If I’m on a sled, going much too fast, and I’m yelling at you to get out of the way, I’m not doing it for my health. Well, actually I am, but yours too.
We’re staying in a small ski village in the Swiss alps, nearly dead centre of the country. This will be our second night here. We were up late last night partying because we got to sleep in this morning. EU regulations give our bus driver a complete day off. No driving. So we have to walk everywhere in this small village.
This morning we set out for Mount Titlis (no sniggering). It was not looking good for the expedition; the weather was very cloudy. And when you’re this high there is very little difference between cloudy and foggy. But the trip up was fantastic. It started with a small cable car that could hold six people. Part of the way, we thought we heard wind chimes, but we figured out that it was the cowbells. Surprising because the cows weren’t moving.
After some time we transferred to a bigger cable car that could take the whole tour group. Then to a smaller one, but this one rotated. (Less thrilling than it sounds.) The view might have been spectacular if it wasn’t cloudy.
I was with some Australians who did not dress for the weather. Thongs were the only footwear they had. I loaned one my fleece and reveled in my Canadian powers. I hope I get the fleece back some time.
At the top it was a lot clearer; We were above the clouds. Well on one side of the mountain, clouds were forming. It was chilly and I’m glad I had a jacket. But there wasn’t much to see, yet. At 12:30 the glacier run would open.
I spent time seeing some of the heated sights. Namely the tunnels inside the glacier. You could set the music and there were colored lights. There was also a tunnel carved through the mountain to the next county on the other side. But the view was nothing but clouds.
To get to the glacier run, a small group of us took a ski-lift. There, it was a hoot. They had a toboggan area and that’s about it. You pick a sled, slide down into the embankment that prevents you from getting a thousand feet of air, get up, dust yourself off, and take the conveyor belt back to the top. That belt made the trip because climbing back up at the high altitude would be exhausting. We did many runs as the sun was warming the place. Best of all was when we hooked the sleds together and went down as a group. When we had eight in our caterpillar we lost the guy in the back to a bump. The next time we had 12 in a row. Of course high altitude and reflective snow have given me a rather red face.
When we had tired out we headed down the mountain. It had cleared up a bit so you could get a nice view.
We didn’t go all the way to the bottom. When we were near, we got out and rented some trotti bikes. Basically skateboards with 2 large wheels and tall handlebars with brakes. We coasted down the rest of the way on those.
After that I relaxed a bit, then tried to take a walk. I had a poor map that sent me not where I wanted to go. But it was a nice jaunt.
Dinner was in the same place as yesterday and rather disappointing, considering the place looked so fancy.
Everyone seems very tired. The big excitement was a game of UNO in the laundry room.