Friday 18th July 2008

Our walk on Wednesday didn't go as well as anticipated due to Harry having abdominal pain for most of the day! He needed to go to the toilet and unfortunately the only toilet during the six hours on the mountain peaks was a hole in the ground in a small hut on a cliff edge! No running water so we had to wash our hands in the snow!

The weather, however, was perfect. It was so hot and we didn't encounter the same weather conditions as we did the year previously. There was a lot more snow this year that we had to walk through which was challenging in places and quite scary due to the sheer drops either side of the path. We knocked 35 minutes off our time from last year so had time to use the bathroom at the top of First, our destination. We took some stunning photos which I will upload at a later date. We caught the cable car back down to Grindlewald and then walked through the village to the station. As we had just missed a train we enjoyed lovely ice creams in a restaurant adjacent to the station. Back at the campsite we showered and then walked down to the lake.

Yesterday we had rain all day. We enjoyed a leisurely morning of Monopoly and then went to a retail park in Interlaken. Charlie bought a cheap pair of skate shoes ( £10). We found a Spar supermarket and stocked up on provisions including sandwiches for lunch. It was still raining so we drove to the river and ate our lunch sat in the car. We then walked to the pool and Graham and I swam 50 lengths whilst the children fought/played/dived etc.


We then walked to the Victoria Jungfrau to see if we could spot the Liverpool squad. We saw their coach ( the four wheeled version). Still raining so went to the top of the Metropole and had ice creams. Back at the caravan we played Monopoly and watched The Bee Movie again- which is great. Went to bed and read for ages. I'm two thirds of the way through A Voice in the Wind which I cannot put down.

The rain continued through the night but it has now stopped and the sun is shining and the day has the potential to be hot and sunny. We plan to drive to Grindlewald and Graham will walk up Pfingsteg. We will catch the cable car and meet him up at the top. The children will go on the rodelbahn before we all walk down.