Sunday walk around the lakes, St Moritz to Sils Maria

Despite some pretty sore muscles after so much dancing on uneven cobbled stone at the Dorf Fest, Marco, my very long- term friend and the person responsible for my having come to work in Switzerland, and I decided to walk around two of the fabulous lakes between Surlej and the lovely Sils Maria. It was perfect weather for walking, not too hot, no wind and dry. One can but marvel at the clarity of the lakes and rivers.

At Silvaplana we headed uphill away from the main path to a waterfall I have never visited before. It was amazingly beautiful and all the different shapes and sizes of the many cairns that had been so carefully constructed really added to the overall picture.

Some of the cairns were almost as tall as I am. Incredible that they stay up. It was a gorgeous place.

Then just around the corner was an area with what looked like a beach. What breathtaking views up the valley.

As we had seen yesterday, there were hundreds of butterflies everywhere, most very unwilling to be photographed, but with a little patience I managed it!

It was quite a busy track for walkers, bikers and joggers. I guess the weather was perfect for all of these activities. Luckily Marco and I found a fantastic spot for lunch. It was so great to spend the day together and catch up on news from the past year.

We didn't eat alone. This beautiful, quite hairy butterfly had obviously also found something it liked.

It was such a restful day, finished off with a  brilliant opportunity to watch dozens of kite surfers whizzing to and fro and sometimes leaping high into the air. The wind had picked up and out had come all the surfers. We figured they must have been really experienced to cope with the wind, the speed and the crowds.

It is so colourful and totally mesmorising. We stood watching for ages. It must be such fun, but neither Marco nor I could really envisage my doing that. Perhaps if I ever reach 100 I will give it a go to make the Guiness Book of Records 😀.

What a great weekend. It was tough to get back to work Sunday evening!

Zuoz - hard work but 'just stop and stare'

The first Friday of Camp 1 is shatteringly exhausting though a fabulous reunion of old friends and a meeting of wonderful new colleagues amongst the Sports staff. What a fantastic group of young people and they all do their job so energetically with care and compassion for all around them. What a huge team of servisors there is. 12 years ago we probably had at least half this number! We now have 163 kids in camp 1 plus 20 for the Junior Programm, a far cry from 2006 when we had 60 in total.

I don' know how many hours of meetings we had, but trying to translate and concentrate on what is being said at the speed of a TGV racing through the French countryside, is exceedingly tiring and certainly makes you realise you are back at work!

Saturday afternoon, and all my team of language teachers have arrived. What a joy to see friends returning year after year and to meet new members of our extraordinary team of talented and devoted teachers, plus of course Tom our fabulous assistant. Suddenly the team of workers for the camp has doubled and we sit down for our first meal together, without the children at this stage. It is a truly amazing experience, even the 12 th time round! We have people from New Zealand (3 in our language team), Georgia, Switzerland of course, Canada, America, Spain, Germany, England, Wales , Ireland and France. 

Imagine waking up to this view for a month. It makes even the hardest days worthwhile. The Maloja Snake, the long wispy cloud hangs down in the valley whilst silver- lined white puffy clouds cling to the mountain peaks.

Heavenly at any time of day. I am lucky enough to have a room with a door to the balcony, with this spectacular view as the sun sets over this unbelievably beautiful valley.

The first week was hectic, to say the least. 17 classes in several buildings on several floors at an altitude of 1700 metres certainly takes it out of you when you are trying to visit as many as possible in 3 hours. Generally very good classes, but of course always some testing children, some parents with conflicting ideas regarding the level and sometimes about the  behaviour of their little angels, road drilling outside classrooms making life troublesome, sometimes impossible for teachers , and marvelous weather causing problems because with closed windows due to the noise, the kids and teachers roasted! However, all in all, we were really happy and by day three I treated myself to an afternoon walk to one of my favourite tea spots, next door to the camping ground in Madulain. It was great to join Rene, Sandy, Lisa and Tine for a walkand to enjoy this super colourful and friendly restaurant.

The weekend was extremely necessary to recharge batteries and to visit both known and new areas of this lovely area. 

Saturday was spent with friends Antoinette and Claude. Every time I use my Ipad I thank Antoinette for her perfect farewell gift from academia just over one year ago. I have so enjoyed writing my blog and reminiscing about my previous trips whenever I get a spare moment to look back over my blogs.

We took the little red train up the valley to the pretty little town of Lavin, a relatively unknown town and yet tremendously well kept, with many very old typical Engadine houses with colourful gardens and breathtaking views along the valley. A garden not to be missed was the nursery which supplies many of the local hotels and restaurants with flowers. Situated at the bottom of the town, next to the milky- coloured , fast flowing River Inn, it has the most fabulous flower and vegetable beds. It was as if we had arrived in paradise!

