Today we were up around 8, made eggs, made more eggs after Julia ate the first batch, then Sara and I ran to the market to stock up.
Walking to the market isn't just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. For Sara it is noticing giant icicles clinging to roof tops. Seeing ice sheets on hand-rails. And seeing how much snow she can make fly with each scuff of her foot.
When we got there we got several meat items (though I bypassed the horse meat), some nice peppers, and some fresh bread. We also got a village trash bag, as all the trash has to be in a certain bag for them to take it. The bag is 2.65 CF (Swiss Francs).
Back at the apartment Dan was working, and Julia was goofing around in her crib. Since she wasn't going to take a morning nap I packed up the kids (it takes several minutes to get them into their snow outfits) and we left. Dan said he left for skiing soon after that.
Our hike:
Armed with a map, my backpack, and sturdy boots, I took the kids across the village and headed to the river. There are two bridges across so I just picked one. Turned out the one I picked lead us low, and we needed to be high. Big difference. Since we were low in the valley (at stream level) I had to figure out how to get up high again. I began walking one direction, but a warning sign made me turn around. I began walking straight up hill along the river, on a snowy switch back narrow path. It kept getting more narrow, and I wondered why I was the only one on the path. But the sun was shining, the air was crisp, and the girls were content. So I kept going.
Mid way up, I parked the stroller and walked ahead to see if we should keep going. It looked okay, so we forged ahead - climbing higher. Soon we were level with the other bridge - so our upward climb was done.
We walked across the other bridge named "panorama" and looked at the view. Stopping the stroller meant two hands came out - one on each side - with the girls wanting a snack. I gave them some fruit and kept going.
Our hike was to a Restaurant in the woods. "Restaurant Waldhus Bodmen" Saas Fee. There were other hikers out. Most hikers had walking sticks. Most hikers also were grandparent age, and smiled at us as we went along. I didn't rush our hike. We looked at everything along the way. We looked at the snow piled on lamp posts, we looked at frozen water falls, we looked down at the neighboring village. There was no wind. It was easy - and Sara and Julia continued to be happy.
When we finally got to the restaurant we saw two slides and a little tree house. The kids used both, then we went into the restaurant. It was the only building in the middle of the woods.
Stepping inside to the wooden building, Sara saw a jute box and wanted to play it. A wurlizter. I let her poke a few buttons then we went into the restaurant.
It was about half full, with one busy waittress. It smelled of fondue. One whole wall was a window into a room with bunnies, chickens, and roosters, and little critters like hamsters. The kids loved it. We got the table right by the critter room, so they watched them the whole meal. They had chicken and french fries and shared a glass of milk. I had apple strudel. It was relaxing and nice.
After that we discovered a kid play room, where the girls were jubilent. It had dolls, stuffed animals, vehicles, and was cute and Swiss - with red checkered curtains on the windows. They were the only ones there, and they were lighter than air as they played. It was adjacent to the critter room, so we went over there to watch them also.
"What a neat restaurant" Sara said. We finally left - after being there for hours.
Our walk back was uneventful and seemed quicker as return journeys always do.
Julia fell asleep with red cheeks and bright eyes. I thought Sara was asleep, but when we passed a bakery she sprang to life. She must have radar. She choose a small meringue (sp?). Since Julia was asleep I walked the kids around the village for a few miles - hoping that Sara wouldn't notice we were taking a circuitous route. When she finally woke up we got some milk at the market and then went to the apartment.
Sara was eager to tell Dan about our day. He had been skiing and was now working. He said he had a great ski day. Sara talked about our day. I went down to put the stroller away, and Julia opened our apartment door in search of me. She left the apartment, went down the rock spiral staircase saying "Mom?" all this while Dan was "watching" her!
We had dinner, played, then had some "popcorn fun" as Sara calls it, which means we have bowls of popcorn and watch a movie.
It is snowing now, and there is a lot of snow in the forecast, including 18 inches on Saturday. These folks know how to handle snow though - this is the alps after all!
Time to get some sleep.
Quotes of the day:
(Seeing a huge frozen chunk of ice clinging to a rock) "Maybe it is a water fall" (Sara was right it was a frozen water fall.)
(At breakfast) "Mom, let's make candles today."
(on a walk) "Mom, what do hunters do? Why?"
(at dinner) "How do you grow beef?"
(on a walk) "Mom, can we watch the gondola go up? How fast does it go? Where does it sleep? How does it sleep? Why?"
(at breakfast) "cereal" (Julia said that)
EOM
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