Swiss Sunday

Most Sunday Mornings here in this Alpine Wonderland, we would make our way to this very hotel. We would sit outside, watch the world go by and enjoy the first Swiss hot chocolate of the holiday. In this part of Interlaken, ‘the world going by’ heavily featured watching paragliders landing just a few steps away, after a dramatic trip from the top of local mountains. Definitely thinking, they don’t make paragliders big enough to support my ginormous rear end…..

It’s been sometime since I’ve sat outside any cafe or hotel. It’s been 7 years since we sat outside in Interlaken. Life happens. But if life happens then just maybe it could be that a return to Switzerland is just a bit closer.

That would be wonderful.

I’m missing Swiss Heaven and Hawklad is as well. How could you not miss this special place. Let’s DREAM.

Waiting for his evening balanced meal. One night Pizza, another night sausages and French Fries. Guess what, he’s might be way bigger and older now, but the food order won’t have changed one bit. Happy Days….

Swiss Sunday

As I was trying to bake something just slightly edible for this weekends Great Bloggers Bake-off, my mind wandered to Switzerland. Memories flooded back in. Just how much we enjoyed the food there. Hawklad could be a really picky eater when he was a toddler, but it was never an issue in Switzerland. He loved the food there. He is not a great chocolate or cake eater but there he loved them. After every trip out from Spiez, we would walk past a small bakery restaurant on the way back to our hotel. Binoth on Seestrasse sold the most amazing cakes and confectionery. Hawklad would sprint into the restaurant to see what magical things he might try. They always had cakes designed like animals or really fun things. Happy memories. Is it really 2015 since we last tried those baking wonders.

There is something about having a beautiful walk then finding a wonderful cafe to sit outside, relax and take in the Alpine views. Definitely could do with that right now. New dreams are there to be had still.

I see the restaurant is temporarily closed at present … it better be open when we get back there……

Check out Mel’s wonderful site for more on the Great Bloggers Bake-off.

https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/2022/10/15/special-guest-poet-christine/

Swiss Sunday

As a kid, I felt trapped in a northern costal town. A town surrounded by sea and industry. Back in those days, travel was a rarity in this hard working environment. Money was tight, dreams confined. Like many from that windy, smokey town, we felt cut off from the world. The only world we had was what we could see and touch, which wasn’t much.

But one snotty nosed kid with big Joe 90 glasses (look that one up 🤣🤣🤣) would walk into town every Saturday morning. Armed with money from Dad to buy cod off the returning fishing boats. He would spend some time waiting for the boats to land on the beaches in the Amusements. Watching other kids play the latest versions of Space Invaders or PAC-MAN. But before that he would be found in the Town’s library, sat by the indoor goldfish pond (yep the library had one). Looking at pictures in mountaineering books, of exotic places, of exhilarating adventures. A life completely different to that found in this isolated, grey place. One place really captivated him. A magical looking place called Switzerland. One mountain hooked him. It looked ominous, it looked foreboding. Reading tales of heroism and tragedy on its sheer ice filled walls. He dreamt of being there, standing next to The Eiger.

Never in his wildest dreams did that kid ever imagine that decades later that seaside town would be history. He would have visited on many occasions that magical Swiss landscape, it was even better than he ever imagined AND his son would stand under the mighty Eiger.

You just never know what paths will open up when the time is right.

Swiss Sunday

Grindelwald….and not that Harry Potter wizard version.

That’s some train station. Waiting for a train was never a bind here at Grindelwald.

I have a real soft spot for this wonderful alpine village. First time I came to Switzerland. Arrived late on a Saturday night. The first morning in alpine paradise, a time before Hawklad, we headed out by train to this very place. Arrived at this station. As it snowed, we caught a cable car and headed into the clouds. Wandered around a world that I had never experienced before. Feeling like you could reach out and almost touch The Eiger Summit. Grindelwald was the door that opened this amazing land to me.

When I find the photos from that epic first trip I will share more but here are photos from a few years later. 2013. Is it really 9 years.

That’s a golf course with a view…

Wow Hawklad was a lot smaller.

I can’t wait for that next bit of Grindelwald.

Swiss Sunday

It’s time to spend a few moments walking amongst the lakes and mountains of alpine perfection. To remember precious family trips to Switzerland. But there is so much more. Every day I’m thinking more and more about future trips. Living out hopes and dreams there. It won’t happen today but it can definitely still happen in the future. You just know when something feels right.

Swiss Sunday

Another walk down memory lane. Special places like Switzerland help create everlasting memories. So on this Easter weekend let’s go back ten years. Back to an Easter weekend in 2012. A wonderful family weekend in Switzerland. Time to remember and smile.

A hotel gift
Traditional singing on the lake boat
Another hotel gift
Hotel room view
Just had to play on this

Swiss Sunday

It’s just turned Sunday and I am dreaming. Dreaming big. Dreaming of the adventures of a lifetime. Dreaming of family memories still to be made. Dreaming of new times in Switzerland.

It’s been 6 long years since our last time amongst The Alps. So much has changed since that holiday. To our family, to the world. But Switzerland is still there waiting. New life doors can still open. After the last few years it’s easy to forget just how wonderful life can be. But it really can be. This can be such a wonderful life. This is such a beautiful planet, places like Switzerland prove that.

Swiss Sunday

It’s just turned Sunday here. The national news has just been on the radio and it’s grim yet again. What has happened to England, I don’t recognise it anymore. The wind is howling. It’s pouring down. The dog is refusing to go outside in that. It is definitely feeling like it’s February and my mind is again wandering to another country. I wish I was in Switzerland. On holiday there – YES. Living there – DEFINITELY

How that happens, I have absolutely no idea. But it does sound good. Can you see why? I can….

Swiss Sunday

I love Switzerland. So many holidays, so many memories. It’s such a special place. I would move there in a heartbeat. Hopefully these Sunday homages give just a feel for why I feel that way. But it’s not just me. Hawklad feels the same way. It’s a country where he feels comfortable and safe. He finds it exciting and full of wonder. Yes Switzerland is special.

Moors

The North Yorkshire Moors late on a cold January evening. This is truly an amazing planet with so much staggering beauty to be experienced and enjoyed. It’s really there, we just need to remember to lift our gaze upwards.

Back in 2016 that was an alien concept. Gazing upwards. Why when all I could see was never ending emptiness with no sign of light. Robbed of dreams and a way forward. Refusing to move from a door which had abruptly slammed shut and as long as I waited, would never open again. I felt like screaming but what was the point, who would hear, I’m not even sure I would have heard or even cared.

But now in 2022, as I watch the setting sun cast a golden light over the moors, my gaze is lifted once more.

Yes life might still be tough somedays but it’s good to dream again. Different dreams, bigger dreams. It feels wonderful to want to experience the world and what it has offer again.