Paradise above the clouds PART TWO....

Part Two of my Swiss travels.......

DAY FIVE - Tuesday 20th January 2015
 Today we walked along the panoramic path to Riederalp again. We were quite late leaving the chalet so we had lunch when we got there. We found a lovely hotel called 'Edelweiss' it was beautifully decorated with hanging wooden Edelweiss. It was sat at the bottom of the nursery slope so we sat watching people progressing with their skiing or snowboarding.

For lunch I had a Tuna Mayo sandwich (or the Swiss version!) & it was very tasty.

Riederalp is also a pretty little village perched on the edge of the mountain but it didn't have the same feel as Bettmeralp, it seemed a lot more quieter. There appears to be a lot to do in the summer, when the snow melts away a Golf Course is uncovered in the centre of the village & I think you could walk for miles.

After lunch, we took the cable car down to a very small village called Greich which was about half way down. We didn't realise quite how we were getting off, I expected a proper station. But we literally got off the cable car suspended mid air at a glorified pylon! We stepped off the safety of the cable car onto a platform & into a lift that took us down the pylon to the floor below. I wasn't very happy about this experience! 

The village of Greich was tiny with a few houses & the unmistakable church. We found our walking path marker which was leading us to Betten where we will get the cable car back up to Bettmeralp. Unfortunately the path was a long road but only a couple of cars passed us so it wasn't as bad as we first thought. The road was pretty flat & we had great views of the mountains around us. We made it to Betten & boarded the smaller cable car up to Bettmeralp.

DAY SIX - Wednesday 21st January 2015
Today we planned to hire sledges & ride the sledge run from the Egishorn which is further up the valley from Bettmeralp. We'd read about a specially made 13km sledge run but when we enquired at the Tourist Information Office they informed us that it wasn't open yet as there hadn't been enough snowfall towards the bottom of the run & it would be dangerous :(
She suggested that we hired sledges in the village & because the other run wasn't open we were welcome to use the walking path down to Betten.....so we did! 

 Bye Mum!!

 We hired wooden sledges from the Derby Intersport shop for 8 CHF (£6) each.  

 A lot of the path to be to walked as it was either too flat or the snow was too deep for the sledge to move. The walking time was about 2 hours 30 minutes but we probably did it quicker with the bits when we could use the sledges.

 There was hardly anybody walking on the path so we didn't get in the way unlike past holidays where you share the sledge run with walkers & you're constantly trying to avoid wiping out a walker!

As we neared Betten you could tell the snow was getting thinner.

 We stopped at a little restaurant next to the cable car station where we had lunch & a drink.
Back up the cable car, we took the sledges back. Tom & I had booked a snowboard lesson for the next day so we got fitted out with boards, boots & a helmet.

DAY SEVEN - Thursday 22nd January 2015
We had a leisurely morning in the chalet as our lesson wasn't until 2pm. Mum, Dad & Tm watched the Australian Open & I caught up on my blog & did some reading.
The weather was forecast to be rubbish today but it turned out to be glorious sunshine & blue skies. 
We had soup for lunch & at around 1.45pm we made our way to the meeting point. 

We met our instructor called Chris (I think!) he spoke English very well. We when first arrived there was already a couple of guys starting a ski & snowboard lesson so I was happy as it was flat BUT then panic struck when he said we were going up the slope! After a strenuous walk carrying the board we made it to the top, I was ready for a sit down.

To get us used to the boards, Chris made us walk backwards & forwards with one foot strapped in. Once we'd mastered (!!) then, then we strapped the other foot in to get the sensation of riding properly. This was the point that I had my first bail out! lol
We then continued to gain extra skills like turning left & right.

 I was absolutely shattered after the hour & half lesson.
Having tried both skiing & snowboarding now, I'd say the latter is harder & more energy draining but I was tense from the start. I think once I get more confident & comfortable I will relax & it will feel less hard work. We progressed well, Tom more than me, but nowhere near to being able to go properly down the mountain.....I'd either kill myself or someone else!
When I was sat back in the chalet reflecting on the lesson, I did enjoy it. I found it hard & was getting very frustrated with myself. I think Chris may have learnt a few new English swear words. I will definitely book another lesson if we come again next year.
The lesson was 75 CHF (£52) for both of us & 63 CHF (£44) to hire the board, boots & helmet. 
We hired our things from Derby Sport & we learnt to Snowboard with the Swiss Ski School.


DAY EIGHT - Friday 23rd January 2015
Our last day :(
We woke up to to Bettmeralp being in the clouds. The sun & blue skies kept poking through but then the clouds would cover it up again.

We decided to go all the way down the cable car to Betten Talstation, get the train to Fiesch & then a cable car up to Fiescheralp. 
The cable car literally took us up & through the clouds, it was a wonderful sight. Once out of the clouds we were greeted by clear blue skies & sunshine.


