Baby steps in the Alps.....

Morning all! Well, here I am, in central Switzerland, high up in the Alps near Luzern. I only managed to book a day or so before I actually left, and had to fly on a scheduled airline, because there was a shorter distance to walk at airports, and no mad scramble for seats, and the train connections worked well. In theory. There was fog at Heathrow, so we were delayed and hour, and I just managed to get the last direct train of the day. I was totally shattered, but hey, I got here, and my sister was on the station platform waiting for me. If I had missed it, I would have had to make 3 changes, and then get a bus, and lugging 20kgs of luggage, it was not an option. Susan? You may have met me sooner than planned! (And Thursday will be wonderful - I will email you!)

Switzerland is stunning all year round, but magical at Christmas time. The village is lit by thousands of little white lights everywhere, and I just love it. This place feeds my soul, but I may have mentioned that once or 470000 times before.

So I had a fairly quiet day recovering yesterday, and taking photos. It was cloudy, but I decided to walk to the mountain base, where my sister works, and, with my stabilizers, aka Leki poles, I managed to walk there and back! Slowly, and watching the snow and ice, and being ultra careful, but I WALKED there! It generally takes me 10 mins and yesterday took more like 40, but I don't care, because I walked.



And today, as I look out of the window here, the fog is dissipating, and there is blue sky appearing, and the camera and I will be out there again. Oh yes we will. And yes, I did all the exercises, and rested too, after I baked the apple cake, because my sister does not bake, and the house needed to smell of Christmas, and that means baking. I brought my recipe books from home, and today I will start on the mince pies too.

My brother-in-law's restaurant is absolutely beautiful, and I am so thrilled that it seems to be doing really well so far. He and his cousin are loving having their own place, and with the ski jumping carnival of thousands arriving this weekend, they should be really busy. If - no, WHEN you come to Engelberg, you must go there to eat!


Can you see the men sweeping the ski jump landing slope?

This is the path I took along the river back home. The river is frozen. This path goes to the bottom of the ski jump, and then I turn left to the house.

So. I am here. And the sun is rising above the mountains, and I will walk over to Marge again later. I can have a schalle there (latte) and watch the skiers come down the mountain. Sigh. Now i need to go and make some pastry. Oh does anyone know anything about baking at 1000m above sea level? Do I have to add extra baking powder? I am only asking because the apple cake was flatter than normal, although it still tasted great.

The fog is gone ...... I am off!