Snow, snow and chocolate

From Paris to Basel (Switzerland) on an overnight train (where no sleep was had), then having to wait at Basel for the office to open so we could validate our Swiss Passes, then onto Interlaken, I was just a tad tired when we rocked up at our hotel and was told by the manager to go up to Jungfrau now because they weather is changing overnight. Aaarrrhhh, I need sleep. But somehow we managed it, and it was defiantly worth it! I’d seen snow in Flagstaff, Arizona, but this was REAL snow, unbelievable beauty.

And yes, the weather did turn bad overnight and for the next three days you couldn’t see more than a metre in front of you up at the peaks, according to the sky cams. At the tourist bureau we were told we came in between seasons, which meant that their were no beginners skiing lessons as it wasn’t winter and none of the hiking tracks were open because it’s not summer. Hmmm, doesn’t leave you with too many options. We found out about some caves though and me being a cave enthusiast insisted we go check em out. St. Beatus Caves are situated on the side of Lake Thun. Bit of a trek from the bus stop up the side of a mountain to reach their entrance. I’d never seen water inside caves before but these had a right river gushing through them. The water comes from the mountains as the snow melts, so explorers are only allowed in the cave during winter whilst water is still held as snow and ice.

The next day we had planned on going to the Kandersteg Scout Centre but on arrival in Kandersteg it was kinda snowing rather heavily which ruled out the hours walk, and buses were too infrequent. Beautiful little town so we stayed and had lunch and I threw a few snow balls at mum who didn’t really appreciate it, hey, its every kids dream to throw a snowball aint it? Well, what better target! Ended up catching the train down to Brig, a very lazy quite town with cobblestone streets.

Again we had a plan and again snow interfered. We were gonna head up to Shiltorn, a revolving restaurant where a scene from James Bond was shot. Got half way and were told it wasn’t worth going all the way up. Fun journey though, with rides in cable cars and trudging through knee high snow to get a good photo. Back in Interlaken we visited the chocolate factory, mmmm, chocolate. It’s the absolute truth when I say Swiss chocolate is the best, nothing beats it.