Christmas in Switzerland!

I was worried there wasn’t going to be any snow in Interlaken itself given it’s only about 600m above sea level... but it was absolutely covered and the snow was bucketing down! Matt and I stayed in a place called the City Oberland, smack bang in the middle of the town. Right above a Latino bar which was a bit worrying – though I think given it was winter there wasn’t too much noise... I could imagine in Summer it would be quite loud. Mum had booked a Riverhouse which was great for all of us... Somewhere to lounge around and we took it in turns to cook dinner which was handy. First afternoon we organised our ski lessons and ski hire.... really straight forward, only shame was that we were staying about 30mins from the ski fields (Grindelwald) but at the same time it was good to be based in Interlaken for the shops etc .

First day of skiing I found very frustrating and painful! It took me pretty much the whole day just to learn how to stop properly! And the boots I got were way too tight on my foot... right length but I’ve obviously got a very fat foot! Lost all feeling in my toes after about 15 mins!! Not good! I was definitely the slowest learner out of the group... (Which even though we booked group lessons ended up being just us which was pretty cool)... Tash was better than she thought she was but lacked the patience of climbing back up the 3m hill to go down again... cause we were beginner beginners we didn’t get a lift .

I thought that when I took my boots off that afternoon my toes were going to be blue... but they weren’t which was a good thing I spose...

Next day was much better... Had exchanged my boots for a wider pair... and while it was still painful, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad... And we got a lift today (one of those rope ones where you just hold onto)!! We spent half the morning revising what we had learnt the day before... and there were a ‘couple more runs for Tracey’ before we were allowed down the proper beginner slope... he was very concerned about my stopping ability!!!.. Once we got going down the main slope everything we’d learnt came together and it was a lot more fun. I did manage to fall almost every run... and it was amazing how quickly our instructor could move when we were in trouble!... I found when the proper stopping method didn’t work, falling onto your bum did... I think there was a bit of a running joke going between the instructors and the lift operators about whether or not I would make it down the run (particularly that last steep bit) without falling... By the end of the third day I had really got the hang of it... but a lot can be said for doing some fitness preparation before going.... my legs had absolutely nothing left in them by the end....

First day of lessons there were 6 of us... then 4... then Belinda had a cold and she couldn’t continue just as she was really getting the hang of it ! So on day 3 there were 3... Matt was a bit more capable than I... though he was the first to manage to stack it getting onto the lift.... and Troy.... you’re just a show off!

It was sooo nice to relax the next day, Christmas eve... just wandered around town... had coffee (it was near closing time in this bakery and they had leftover croissants they had to get rid of for free.. it was sooooo hard to polish them off!!)... Kurt and Shreya had arrived the night before and Matt and Troy ended up taking them up to Grindelwald to show them around and sort out ski gear.... the 4 of them were keen for a Christmas Day ski... the rest of us just followed up on the train for lunch... it was great having the White Christmas... In the snow... gorgeous views.. snowball fights.... but overall it didn’t feel particularly ‘Christmassy’ but it was great having most of the family around. Didn’t realise just how much I was missing everyone!

We went to a restaurant in Interlaken for our Christmas Dinner.... Belinda and I ended up sharing a 3 course fondue... 1st course cheese. mmm... 2nd course was meat.. this was a bit too much to be honest... just dropped bits of meat into oil to cook... so was really heavy on the stomach... but 3rd course, of course, was chocolate!.... yummmeee.. Matt and Troy are of course quite used to all us McLeods by now... but hopefully we didn’t scare Shreya off too much!!

Boxing Day again was really relaxing... late brekkie... pack the bags... lunch.... dinner.... Bit of souvenir shopping... and lots of chilling!!

Unfortunately from here we split up a bit... Matt had to come back to the UK to work... and Kurt and Shreya were heading to Berlin for New Years... I was flying to Cologne where I would meet back with the rest of the crew who were travelling by train.

Kurt and I were both flying from Zurich about the same time and we had a couple of hours in Zurich which was nice though it was very very quiet...

Just as Kurt’s plane took off it started snowing quite heavily... my plane was about ½ hour delayed but thankfully we did get going and got to Cologne without a hitch....