The view from our appartment, across the town of Fiesch...
In the winter, the route we drove via Luzern, one has to take a car-train to get into the valley (the Furka Pass is closed in winter), which adds to the isolated atmosphere.
Fiesch -Feb. 2007- |
| For over 20 years we have been visiting the Alps in Austria and Switzerland on an almost annual frequency, for our fun in the snow; although we took a break for the past several years, there was no escaping this time and we drove to Fiesch (Switzerland) with our skis and snowboards. Since photos of people (tourists!) on skis all look the same to me, I did not bother to take my camera with me on the slopes (something I regretted at times, as I my eye did catch see some nice photo opps..), the small town of Fiesch did invite some nice photography. |
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The view from our appartment, across the town of Fiesch...
In the winter, the route we drove via Luzern, one has to take a car-train to get into the valley (the Furka Pass is closed in winter), which adds to the isolated atmosphere. |
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Only 2 weeks before this vacation I had bought this car, a 2001 Hyundai Sonata; it drove well, thank goodness. This year the Germans enforced a new law: one had to drive on winter tyres during winter conditions (temperature below 7C?), so I had to suffer the added costs of a complete new set of tyres as well. As if wintersports in itself isn't expensive enough !?! And of course, in the end we did not drive through Germany, as the route via Brussels - Luxembourg - Strassbourg - Basle - Luzern proved to be quicker and quieter. |
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That first day we settled in and on this cold but sunny day I took the opportunity to take plenty of photos. Weather can change here quickly.
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 Taking things easy... |
The view from inside! |
Walked this path each morning to get fresh bread from the local bakery and wlaked this same path, along the railwaytrack, to get to the gondola (cablecar, luftseilbahn) for transport to the actual ski area.Fiesch sits on an altitude of (aprox) 1.000m above sealevel and although it was slightly freezing during the day (only at the start of our week, later the temperature went well above 0 Celsius), the snow had all but gone here. But the skiarea (Fiescheralp, Bettmeralp & Riederalp) was in excellent condition (starting at 2.200m) with plenty of snow. One noteworthy fact is that from the skislopes one can see the Aletsch gletscher, the largest glacier in the Alps. |
I found this type of housing very typical here; I don't recall ever having seen it elsewhere. The houses and barns will be well isolated of groundfrost this way, but those flat stones add an almost comical touch to it, in my opinion.
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 Our daily ride... |
 Ball play |
 Another look at the church and its immediate surroundings. It looked like an older part of the village, not even sure if that belongs to Fiesch as well. |
Couldn't resist shooting some of the twinkling lights after sunset. Boy, it was cold outside... |
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More of that peculiar buidling-style |
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We had 2 days of snow; clouds drifted into the valley, creating a cozy, quiet, small world ... |
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The less touristic, alternative route for us into town
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The train ("Matterhorn - Gotthard Bahn") ran virtually through our backyard, but it was quiet and we hardly heard it inside the house.
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We rested our weary legs (and bruised bodyparts) with plenty of good reading and/or listening to music (each his own taste or level of noise...) |
After some 15+ years this skisuit will have to go... Nobody seems to wear anything like this anymore (I became easy to recognise for the others!) and it is falling apart... |
Things wouldn't have been complete without the copious, cheese & potato dinner: raclette !We enjoyed our raclette at the Restaurant Schmitta. |
| The train from Realp to Oberwald; unfortunately almost the entire way inside the mountain (and 20 minutes in darknes is a long way!). Costs: 20 euro. |
 Standby for our short trainride |
 Unloading and loading, soon on our way home |
| More photos on my Flickr.com account, look for Fiesch, Switzerland Mar.2007 Jungfrau - Aletsch - Bietschhorn : UNESCO World Heritage Site |
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