Now we knew the weather was fab, we decided to carry on up to the Eggishorn for lunch.
The views from the top were out of this world. 360 degree views of beautiful mountains. Up here we got a better view of the Glacier, you could even see the Eiger, Monch & Jungfrau. With the binoculars you could even make out the Sphinx on top of the Jungfraujoch.
I find it hard to describe to people who have never been, it's just magical. It really has to be seen to be believed.


























































We had lunch & came back down the cable car to Fiescheralp as the walking paths are closed from the top in the winter.






















 Once down we found the path & headed back to Bettmeralp. It was a lovely walk with constant views of the mountains around us.























After around an hour we came to the restaurant we stopped at on but from the opposite direction. We sat outside in the beating sunshine & had a drink, none of us wanting to leave this beautiful place :(













We dragged ourselves out of the chairs & then climbed back up the hill we conquered the other day & then back down into Bettmeralp.


























As we got nearer to the village the clouds came down & soon the blue sky had disappeared. It was snowing when we arrived back at the chalet.












I really didn't want to leave Bettmeralp, I loved it there.I think we'd picked a good week as the village wasn't massively busy but peak season started the Sunday after we left & there was already huge queues at the bottom cable car station waiting to get up.
I will definitely be trying to visit in the summer to see it looking completely different & if I'm lucky enough, I'll be seeing it again in its winter wonderland glory.

Thank you for taking the time to read all about my recent holiday - I hope you enjoyed it :)
I'll be writing a review on our Bettmeralp accommodation soon so stay tuned for that x

Paradise above the clouds PART ONE.....

So, it's time for my first proper blog post....I apologise in advance for how long this post is so I've divided it into two

parts so it doesn't feel so bad!

I thought I'd share with you my recent holiday to Switzerland. It has become a Marriott family tradition to disappear to the mountains for a week in January (normally around my Dad's birthday). Mum & Dad started going ages ago, then Tom & I were like 'hey can we come?!' so for the past three years we've gatecrashed their holiday :)

Each year we have been to a different part of Switzerland, so this year it was Bettmeralp. Mum, Dad & Henry visited there in the summer & had already decided that was where the winter trip was going to be.

Bettmeralp. What can I say about Bettmeralp? It is the most beautiful little Swiss village perched on the edge of the Bettmerhorn & I fell in love instantly. have a look at their website to find out more info. 

It is everything I love about Switzerland. The views are unbelievable, I found myself unable to actually take in where I was & what my eyes were seeing. Nothing makes me more happy (apart from a massive bag of sweets) than being amongst the Swiss mountains & I am so lucky to be able to experience this piece of paradise.

Like all of my favourite Swiss villages, Bettmeralp is car free & the only way to get there is by Cable Car. 

DAY ONE - Friday 16th January 2015

As with every time I am going away, I am still working sending emails/quotes etc until midnight so was slightly annoyed when I had to set my alarm for a 4.30am departure :( The alarm was set for 3.30am as I hadn't even finished packing but something went wrong....I was awoken by Mum going down the stairs, thinking I'd got ages yet I had a glance of my phone & it read 4.10am!!! ARRGGHHH!! 

Even more annoyed than when I went to sleep, I dived out of bed & into the bathroom. Did my make up in record time & luckily I'd already decided what I was wearing to travel in. We'd all slept past our alarms & surprisingly Dad was rather calm about the situation. The car was packed we us & our luggage by 4.50am & we were off to Luton. We got held up in roadworks which put us behind schedule even more. 

Once we'd checked in & gone through security, there wasn't any time to sit around waiting. There was just time for us to nip into Boots to grab some lunch for the train journey. I hate waiting in airports, it's sooooooo boring now you're an adult so even though we were quite close to the mark, I didn't mind being later to the airport than planned.

I'm not a great flyer, as I got older it's just got worse. I put it down to the fact I have a very over-active imagination so I'm always thinking about the worse that could happen. A few years ago, I started to suffer with very mild panic attacks which were bought on by being nervous/scared & flying was one of those things.  I've managed to control it now by occupying my brain with magazines, books, food or music. Having said that, I've only been on short haul (1-2 hours max) flights since then so it might be a different story on a long haul journey!

breakfast time

After a pain free flight (phew!) we arrived in Switzerland! We flew to Geneva but it was too cloudy to have the normal view over the mountains & Lake Geneva as we come into land. We  grabbed our luggage & headed towards to train station which is situated underneath the airport...handy! We passed the florist that I always have to stop & take a nosy at. Our train was sat waiting for us so we climbed aboard & got comfy for a 3 hour journey across the mountains. 

The train took us around the Lake Geneva, all the way round to Montreux, a couple more stops & it left the edge of the Lake & headed inland. We then travelled through the valley with mountains on both sides of us but no snow yet :( At last we reached Brig where we were to change trains. We had travelled through French speaking Switzerland into German speaking Switzerland. In Brig we boarded a smaller mountain train which was taking us to Betten Train/Cable Car station, this only took 10-15 mins. Still no snow :( 

At the Cable Car station there are two cars to can use to get up to Bettmeralp. The smaller one stops at the village Betten, which is just below Bettmeralp or the larger one does direct. We went for the large. 





