Well…. travel by air at the moment is rather disastrous — I spend most of my days trying to reschedule or find lost luggage for my boss and his family… so I figured it would be best for Liam and I to do a driving holiday again this summer.
We’ve been deep into the worst drought ever in France… and relentless heat waves (actually one long heat wave that looks to not end for another few weeks). Undoubtedly the hottest summer I’ve ever experienced, and I am so thank for a) air conditioning in the office and b) the pool at home.
Anyway, summer 2022 saw Liam and I trying to chase the cooler weather in picturesque Switzerland. Unfortunately work is exceptionally busy this summer so I booked only 10 days so that my colleague doesn’t have to be on his own for too long… but 10 days is enough. Just. 7 days not enough 😉
The first week of our holiday will be spend in Grindelwald… a lovely small town in the Bern-Oberland area (stunning mountains)… at the foot of the Eiger North Face and the Jungfrau peaks.
It was a good 7,5 hour drive (plus a stop at Autogrill for a good italian sandwich and coffee). So we arrived in Grindelwald just before dinner time. It was perfect. The only down side is that Liam didn’t bring his headset so we spent a lot of time fighting for him to turn down the volume of his youtube on the phone so that I could hear the music on the radio. Driver always gets priority!!
Anyway — we made it. Our apartment is absolutely perfect. Cozy but not too small. Liam has what I think is possibly the worlds most comfortable sofa bed (and he is thrilled with it). Lola is free to wander (and we hope she doesn’t chase the owners cat). And I can sit on the terrace and have a cup of coffee and watch the sun set, and the admire alpenglow on the peaks across from us. I’m big on alpenglow 😉
We spent the first full day just exploring the town of Grindelwald and getting our bearings. Liam had asked for a ‘chill day’ after the long drive… (which I now regret as we ended up wasting one of the best weather days doing pretty much nothing)… but then again, I also want to make Liam happy. He’s not into all the adventure like I am, and was perfectly content to lie around the apartment and play with the dog all day.
To make it even more special, just before the sun set on our second night (the Sunday), a local man walked up the hill beside us, and set up his alpenhorn — and we were all treated to a bit of Alps dinner music as the sun started to go down.
Couldn’t ask for a better first impression.
Enjoy the photos. You will see an emphasis on Lola through the next 10 days. I think that Liam has started to realise that Lola is in her sunset years and her time with us will be fleeting. So he’s really made a huge effort to bond with her more and make the most of whatever time she still has left in our family. It was very heartwarming to see….