Fantastic views in all directions on this perfect day. Talk about green and lush! It was incredible. I guess the short but substantial evening downpours over the past days have been perfect for the meadows and flowers.

I could just imagine sitting at the riverside with a wine in the evenings. What bliss!

Just an hour away upstream, after a walk along the river and through forests, we arrived at yet another picturesque town, Susch. This is one of my favourite lesser known towns and one of the first I visited 12 years ago. Not much has changed and after all these years my favourite sgraffiti and paintings were still there. This time I had the chance to enjoy them with Antoinette and her hubby.

Whether you are admiring major artworks covering the entire side of a house or whether your attention is drawn to cute and quirky sgraffiti, you can not fail to be captivated. Of course, the window boxes defy description. I still think that there must be weekly classes in schools to learn the art of window box gardening and wood stacking!

As in Saas Fee we truly enjoyed the company of a vast assortment of insects and butterflies throughout the day. This butterfly was very beautiful and willing to stay still for a while.

Almost at the end of a 20000 step walk to Zernez, we gazed back at the valley we had just passed through. Just gorgeous!

Before reaching the town, in the middle of nowhere we came across this extraordinary book cupboard, the wooden structure which looks a bit like a giant bird house. Imagine finding information about the library in a spot like this, plus finding about 20 books in there for people to take. Incredible.

It had been a fantastic walk, and although weary,  I summoned up the energy to dance the night away at the Dorf Fest. Great evening with brilliant music. Can't wait for another day's walk tomorrow. 

Zuoz and Madulain

My little wine barrel is keeping me sane for sure as preparations for the biggest camps ever reach a crescendo! I just love my walk to work. Can therebe a more idyllic way to start the day

Often low fog hangs in the valley and hills just above the little path I take across the meadows towards Zuoz. 

Views do not really matter because there is so much to see close at hand with the fabulous carpet of flowers as far as the eye can see. Seeing such beauty early in the morning, listening to the bird song and feeling the cool air on the cheeks is just the best way to begin a busy day. 

The incredible thing about the morning fog is that it can disappear in seconds . It is as though someone has opened the curtains and let in the day!

As you approach Zuoz you pass the ski lifts. Hard to imagine that these gorgeous meadows with the horses lazily munching away were only a few months ago covered with snow and people swishing down the slopes.

I love winter but the colours in summer are just so intense.

10 minutes more and I arrive in Zuoz. How I love this little village. It does not matter how many years I work here, there is always a feeling of wonder when I get to its central square, so stunning in the early morning light and with nobody around!

Wherever you look, it is like something out of a fairy tale

What a place to live for five weeks each year! I am so fortunate!

The bear which wanders in to this area each summer is believed  to be back ,but I hope the only one I see is this one!

After a hard day's work it is so restful to arrive back at the campsite and to admire what seems to be a regular occurence - evening rain and spectacular rainbows

Not to mention the amazing light on the mountain peaks. 

I call this peak in the picture below ' the Nipple peak'

Unbelievably beautiful time of the evening and time to enjoy a glass of NZ wine with my Swiss neighbours Renata and Matthias. We did a good swap. A litre of milk, which I had forgotten to buy, for a glass of NZ wine for each of them . We were all happy!

Back to work for a couple of hours in the evening in my cosy little Hobbit House. I must have a short break tomorrow morning and walk down the valley a bit. Weather forecast is great!

Back to the wine barrel in Madulain

After an incredibly week in Saas Fee  full of magnificent experiences , I am on one of the five red trains taking me to Madulain where my wine barrel accommodation awaits me - hopefully without snow and storms this year!

I opted for the longer journey once again because the scenery is just stunning, even in today's slightly dreary weather. Areas I saw in the sun and with clear skies five days ago, looked very different, but today it is much more mystical! 

I actually love it when the mountains seem to be hiding behind the curtains of low fog. 

Even the Oberalpsee which had such marvelous reflectionslast time, still looked lovely in the rain. It didn't seem to put off all the fishermen.

The area around Sedrun looks wonderful, with its deep river valleys and  a huge dam high up in the mountains. The golf course in the valley is huge and must be pretty spectacular to play on. You can just see all the bunkers along the course.

As I got on the train which went through the Albula tunnel, the weather started to clear with lovely views of Filisur, a very picturesque town/ village tucked into the valley

Then through to the Engadine, back to my summer home.

On arrival things looked a little promising compared to last year, but dark clouds were certainly looming over the surrounding mountains! My wine barrel is extremely cute. Not much room to move, so I cannot imagine how two people would cope. I think I need to get organised or it could be quite tricky to get to bed!

