The advantage of hiking in the more popular areas of the Alps is the abundance of mechanical vehicles for moving people up and down the mountains. We awoke on our first day in Switzerland to an impressive view of the Eiger's infamous North face from our bedroom window, in the knowledge that there is a railway that goes up inside the mountain to arrive very high up at the glacial pass of Jungfraujoch.

However, the cost of the return ticket up the Eiger was rather high, as is everything in this country, so we opted instead for a cable car uphill, and a cog railway downhill, with a link back to Grindelwald by train. The flip side (and there always is one) of all this choice of transport is that you don't exactly get these high ridges to yourself, but it saves all that trudging up and down, leaving the day free to enjoy the high-level ridge walking with a constant 360-degree panorama. The Eiger and its neighbour Jungfrau dominated the skyline for much of the day, of course.

With several well-equipped mountain huts along the way too, we didn't have to carry food either. So, after passing through meadows filled with wild flowers by the little glacial lake of Bachalpsee, stopping for soup and beer at Faulhorn (the oldest mountain hotel in Switzerland), we finally arrived at a little farm by the train station at Schynigge Platte. Add the views, perfect weather, the colourful butterflies and singing birds, and it's no wonder that Helen declared it the best walk she had ever done.

When we made the decision to head here from the Italian Lakes, we looked at the road map and thought "that's not far, we should do that in half a day". How wrong we were! We hadn't allowed for the three high passes and the never-ending twists and turns that inevitably go with them. A spectacular drive though, and I should find some more wood to touch before I mention that the car is still going strong.

The car has also been given the new additional responsibility of wine haulage. After a few local bottles were collected in Italy (naturally) we discovered, to our surprise, that the Italian speaking part of Switzerland is covered in vineyards too. We felt compelled to pause for some wine tasting and to add a couple of bottles to the growing collection. Expensive stuff though, hence only the two bottles!

Posted on 26th February 2015.