Moving on to Wengen, I stayed in the superb Silberhorn Hotel. Here I must thank Cornelia Thierstein for, I like to think, falling for my charm and using the travel agent’s standard ploy of asking for a discount. Not only did she grant me a very good room rate and an excellent five course buffet rate at their sister hotel, the Belevedere, where I stayed last year but my standard room was huge and had a magnificent view over the mountains. So good that it had me running to the reception to ensure that I was in the correct room! Cornelia was also very good in always answering my various email requests in German which has helped me and so everything was wonderful.

The weather can be less reliable in the Bernese Oberland but I was lucky this time and both full days were very good so I walked up from Wengen to Kleine Sheidegg - tough going and, for all my preconceived ideas of being a physically fit specimen, I did begin to wonder but, well, walking down to Grindelwald was easier.

The second day was spent walking alongside lake Brienz. Starting in Interlaken, this can be a delightful walk but this, my third such walk, was the first in decent weather and it was a treat especially the lakeside town of Iseltwald. Brienz, the wood-carving centre, is fairly small but attractive and the whole walk to there from Interlaken took around four and a half hours.