Looking Back

Hello everyone,

Pouring with rain here.  Stuart of Specimen Days (link on the left) posted a picture of the Alps on his journal and that got me to thinking back to a holiday I spent in Switzerland many years ago.  So I have spent the morning trying to find any photographs I still have and I did find a few.  Alas, like me, they are a little the worse for wear these days but I thought I would share them with you today.

I was eighteen and I went on the trip with my best friend Cathy R.  We were at school together.  We did a coach trip leaving from London, going through France where we did quite a few stops to see the war cemeteries.  That is when the scale of the fatalities in the two world wars really hits you, when you see thousands and thousands of headstones.  Most of us cried.

Then it was on to Switzerland where we stayed at Interlaken a truly beautiful place.  I was to find out years later that my beloved had also holidayed in exactly the same place and visited the same attractions just a few years previously.

I had platinum hair then so you could say I have come full circle!  Here is a snap of our group:

In case you miss me, I am fourth in from the left (squatting). The gentleman at the front is our tour guide who was with us all the way.  He was a real character and had us singing all the time - mostly The Happy Wanderer. As you will see there were people of vastly differing ages but we all got on tremendously, they were a great bunch of people.

We had the most beautiful hotel, all carved woodwork and a mass of hanging flowers and the staff were delightful.  I wish I still had the photo of our hotel but many photos seem to have been lost over the years. I can still remember the absolute freshness of the air and looking out onto mountains.  The food was wonderful and the service excellent.  Everyone was so friendly.

One of our excursions was to Grindlewald and, of course, wejust had to go up the mountains in the chair lift.  I must admit to getting just a little nervous the higher we got, just dangling in mid air and knowing that only a wire was holding us up and seeing the ground many hundreds of feet below.

We also went to Blausee, The Blue Lake and took a boat out.  It is a stunning place. The water really is bright blue and so clear you can see straight to the bottom which is covered in petrified trees.  The lake is full of trout that you could reach out and touch and surrounded by a wondrous  landscape, it really was a magical place.  We also visited the Trummelbach Falls.  The noise was ear-splitting and you go along tiny little slippery walkways with the falls thundering crazily beside you.  Looking down into that boiling cauldron of water, I was reminded of Sherlock Holmes and how he met his end.  I hung on tight to the rail! The falls are situated in the Lauterbrunnen Valley.  You have to really see Switzerland to truly appreciate it.  But I suppose to the locals it is just where they happen to live.  I do not think I could ever get tired of scenery like that.

One evening we took a ride around Interlaken and district:

We did so many wonderful things.  For both of us it was the first time away from our parents and every day seemed to bring new adventure.  Oh if only they had had videos or digital cameras then.

The highlight of the holiday was our trip to the summit of the Jungfrau which was taken by little train going up to the Kleine Scheidegg which is situated at the foot of the notorious north face of the Eiger mountain.  That was a wonderful experience I will never forget.  Seeing the swiss cows with the bells around their necks and being waved to by the herdsmen.  The alpine flowers at Kleine Scheidegg were something to behold.  We passed through long tunnels cut through the mountains but every so often the train stopped and you could climb off and look through various viewing windows.

Cathy and I did not have the correct shoes and it was feared at first that we would not be able to go as you had to have something that gripped well,  but a very nice (and handsome) Italian we had met in a local bar solved the problem by lending us two pairs of his sockseach. We were able to put these over our shoes and they proved adequate if not ideal.  Poor man, all he got back was a load of holes and very little in the way of socks.

We stopped at the Ice Palace.  It was my eighteenth birthday and what a way to spend it:

You can see the clock is made of ice but there where lots of other things as well, all sorts of ornaments and figures.  It was cold, but we did not notice.  You can see the Italian gentleman's socks were put to good use.

At the summit, we marvelled at the clouds which were below us. Looking in all directions we could see all the mountains, the Eiger, the Wetterhorn, the Monch and the Schreckhorn.  It was truly like standing on the top of the world and will live with me always.

Here I am on the Jungfrau:

How slim I was in those days.  The snow should be white of course but the photo has deteriorated. We all had to wear dark glasses in case of snow blindness because the sun was shining brightly.  We had a lovely meal  right at the top of the mountain.

My birthday was special as well. When we returned from the Jungfrau, the owners of the hotel had organized a birthday cake for me and everyone sang Happy Birthday. At that moment, I really did miss my parents and wished they could have been there to share in all the beautiful things we were experiencing.

We did lots of other things of course.  In the evenings we would frequently go to the centre of Interlaken and watch all the men dancing in their leather trousers and slapping  their thighs and listen to the bands.  We spent ages browsing thegift shops and the wonderful wood carvings that were on sale along with cuckoo clocks and carved wall plaques.  Alas, far too expensive for two eighteen year olds that were doing things on a tight budget.  We went dancing and we gazed at the mountains by moonlight.

I always said I would go back but alas I never did.  However, I will always hold wonderful memories of a wonderful country and its people.

I have enjoyed sharing these memories with you today.