The annual parade of ships on the lake to celebrate the Swiss national day. 1st August this year was completely devoid of celebratory feeling for me, because it marked the first anniversary of the last time we spent with our dear neighbour before his health began to rapidly decline.
After going to some shops in the centre of Bern, we stopped on the way back to the tram stop to photograph and film the bright red buses and trams passing one another in the narrow streets.
I have been singularly uninspired to do any proper hiking this year. However, the woods at the back of the Habkern valley have been on my list of places to explore for some time. Although I didn’t have the energy or inclination to slog all the way up to the Grünenberg Pass, I enjoyed the walk through the woods along both paved and unpaved forestry tracks.
Both Jo and I enjoy the spectacle of the summer storms, with their dramatic curtains of rain, loud thunderclaps and strong winds. We had fewer of them than usual this August, but those which did pass through didn’t disappoint.
Although we love to grill food on the balcony barbecue at home, we’ve somehow never visited one of the myriad grill spots dotted across the country. We picked a deserted one at the top of one of the local valleys and had a grand time enjoying the woodsmoke and cooler temperatures than we experienced for much of the month.
Most-welcome cooler weather at the end of August, when we wandered along the trail between Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg and talked about how both tourists and locals alike seem to be singularly unable to visit the mountains without adding a load of noise to the experience.
After an abortive attempt to catch a secluded cable-car into the mountains at Gsteig bei Gstaad, we found Arnensee instead and walked around it, revelling in the cool shade.
Leave a Reply