Night Location: Wengen, Switzerland

Song of the Day: Jingle Bells - Michael Buble

Mumisode of the Day: Mum had several attempts at sketching the mountains out the window, all unsuccessful. The clouds kept rolling around covering up what she was trying to sketch much to her frustration. Apparently it is now an abstract piece, only half-completed. She also struggled with the pronunciation of 'Schilthorn', and whispered to Amber that it sounded like "S**t!" Amber was mortified that Alth of all people should be using such vulgar language.

As we awoke this morning, the sky was very grey and it was still raining. Just as we were about to go downstairs for breakfast, the rain turned to snow. You can imagine the excitement that went through the group as we were seeing the first snow fall of the season. The managers at breakfast must have thought we were quite strange as at any given moment we were transfixed by the snow falling out the window. The longer we sat there, the bigger the flakes became.

After breakfast we made our way up the hill, now covered in snow and caught the train down to Interlaken. It is amazing the dramatic change in scenery in just a few hours. There is now snow clinging to the branches of trees and covering the fields. The snow line was not that far down the hill. It was so interesting to see where the snow stopped and the rain began. Interlaken, at the bottom of the hill, was definitely in the rain.

It was really nice to return to Interlaken. Gemma and Amber have been here a few times. At home on the kitchen windowsill sits a picture taken of them in this town, clutching their bears, with the mountain Jungfrau towering in the back behind them. This same view did not exist today. The mountain was instead shrouded in deep grey sky. It is a long standing frustration with Dad that every time he comes to this area, Jungfrau is covered in cloud and so not worth the ascent. We are hopeful that there might be one day when we can go up, but then again, we are hoping for snow.

Interlaken is also home to many watch shops, something that Gemma was very pleased about as today it was her turn to buy a Swiss watch. She actually bought the Swiss version of a classic watch complete with Swiss cross. Amber had done her research the night before and found this watch along with a watch that she really liked. Sadly, although many watch shops were entered, we could not find the one that she wanted. There also seemed to be a lot of difficulty in locating an alternate store that might stock this watch even in the Flagship Longines store.

A quick lunch was eaten in a buffet-style cafeteria. Gemma and Amber don't do well with buffets in general and this one saw Amber end up with a pile of raw grated carrot and corn kernels on her plate. Not a culinary highlight.

Not giving up hope, we set off for Grindewald. We had been here during our 2007 trip but it was so nice to see the area now covered in snow. It looks so beautiful. Winter really suits Switzerland. The watch was not found here but for the first time today, the shop assistant phoned the supplier and was able to order the watch in. No problem for us, as we can so easily return!

Our first dinner tonight in the Wengen hotel. We definitely have done well here: a four course meal served in style while we watched the snow falling outside.