{"id":11358,"date":"2015-02-18T10:14:43","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T10:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=11358"},"modified":"2015-02-22T08:10:05","modified_gmt":"2015-02-22T08:10:05","slug":"manic-mornings-andermatt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/manic-mornings-andermatt\/","title":{"rendered":"Manic Mornings – Andermatt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1-IMG_9511\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First Light.<\/em><\/p>\n

The mornings in our temporary abode for the week have been, let’s just say, far far from relaxing.<\/p>\n

The days usually start at around 7am,\u00a0when we are stirred from our slumbers by the melodic bings and bongs from Andermatt’s churches. The franticness starts soon afterwards.<\/p>\n

Over the heads of reluctant breakfast eaters (it’s too early apparently) come the cries of two parents as to where certain imperative socks have disappeared to, “did we actually pack such and such”, and the many harried instructions of “hurry up and clean your teeth” and repeated barks of “get ready” and “make sure you use the loo before we go”… \u00a0At this point of the day part of me wonders whether it was all worth it, and maybe we should have gone somewhere warmer and more “city break” like last year<\/a>…<\/p>\n

Accompanying this are the protests of two half asleep Small People who aren’t quite ready to get ready, with the addition of Small Boy’s week-long fury and indignation about his mother packing him his old (nursery school) Robot backpack (in my defence it’s the perfect size for everything he needs for the day), and all this before we have even left the house.<\/p>\n

More gear goes on, along with\u00a0the\u00a0(“I hate these, they are so uncomfortable”) boots, and the obligatory (“this makes me too hot”) helmets<\/a> that are squished onto heads as we leave, all followed by the inevitable sibling (usually) accidental odd wallop with a pole as we walk (if you can call it that) the few hundred metres down the road.<\/p>\n

But then the bar comes down on the first lift of the day. \u00a0 The sun’s out again, and with it the smiles of anticipation start to appear – in fact all grumpiness usually dissipates the higher we get.<\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9563\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9565\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9567\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And then, as we get to the top, all this awaits…<\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9578\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9573\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9580\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9574\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And whilst keeping half an eagle eye on two overjoyed Small People rapidly disappearing into the distance (luckily they are way past the stage where it’s difficult to stop at will – unlike their less enthusiastic mother), I usually stand taking it all in for a minute or two, admiring the view, appreciating the peace, and breathing in greedy lungfuls of the cleanest, purest air…<\/p>\n

And suddenly, I remember why a week-long ski trip for half term was most definitely a good idea after all…<\/span><\/p>\n

\"1-IMG_9583\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(I had to laugh at the enthusiasm of this dog rounding up everyone at the bottom of a slope yesterday!)<\/em><\/p>\n

Same again tomorrow?<\/p>\n

PS. \u00a0I will write more about the very gorgeous Swiss Andermatt itself soon enough…<\/p>\n

Share me:<\/h3>