The view from up here is magnificent; all around in the distance the stupendous mountains of the Swiss Alps, snow-clad broken tips and bare cliff faces. The sky is overcast but lively and and on the horizon, just above the mountain tops, is a gap in the clouds showing a strip of azure blue. The weather however is bad, my provisional winter clothes that have worked well so far, are insufficient to withstand the cold. The wind blows icy needles into my face that sting my eyes and my hands quickly turn to frozen lumps. I cannot remain here. No … Read the rest
When I woke up this morning I felt sure my cold would keep me indoors all day but, with the sun shining brightly through my window, I decided a small cold couldn’t kill me, grabbed my bike and ventured out. That turned out to be a stroke of genius, for here I am, a bright blue sky above, the sun on my face for the first time in ages, and I’m walking on the Ice. Admittedly, I’m really just crossing a small, man made bay and I know that it doesn’t sound all that impressive, but given the dreary weather we normally … Read the rest
We are driving our snowmobiles across a large, windswept plateau in between the rounded, forest-clad mountain tops. It’s hard to tell with all the snow, but our guide informs us that it is actually a frozen lake. That explains why it is so flat and lacks trees. The snow is has been packed by the wind and is hard and bumpy but the area is open so it is possible to drive at speed, the soft seat cushioning the bumps. The sensation of speed is strange, there is surprisingly little wind yet anything over 40 kilometers an hour feels like … Read the rest
The train is thundering through the kind of landscape that seems typical of the un-forrested parts of northern europe: open plains, groves of trees and small hillocks on the horizon. Everything is covered in a thin layer of snow, the black trunks of trees sticking out against the white. The thin pink streaks against the pale blue sky alert me to setting of the sun and despite the heater being set to Death Valley mode, I lean closer to the window and cringe my neck to look behind me. The western sky is brightly lit in that pinkish orange tone … Read the rest
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