The kind lady at the Silberhorn in Wengen, Cornelia Thierstein, and her colleague, Jasmin, did me proud again allowing me to stay at an excellent rate and were extremely kind to give me a family room at the top of the hotel which had tremendous views of the Mannlichen and its steep terraces behind. Well, I say a room but it was more like a flat. The staff are very friendly and this four star hotel is so

conveniently situated and the breakfasts are quite a feast. Included also for guests is free use of their excellent spa which has views over the Jungfrau and I made good use of it after a few hours walking. I ate in their sister hotel, the Belvedere, which is a type of fin de siecle hotel: big public rooms, lovely mountain views, friendly staff and a superb five course buffet. All I can say is that, for 25 Swiss Francs, it is a complete bargain but, if you’re not looking to put on too much weight, you will need tremendous self-restraint. The service in both hotels is excellent, discreet and I was pleased that no-one caught me loitering near the Reception one evening – all I was doing was enjoying Mendelsohn’s Italian Concerto which is one

of my favourites which was being gently played as background music.

One of the many enjoyable walks I made was below the imposing North face of the Eiger – Eigernordwand in German – for the third time. A little man- made lake had been built close to the start and there was a surprising amount of snow on the walk. A lasting memory of any walk from Kleine Scheidegg which is the start of many fine walks, is the view of the meadows leading down to Grindelwald especially on a fine day which this was.