Page 53 - Bulletin_Vol.82 No.3_December 2023
P. 53

and  sunny  days  are  an  invitation  to         The next day, I climbed to 3,000 meters
               climb.  I, therefore,  decided to go again.       .  I had to change cable cars  at Brit to
               .                                                 reach  ,  the  Schilthorn.    From  the
                                                                 Schilthorn, you can see over 200 snow-
               I  did not climb in one day as I wanted to        capped  mountain  peaks.  To   see all
               make the most of it.  I stayed overnight          peaks    you  need  to  go  in  winter,  when
               in a hotel in Mürren and went up to the           the sun is shining and  it is really cold.
               Schilthorn the next day.  Exactly where           Otherwise, too many clouds prevent you
               I'd been in 1977.
                                                                 from seeing everything.
               As  for  the  pandemic,  I  took  every           From  the  Schilthorn,  the  view  of  the
               precaution: armed with a FFP2 mask (it            three  Alpine  stars  -  Eiger,  Mönch  and
               protects better), leaving after 9am when,         Jungfrau - is spectacular.  You can see
               people were already in the office.  I even        the  4,000  meters  ,  after  which,  higher
               travelled  by  first  class  to  train  to  avoid   up,  there is nothing left.  Here I enjoyed
               crowds.    In  fact,  I  was  all  alone  in  my   what  I  did  not  get  to  enjoy  on  my  first
               carriage.    I  even  took  something  in  my     visit, 45 years ago
               bag  to  disinfect  everything  in  my  hotel
               room.   When everything was disinfected           At  the  top  of  the  Schilthorn  is  the  "Piz
               I  made  sure  to  put  the  "do  not  disturb"   Gloria"  revolving  restaurant  that  takes
               sign  on  the  door  as  I  did  not  want  my    45  minutes  to  complete  its  circle
               room to be cleaned and have to disinfect          providing  a  view  of  over  200  snow-
               everything again. The sign stayed there           capped  peaks.    When  eating  and
               for the three day of my stay. The village         looking  out,  a  panorama  of  different
               of  Mürren,  home  to  no  more  than  400        mountains  are  seen  that  are  so
               souls,  is  a  car-free  village;  it  lies  at  an   impressive  that  even  the  food  is
               altitude of 1,600  meters above sea level         impressive:  everything  is  particularly
               on a high cliff, placed as if on a plateau,       delicious.
               right in front of the impressive mountain
               range It is a simply adorable village. The        It was in this very restaurant that many
                                                                 of  the  scenes  from  the  film  '007  Her
               balcony  of  my  room  was  right  in  the        Majesty's  Secret  Service'  in  the  1960s
               middle of the village, between two small          was  filmed,  and  the  various  versions
               churches  (one  Christian,  the  other            they have made since. The filming took
               Protestant).  Just opposite, on the other         place  in  the  restaurant  (which  was  still
               side  of  the  valley,  stood  the  Eiger,  the   under  construction  at  the  time)  and  on
               Mönch      and    the    Jungfrau,    quite       the  slopes,  with  some  very  impressive
               imposing,  like  beautiful  4,000  meters         scenes. Today, there is a small cinema
               cakes,  decorated  with  icing  sugar:,    I      where  you  can  see  the  film  in  several
               had never seen them so close before.
                                                                 versions,  and  a  kind  of  small  museum
               The  light  at  altitude  is  incredible.         where  some  of  the  props  used  in  the
               Daylight  falls  an  hour  later  than  on  the   filming,  including  a  'helicopter',  are  on
               plateau.  And at night, the starry sky is         display.
               breathtaking.    What a contrast to               It was the film company that paid for the
               Geneva.
                                                                 completion  of  Piz  Gloria,  including  the
                                                                 revolving  part  of  the  dining  room.  The


               AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 82 No.3, 2023-12                                                51

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