Lovely weather for a sleigh ride together

So, Andy's parents had very enthusiastically recommended Grindelwald as a stop on our trans-Switzerland trip almost totally based on the amazing Alpine views it offers, at least in the summer, when they had been.

When we went, in mid-March, the place was experiencing a wonderfully authentic Alpine blizzard.

If you've met Andy, then you'll know that this did not stop us. We managed to rest up despite our very loud and not-sober neighbors at the hostel, and by 11am or so we hit the slopes armed with awesome aluminum sleds, complete with runners. They had several long toboggan runs; we started on one of the lower ones. Now, I love sledding. I adore snow. I don't even mind sledding while it's snowing. The caveat, though, is that I'm usually sledding while appropriately attired-- not, as was the case, in jeans, sneakers, and a peacoat. Quite the experience, let me tell you. The run itself was actually fairy fun, even when I lost control and fell off the path several times, but by the end I was wet from the waist down (Andy had brought a waterproof shell that he lent me in exchange for my extra hat) and shivering. Apparently this part of the Alps doesn't have ski lifts; rather, they use cog-wheel trains, which are really cool in concept but inexplicably entail very, very long wait periods.

So by the time we'd gotten to the top of that part of the mountain, I was soaked through. We did lunch--a Swiss dish that might have been called raclette, consisting of cheese and potatoes, with soup--and I headed back to the hostel for a hour or two while Andy did some really hardcore sledding. The train rides down and back were beautiful: things cleared up lower down, so I could actually see some of the houses and things tucked into the ridges.

Once Andy returned, I'd warmed up more than enough. He changed and we hopped the train before sundown in order to stare out the windows for a while longer as we headed for our last stop of the week, Geneva.

Final verdict on Grindelwald: I'd really love to go back on a sunny day, regardless of the season. But if that season is winter, I'd really love to go back with proper snow gear!