Leukerbad

On Friday evening we jumped in the car and drove up the Valais to Leukerbad. Linda had visited Leukerbad last year for work, and liked it so much she wanted to take me there and see it again.

We arrived in the freezing cold (it has been an unusually cold winter), drove up the snow-covered streets and checked into our hotel. We had a brief walk around the town and found ourselves some traditional Swiss cuisine for dinner (I had a Rosti).

The next day was quite overcast, so we slept in, had a big breakfast, and headed lazily over to some of the hot spring baths for which Leukerbad is famous (it is the highest spa resort in Europe).

We spent a couple of hours drifting from pool to pool, of varying temperatures and 'features', one of which that was outside in the open air, amongst the snow and mountains that surround Leukerbad. The outdoor pool was our favourite, with submerged chairs, bubbles and high pressure jets. The air outside was so cold the steam actually turned to ice in my hair.

Afterwards we had a massage, but I was really let down by this since it was a bit too Swiss in style. Forget about candles and whale songs; because I arrived 10 minutes late (not my fault) the masseuse told me my massage would be reduced by 10 minutes, the music was bad 90s, and the rooms were more hospital than hippy. I was actually more relaxed before the massage!

On Sunday we got moving a bit earlier - we woke up to find that the clouds had blown away and we were left with crystal clear skies.

We took the cable car up to the Gemmi pass, which is an incredible journey in itself, as the cable feels almost vertical as you approach the top, and the drop is enormous. From the top you had an amazing view over the alps and could clearly see Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

We walked on and around the frozen lake that is in a basin at the top of the pass, and proceeded down the valley (we had snow shoes and ski clothes, but there was plenty of Swiss strolling past us in jeans and casual shoes - hardy mountain folk we are not).

The views were amazing; there had been a lot of snow over the previous week, and combined with the clear skies were had an incredible view of the surrounding mountains.

We walked past the restaurant which marks half way of the whole walk, and continued on a bit further for our own picnic lunch, before heading back towards our starting point.

After the walk we headed back down to Leukerbad for a recouperating spell in the baths again. This time we were there for sunset and the skies turned dark blue behind the mountains and looked really amazing.

All in all we had a really relaxing and fun time in Leukerbad, opening our eyes to the Swiss spa scene and making us keen for more in the future!

Walking on Lac de Joux

On Saturday we decided to head off into the Jura to check out Lac de Joux, which freezes over in Winter. It took longer than expected to get there, after my GPS decided it the most direct route was the most appropriate, even though it was under deep snow and impassable (although I did give it a good shot before deciding the better of it).

I didn't have all that high expectations, as I'd seen pictures of frozen lakes before that just looked like a flat area with snow on it, but we were pleasantly surprised that, while there was patches of snow, the lake was largely bare ice.

Originally the plan was to hire some ice skates and go skating, but we weren't quite organised enough to locate the rental place and settled for a walk along the surface of the lake.

This was impressive enough though, since it is a big lake and was obviously frozen to quite a significant depth; we saw lots of fracture points where the ice had buckled or subsided and you could really see just how deep the ice was.

We walked a fair way along the lake, checking out what other people were doing, such as ice skating, riding on recumbent bikes (three wheels perfect for ice), dragging along a toboggan, walking their dog, or having a small party. There was even a group of Swans swimming around in a small hole of unfrozen lake, looking very cold and bored.

We really enjoyed our time on Lac de Joux and no doubt we'll return, next time a little more organised, to spend a bit more time on the Lake before spring comes and turns it back to water.

Bassano del Grappa

Our last stop-over on our trip across Italy (actually on the way back towards Switzerland now) was Bassano del Grappa where, unsurprisingly, you'll find Grappa, although we were going just because it was meant to be a nice town to visit.

We were lucky enough to be there on Market day, so the squares were filled with stalls, although it was also the first day of the January sales in Italy, so we spent more time in the shops than the markets.

Getting away from the shopping for a while, we wandered out of the town to check out the bridge over the river which had been destroyed a few times over the years, last time by the retreating Nazis, but had been rebuilt in the original style.

During our walks we stumbled across one of the Grappa distilleries and, even though we wouldn't count ourselves amongst the fans of Grappa, we did stop in for a look.

We also made a quick trip to Asolo, a nearby hill town, but by this stage we were focused on the upcoming drive home and only stopped for a last plate of pasta before heading off. The only eventful thing to happen on the way home was the window washer freezing in the cold while going over the Grand-Saint-Bernard pass back into Switzerland: it's cold up there!