the last day of 2016
a frozen lake in the swiss alps

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our last day of the year was also among our very best days of the year. we spent december thirty first with some of our favourite people at a spectacular frozen lake in a pretty corner of the swiss alps!

after a happy reunion with my brother, sister-in-law and niece (along with our cousin, aubrey, who also came from england to switzerland to celebrate the new year with us!), we drove from their home in the foothills up a windy, frosty road until we were above the clouds. we parked and got on a quiet, empty chairlift that brought us way further up the mountain. the views were so dramatic and stunning and difficult to capture, and our lungs savored the crisp alpine air as we tried to take it all in. IMG_7977IMG_7979IMG_7982after we got off the chairlift, we hiked for a little bit… (p.s. can you believe all that amazing frost?!)IMG_7991IMG_7994and then turned around a corner to see this…!IMG_8000
i seriously can’t get over how cool this place is! it was so neat to discover talalpsee (literally translated: valley alp lake) and then see from a distance, white and speckled with skaters, nestled into that mountain bowl…IMG_8005IMG_8011
…and then it just got cooler (pun intended, i guess) the closer we got…
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…and as we stepped onto the ice and started exploring. we found lots of fascinating bubbles under the surface…
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…and spots where we could see right through the ice to the bottom of the lake!
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we walked around for over an hour (while moses slept in the carrier), delighting at the discoveries of cracks and fractals and people skating, playing hockey, pulling sleds, and casually walking with a stroller on top of a large mass of frozen water…
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this guy pushing a stroller while ice skating was our favourite. eventually tal and i decided we needed to lay down on the ice to take the whole experience in.
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^^ the frost formations around the perimeter of the lake were astoundingly beautiful. ^^
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^^ when we got off the ice to feed moses and ourselves, we noticed a wispy cloud had formed over the lake! ^^
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after moses woke up, we took him out of the carrier so he could experience the ice himself. he loved this place (can you imagine falling asleep in the car and waking up here?)
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^^ mo often crosses his ankles like this. i adore that little quirk! ^^
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before too long, the sun had dipped behind the mountain slopes and it started to get really cold really fast, so we said goodbye to talalpsee and began our descent.
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^^ impossible to capture, but i tried: this is looking down a thick blanket of clouds in between the mountains (with a shadow of a peak on the left hand side). it was truly spectacular. ^^
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^^ mother and daughter riding back down into the frost and clouds. ^^

i know my list of favourite places we have visited is getting really long … but seriously, this spot on earth is rad. last day, one of the best days.

Comments

  1. I was SO anxious scrolling through these pictures, especially of the ones with you holding the baby. I'm so glad no one slipped and broke any legs! (Also, this looks really, really pretty :)

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    1. Me too!

      I'm a real coward when the pavements & roads are icy.

      We may we getting some snow later in the week & I'm dreading it. They don't grit the local roads & they get really slippery.





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  2. Oh my goodness! How would we have known you had all this fun and been able to see it firsthand without the Internet! Love this blog! Simply astonishing pictures of a spectacular place!

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