Cold and Fresh

Daisy

We are young and life is fun, we’ve got to make the most of it! And that’s why we’re on this trip. To make the most of life!
Today we had a lovely breakfast – still missing the homemade stuff. But the best thing is that we half went to school today ! Well maybe a half school excursion.  But it was the most perfect, best place ever!
Well, we went to the World Forum in Switzerland that explained about glaciers. We got golf balls from the lady at the desk and put them through an opening and pressed the button next to it. The ball was sucked up into a tube. It was so exciting watching the balls go up and down and round and round in the funnel, and when they came out the other side there was such delight🤩

We learned how rocks make their way though ice and watched a movie  about the glaciers.

I learned so much about the glaciers and more. l had so much fun today – by the way it’s Sunday .

Stella

Ok yesterday I forgot to tell you that I will sometimes be doing a little extra surprise just for you. It might be a joke of the day or it could be something different.

So today we went to a museum all about glaciers. There were little balls with a picture on the front and there was this really cool machine that you put the little ball into it and you pushed the flap and then there’s these tubes that the ball goes up and comes out the bottom.

When we went upstairs there was something similar where you put the ball in it and dings a bell  and knocks down a pirate ‍flag and comes down the bottom. There were also lots of little hidey holes  that you could put your balls in. Then we went and saw a little 5 minute film  about the glaciers. Today was fun 

Jac

Brig is very quiet today and it feels like everyone has hibernated. Dan has come down with the European cold so is snuggled up for the afternoon. It is so cold outside and we’re feeling the snow from the mountain. Yesterday the town came alive with the sound of running. It was a local fun run: 1 km, 5 km and 10 km events, which they called a ‘marathon”. Of course, if our preparation had been better and we hadn’t been deconditioned by patisseries, baguettes and fromage, we could have mustered a late entry and added an international Stadtlauf Brig-Glis medal to our family City to Casino ones!

Today we went to the Nature Forum at Naters. Naters is a short walk through the Brig train station. We saw an incredible 3D movie on a huge screen about the glaciers and Alps and the cinematography created a feel that you were right there amongst it. It showed an amazing and brave history of pioneers who built tracks and access ‘bridges’ across the Alps. In the photographs, none of the pioneers showed a hint of acrophobia, as they posed on cliff faces and mingled with thousand metre drops.

The girls have discovered Movenpick ice cream, Swiss chocolate and Stracciatella are the hot picks, so they’re going to experience some diet-lag having to return to Bulla vanilla. We’re training to Venice tomorrow via Milan, traveling through the Simplon tunnel (19.5km, taking 50 years to build), across the Lepontine Alps. It will take about 6 hours but once again both the scenery and life’s dilemmas will fill our time.

Dan

Our Sunday morning stroll to Naters delivered a lot more than expected.  As I wasn’t feeling 100%, I was thankful that the walk to the World Nature Forum was short and the temperature inside was warm.  Daisy and Stella relished the opportunity to explore the interactive exhibits, and Jac and I found the information and cinematography both fascinating and stunning.

As we hadn’t ventured to this side of the river before, and this would be our one and only chance, we decided that we would stroll the streets and see the sights (much to Stella’s disgust as she was cold and wanted to go home!) Of course all roads lead to the village church, and as we slowly made our way towards the spire of St. Mauritius we came across an unusual building with a semi-circular opening sitting behind an ordinary-looking house.

At first it was unclear what this place was, then the girls saw skulls and bones behind the statues and crucifix and had lots of questions to ask. It turned out this place was an ossuary, the final resting place for locals who, living in a place where burial space is scarce, were first buried in temporary graves then their remains transferred to this site.

With Daisy finding the place scary, we quickly moved on to enter the church where Stella and Daisy were able to sit for a while in the warmth and make peace with the world.