Grindelwald 1965

Melbourne is in the grip of the first winter chill. There is snow on the nearest ski-slopes, about three hours' drive away, and it is wet and grey and windy in the city.

So my thoughts have turned to Heidi's and my first encounter with snow. In 1965, Mom, Dad, Heidi and I went to Europe with Bop and Ganan (Roy and Jessie Sater, Mom's parents). Heidi was eight years old. She took photos and kept a journal, and here's what she wrote about Switzerland (unedited):

On the 20.10.'65 we flew from Venice from Zurich over the alps. We went two trains before we arrived in a place called Grindlewald. The first day we went by funicular railway up a mountain called 'The Jungfrau' wich is over 11 thousand feet high and covered with snow. We went into a tunnel which was 7 miles long through the mountain. We climbed up on to the Plateau. Then we went into Ice Palace where we saw a motor car, a piano and a tea room made of ice. We went on the chair lift. It was wonderful to hear the cow bells tinkling on the cattle below us. The grass was stil very green. We stoped half way and went into the forest. We saw a chalet named Heidi. We then travelled through Switzerland down to Geneva.

Eight-year-old Heidi took four photos in Switzerland; also in the journal are a number of postcards of 1965 Switzerland. (Dad: did you know that you can click on any photo on the blog to make it bigger and see more detail?)

Here is Heidi's photograph of Grindelwald ...

... and here are two postcards of Grindelwald. That's the Wetterhorn in the background, according to the caption on the postcard. (Don't you love the cars?)

Heidi took three photos of the Jungfraujoch. The postcards, which follow Heidi's photos, say that the view is of the Jungfraujoch 'mit Aletschgletscher'. According to Wikpedia, the Aletsch glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps and has been a World Heritage Site since 2001. (Hope it survives climate change.)

And here are the postcards:

Postcards of the Ice Palace on the Jungfraujoch are also in the journal. The top one is captioned 'Schlittschuhbahn', which Google tells me means 'ice-rink'. Fantastic! Imagine skating in the Ice Palace!

Heidi doesn't mention the Eiger Mountain but the railway tunnel that she does mention runs inside the Eiger, from Kleine Scheidegg. Even in 1965, the Eiger would have been famous for the many climbers who had died trying to climb it. Here is the 'Station und Hotel Eigergletscher' (another glacier!), followed by 'Alpenhornblaser mit Eiger':

Now let's leave the mountain and descend back into the valley by chair-lift ('Grindelwald: Firstbahn mit Wetterhorn'), where we can hear the tinkle of cowbells and see a chalet (possibly named Heidi).

Well, that's it for our little tour of the Bernese Alps. Dad, hope these bring back some good memories of 1965 Switzerland!

PS Now, where shall we visit next, on our 1965 tour of Europe? Our choices: Rome, Venice, Paris or London.