The table folds down and makes a really good size double. This will be much better than the skinny singles In the other barrel. It has electricity, radio and a two- ring burner, so I have just sat down to a feast of vegetarian red curry with rice ( cheats meal!) and a side salad. 

The barrel looks like this from outside

So delightful! The dark clouds have now shed their load, plus a little thunder but thankfully no lightning yet . It is wonderfully cool, about 12 degrees I would guess. Fine for me! No sign of snow yet, but who knows!

So, that's it for the day. Work tomorrow.

Spielboden - Saas Fee last day

What an incredible holiday this has been from start to finish. It is hard tomagine that only 5 days ago I rode in a number of cute little red trains making my way through gorges, over passes and along glacial rivers, from the Engadine to the Wallis in Switzerland, not so far apart as the crow flies, but 8 hours plus by train and bus because the mountains just get  in the way 😀

So Saas Fee has been a week of spectacular mountain and glacial scenery, culminating today in a trip to Langflueh, at 2870 metres, nestled in between the two tongues of the mighty Feegletscher ( the fairy glacier of immense proportion!)

To the left the bottom part of the ski field we visited two days ago, and to the right the other section of the Fee Glacier and the beautiful turquoise alpine lake.

What a day of magical moments I had.  For a scaredy cat who hates heights, I managed to do so much and enjoy every second. I wish I could have transported all my family and friends there to cherish these moments together, but maybe through my blog everyone can also participate to a certain extent.

This little lake at nearly 3000 metres above sea level, and is like a pure emerald amongst amber and diamonds. The colours of the rock all around are extraordinarily rich, and the contrast breathtaking. Being almost alone there also added to the feeling of being in a totally different world. 

Not so many butterflies so high up, but still some colourful, sturdy plants clinging to the rocks. I asked myself how something like this can survive under metres of snow for so many months.

Here a panoramic view from this idyllic spot.

It was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever visited despite being spoilt to some extent by the effect of ski tourism, with so many lifts and damaged slopes, 

and of course the knowledge that the glaciers are receding rapidly.  However, it was certainly not a day to dwell on negatives. The positives certainly won through.

What magnificent scenery and how thankful I was to spend the day there. I met a number of really lovely couples from Holland, England and France, all similarly blown away by the grandeur of this place. 

I cannot believe how thirsty you get at this altitude. I drank litres of water and never needed a loo! This was such a wonderful placevto consume a litre of water

Although I did have to turn away and face the other side of the glacier as I could not bear to watch a group of Japanese perched on the edge of the rocks, high above the glacier, just on the other side of this restaurant!

Mind you, the other side of the glacier was fabulous  too with the flatter mountain, Alphuebel at 4206 metres, which was in one of my photos from the day at Allalin.

 I struggled to tear myself away from this captivating sight. I fortunately (😀) just  missed the cable car down and had time to better look at the glacier with its deep , blue crevasses and amazing patterns of ice and snow. When I arrived in the morning, I could not cope with looking down at the glacier so far below, but by the afternoon my head had got used to the altitude and I had got braver, so it was fifteen minutes of sheer pleasure despite my fear of heights.

It is interesting, but some of the major highlights in recent years have involved glaciers. This day reminded me so much of the unforgettable day in Greenland at Illulisat where I sat for ages marvelling at the largest ice field I had ever seen.

Of course, this one in Saas Fee , the Feegletscher, was tiny in comparison and yet no less impressive.

Time to head down to town beside this enormous glacier, and with marvelous views of the glacier lake I visited two days ago. It was all coming together!

There was still one stop to make. Actually , I had stopped on the way up at Spielboden , where the marmots are said to be relatively unperturbed by us humans. I had bought carrots in the hope of feeding them and I might well have done so if a guy with a dog had not scared away MY marmot, who was only just about ten metres away. Once they see dogs, they just do not reappear! Anyway, I thought I would try again and had my lunch next  to a big burrow with carrot at the ready. I think the marmots were having a siesta as I never saw any.

Still, the views from my lunch spot were equally memorable. To my left these incredible sheer rock faces with their wispy waterfalls

And below me the little town of Saas Fee which I will remember very fondly for the five days spent here with  my friends Nik and Irene. What a pity they missed Langenflueh, but it will give them a good reason to return!

As I descended I could see groups of people waiting hopefully for a marmot to appear. For one family a perfect ending, as a marmot popped up out of its burrow and posed for photos!

Now, I am writing this in a little restaurant about 50 metres above a narrow gorge. 

Needless to say, I opted against climbing these very precarious- looking steps!

It is only a snall chasm, but very dramatic, yet still pretty. 

The rushing of the water is also very restful and so I thought it was an idyllic place to write today's blog. The sun has disappeared and there has been a sudden downpour, like two nights ago . I do not think it will last long. 

A dream of a day and tonight we will finish off this terrific break with a pizza!