wedding anniversary. They were very welcoming, and so were their staff. The food was uniformly excellent.
Thursday was another sunny day – cooler at first but later very warm. On an organised excursion we took the cog railway from Wilderswil for a 7km journey steeply upwards to the Schyninge Platte (shining plateau). Great views again. Had drink with Peter and Joan, then went for a walk (Joan’s back is a bit dodgy, so they had to avoid steep walks). Met Marian, who walked further and faster than us, though she looks about ten years older.
Sat and ate lunch and thought we saw climbers on the Eiger. Bought sunglasses in case of fierce sun on Jungfrau as warned by company, then caught train back at 2.21. Eight of our party had left early, and we had a good conversation with a Swiss couple who had spent some time living in Toronto. Back at Wilderswil Dot and I decided to go to Interlaken East for a coffee and beer (we had free travel within a prescribed area, and there were no cafes in Wilderswil). Wrote postcards by river after emerging from station by wrong exit and taking a table at a hotel.
Had a really bad night with diarrhoea, so decided as it was another free day on Friday to start with a walk round the village, which proved very enjoyable. Ended up down by the river and went to Interlaken East by train again, this time finding a cafe on a tree-lined street. Returned to the hotel for lunch, and although I was still feeling groggy (though my stomach had settled) we took the train to Grindelwald, where Dot bought a few presents while I took it easy, mainly in the Tourist Information Centre, watching ice hockey training.
Afterwards we had wine in a cafe and watched the mountains, which were very close here. The town is completely dominated by the Eiger, and I was able to see that what we had taken for climbers previously were two large upright rocks. BY the time we arrived back at Wilderswil on the train, I was feeling better. Had bath. At dinner had longish talk with Joan and Peter, mainly about synagogues and churches. Another good meal, but I cut back to get my stomach back on track. It seemed to work.
Saturday, October 1, was the big day. Needless to say, there was rain as forecast, but only a few drops on the way to the station. We caught the 9.10 to Grindelwald, where we changed to a rack and pinion train up to Kleine Scheidegg, a magnificent viewpoint. From here we took the Jungfrau express – a 50-minute journey up through tunnels in the Eiger and the Mönch (a couple of five-minute stops to look through viewing windows at the Eigerwand and the Eismur) to the Jungfraujoch station, known as “the summit of Europe” at 3471 metres (11,388 ft). By way of comparison the cable ride up the Aiguille du Midi eight years ago took us to 3842 metres. Of course, that’s in France.
It was quite cloudy on the top, but we got some reasonable views. There was a middling Eispalast and a lift to the very top, plus opportunities to get out on to the snow, which was very slippery. We were lucky enough t o see the clouds lift so that we could get a view of the Aletschgletscher. We stayed for three hours and returned by a different route, via Wengen and Lauterbrunnen, which was if anything even more spectacular. A guard took a group photo at the top, using Peter’s camera. Peter is a photo-phanatic.
At supper we were on the table of death: two Bournemouth supporters, the tour manager and Ronald, who has absolutely no conversation. Bad night sleep-wise too.
Sunday was our last full day, and it was raining quite convincingly as we headed for the station. After the trip to Interlaken East, we went up the Harder funicular (disdaining the easy one), which was extremely steep. As use rose through the clouds we got some great views, and there was no rain at the top. We had a drink in the restaurant with Peter and Joan and another couple, then Dot and I did a 100-minute Rundgang that turned out to be pretty steep in places, particularly descending at the end. Saw very few others.
When we got back its was sunny, and we had another drink before heading back to the hotel earlier than usual so that we could pack. Quite an exercise deciding what should go in the big case that would not arrive home till some time after we did. Another nice meal ended in a whip-round for the excellent waiter (we had collected for his assistant the night before: it was her last night at the hotel).
Today we have been recovering. We arrived home to find our new shower installed and other jobs done, but the house was full of dust, which Dot has now expunged, and in some disarray because we had had to leave room for the workmen to do their stuff. All is now well and we are about to have supper (7.30pm). We have just been to the shop. Earlier this morning I went up to the pensioners’ coffee spectacular, and then came back.