The lifts close at 4:30pm, so we headed down the mountain with about a half hour to spare before it started to get dark. While searching for our hotel, which we new was nearby, we soon came to realize that it wasn’t accessible by car. Instead, we had to park at the train station and get a ride up to the hotel – which was literally on the mountain between ski slopes – on a snowmobile.
After the five minute snowmobile ride (which I’m pretty sure it was my first), we arrived at the hotel and were greeted by a local K9 resident. He was in heaven – playing in the snow, fetching snowballs, chasing after non-existent creatures scurrying about under the foot-deep powder. He clearly seemed to love life. The following are some pictures.
Tonight we went to a concert at the Église de Saanen. It was part of the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, which is a week-long concert series held in churches in the Gstaad area. Rather than ferrying guests on the snowmobile at night, they provide transportation in an SUV in order to get down your car. The ride itself takes about 10 minutes due to the fact that you’re off-roading through the snow.
Unfortunately for us, we had left the car keys with the ski gear and only realized once we got down to the car. Thus, we had to go back up to the hotel and then come back down again once we had the keys in had. As a result, we ended up being 30 seconds late to the concert, which started at precisely the time indicated (gotta love Swiss punctuality), and weren’t able to enter the venue until after the first performance (a concerto by Mozart). While we could still hear the music from outside the church, standing outside in the cold for 30 minutes was indeed suboptimal.
After the first performance they let us inside and the venue was very nice. The next performance was Romance et Scherzo by Rachmaninov, followed by a concerto by Chostakovitch. I particularly enjoyed the Rachmaninov piece, but the other was a bit forceful for me (though it did incorporate a trumpet soloist, which I found interesting).
Here are some pictures from the concert.
After the concert we ate a local restaurant in Saanen. In true Swiss fashion, we decided on a first course of air-dried meats followed by a main course of traditional fondue. On a normal day I would have not been able to eat a full dinner following my lunchtime gluttony, but after a full day of skiing fondue turned out to be a perfect choice.
After the five minute snowmobile ride (which I’m pretty sure it was my first), we arrived at the hotel and were greeted by a local K9 resident. He was in heaven – playing in the snow, fetching snowballs, chasing after non-existent creatures scurrying about under the foot-deep powder. He clearly seemed to love life. The following are some pictures.
Tonight we went to a concert at the Église de Saanen. It was part of the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, which is a week-long concert series held in churches in the Gstaad area. Rather than ferrying guests on the snowmobile at night, they provide transportation in an SUV in order to get down your car. The ride itself takes about 10 minutes due to the fact that you’re off-roading through the snow.
Unfortunately for us, we had left the car keys with the ski gear and only realized once we got down to the car. Thus, we had to go back up to the hotel and then come back down again once we had the keys in had. As a result, we ended up being 30 seconds late to the concert, which started at precisely the time indicated (gotta love Swiss punctuality), and weren’t able to enter the venue until after the first performance (a concerto by Mozart). While we could still hear the music from outside the church, standing outside in the cold for 30 minutes was indeed suboptimal.
After the first performance they let us inside and the venue was very nice. The next performance was Romance et Scherzo by Rachmaninov, followed by a concerto by Chostakovitch. I particularly enjoyed the Rachmaninov piece, but the other was a bit forceful for me (though it did incorporate a trumpet soloist, which I found interesting).
Here are some pictures from the concert.
After the concert we ate a local restaurant in Saanen. In true Swiss fashion, we decided on a first course of air-dried meats followed by a main course of traditional fondue. On a normal day I would have not been able to eat a full dinner following my lunchtime gluttony, but after a full day of skiing fondue turned out to be a perfect choice.
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