Now, I'm also not a big fan of Cable Cars. Which is strange as I've spent most of my life travelling on them....it's gotta be the over-active imagination again! After a 10 minute ride we arrived in Bettmeralp & there was SNOW!! Plenty of snow :) 



The weather wasn't great but we knew that snow was expected. Our Chalet was situated behind the Cable Car station so after a very long faff finding the way to it we arrived in our little cosy home for the next week. YAY!
We unpacked & headed out to the Co-op to fill up the cupboards with food. Tom stayed at the Chalet as he wasn't feeling very well. Before we went into the supermarket, we stopped at the local bakery/cafe for a hot chocolate. It was dark outside now so I couldn't get a sense of where we were but I was looking forward to seeing what I wake up to tomorrow :)


DAY TWO - Saturday 18th January 2015
Today is Dad's birthday :) Unfortunately, we didn't wake up to a clear blue sky but one filled with fluffy white snow. it literally snowed all day. 

We decided to take a walk through the village to help get our bearings. Mum & Dad wanted to show us the apartment they stayed in when they visited last summer so we went in search of that. 




















We walked to the other end of the village & found a restaurant called Walliserstube where we chose to have lunch.
It was typically Swiss, decked out in wood with cow bells hanging from every available space. Everybody had Goulash (a thick soup/broth with vegetables & meat), I'm not too keen on it so opted for a cheese & bread combo with a bowl of chips. Delicious. The waitress that served us was very friendly & spoke brilliant English. 

After we'd finished lunch we ventured back into the village. We enquired about Snowboarding lessons for Tom & I, hire of boards, boots etc & also sledges. We nipped into the Co-op again & then back to our Chalet. We tucked ourselves into our snowy cabin for the evening waiting to see what the next day would bring us.

DAY THREE - Sunday 19th January 2015 

We woke up to clear blue skies & it was the first time I could actually see where we were & the beautiful mountains that surrounded us.




















our second day saw us take a leisurely walk along the panoramic path from Bettmeralp to the next village of Riederalp. The weather was beautiful, we caught our first glimpse of the Matterhorn in the distance which is situated at the town of Zermatt. If you aren't familiar to the distinctive mountain then it's the one used on the Toblerone packaging.
It was a flat walk, it probably took us around 45 minutes with lots of little Chalets dotted along the way, I even found one called 'Lisa'.
Once in Riederalp, we had a new set of mountains to look at & looking at the map there was endless walks available. In some resorts, the winter walking is very limited compared to the summer but here the walker hadn't been forgotten in favour of the skier.
We decided to take the Cable Car up to Moosfluh & then walk down to Bettmeralp via a mountain restaurant for lunch. After a 10 minute gondola ride we arrived at the top of Moosfluh & the views were spectacular. Straight away you are faced with the great Aletsch Glacier, it is the largest Glacier in the Alps & it went on for miles. We walked down the snowy path towards Riederalp. Typical of the efficient Swiss, the paths are all clearly marked with the purple poles to indicate the walking path. You could still see the yellow walking summer signs, sometimes almost hidden beneath the snow which shows you how deep it was!

After an hour or so, we reached our lunch destination a restaurant on the edge of the ski slope called Chuestall Blausee. There were lots of skiers, snowboarders & walkers sat outside in the sunshine eating & drinking. We found a table & took in the atmosphere. Ordered our lunch & refuelled for the last leg of our walk.
This time we were walking away from Riederalp & headed towards Bettmeralp. As we neared the bottom we could see the Bettmersee, a little lake situated just above the village but it was completely covered in untouched snow & I couldn't help but wonder how frozen it was!
We headed back into the village & stopped at the bakery/cafe for a hot chocolate & cake. yum yum. 

DAY FOUR - Monday 19 January 2015

Mr Sunshine was out again today so we decided to do a walk that Mum & Dad did in the summer. It started at the other end of the village . At the start was a rope obstacle course (like Go Ape) which is open in the summer & looked like lots of fun.
We gradually climbed up through a snowy forest which felt like Narnia. 
At times it was very steep & its not easy walking on snow so we had a few pit stops. We made it out above the trees & faced the last leg which was VERY steep & hard going but I knew lunch was at the end so that kept me going! At the top we could see an inviting restaurant waiting for us. After a steep descent we made it! 









We found a table tucked upstairs next to a roaring fire.


Lunch was delicious, I chose a speciality of the restaurant which was pasta with ham & a cheese sauce - amazing. The waitress was extremely helpful, trying to translate everything on the menu for us.

After filling our bellies with yummy hot food, we headed back out & made our way back to Bettmeralp. Thankfully it was much easier on the old lungs coming down but not the legs! We were back in Bettmeralp in half the time & made a quick stop at the Co-op before settling in our cosy chalet for the evening.  

Part Two coming soon......