Inside Mount Allalin, July 2008


At the top (or inside) of Mount Allalin is the world's largest ice grotto (or so the signage says and I have no reason to doubt it). It is an enormous cave-like space with walkways leading to different areas of interest. Stone and mineral crystals taken from the surrounding mountains are on display along with some amazing ice crystals.

The tunnels are hollowed out of the ice and you can run your hand over water frozen thousands of years ago.

Also inside is a cave featuring some local artists' sculptured renderings of the "Poor Souls" that wander the mountains from October 'til spring. Legend has it that if you spend a night up there during that time, the souls will come to take your life force and you will become one of them. Sounds rather Borg-like! The lighting gave the area an ethereal atmosphere so that you could almost believe the story!

If you look closely at the mountain picture you can see little Saas-Fee nestled in the valley near the bottom of the photo. It was a fabulous day!

From the large deck the view is 360 dgrees of Alps. One of the most breathtaking scenes I have witnessed.

Yesterday was a free day until 4:00 p.m. so I took the opportunity to check out the mountain that our hotel is named for. The trip up required two gondola lifts. Good job I'm not afraid of heights. Don't think I've ever been this high up in the air! Each gondola holds about 10 people and a lot of them are geared up for skiing and snowboarding. Some of us just gape out the windows in disbelief at what we are seeing and where we are hanging!

The giant gears that keep us safe and moving are enormous and actually quite colourful. After the gondolas we boarded a vertical train for the final ascent. At the final stop we were 4,000 metres up.

Mount Allalin watches over the little town of Saas-Fee and provides all-year skiing and snowboarding for the well-off. It is sparklingly beautiful. I sat on in a deck chair with my little painting journal and did my best to due justice to the view that surrounded me.

We had an excursion day on Sunday, travelling by bus to another valley and a more accessible glacier. The hike was strenuous but awesomely beautiful. The valley was lush, green and full of "happy Swiss cows" grazing on the slopes. They all wear bells, so the sound was like non-stop windchimes. Quite enthralling. The other side of the valley was home to a rushing glacial stream that created its own song by rushing through a rocky gorge on its way down from the glacier.

Part way up sat an intensely turquoise lake. One of our intrepid students stripped down to her thong (topless here is no big deal) and dove into the close-to-freezing water. I was tempted, but didn't think to bring a towel or change of underwear, so let the opportunity slip by. I think my heart thanks me for the decision!

There were lots of delicate alpine wildflowers and vistas that would stop a bus (and actually did, as that's how we were transported) Lotschental (or close to that spelling) is a very old village about an hour and a half's ride from Saas-Fee. En route we travelled roads that would make your knees knock if you were a person who had an aversion to heights. I loved it!

I was glad that I had my hiking boots on as the footing was challenging. My toes were happy to find freedom from socks and boots and to take a dip in the river. Coming back to school and routine is difficult in this place. I just want to run, well maybe walk, up into the forested mountains with my little painting kit and not come down for days. Except that it gets very cold here at night and we have had quite a bit of rain, so maybe that wouldn't be the best idea.

This is my last week, my last class and I'm ready to be done with school. Today we did an exercise that was so loud that I had to leave the room. Makes me realize how much I dislike a lot of noise and long for the serenity of the cottage.

I have done more art making this time as I don't have the same urge to run around to see all the sights. Just having the opportunity to paint in this environment is enough. Tomorrow we have a day off and I hope to take the two gondolas and the train that goes into the glacier's ice.

Over the Hump

So, the heat is off, the presentation has been done and now I cant take some time to reflect and rest in the sunshine and warmth that has returned to Saas-Fee. It was an interesting night full of questions and idea exchanges. I have some good material and input for my thesis. It was a lot of work and and a lot of fun puting it all together, but I'm glad it is done!

Now I can put my head in the clouds (quite literally) for awhile and enjoy being in this great space. We have this morning off, and even though it is beautifully sunny and warm, I am enticed by my new ability to add to my blog and be indoors for an hour or so. Then I will leisurely decide what to do with the next few hours before we return to the classroom and study more about the Principles and Practices of Psychotherapy. The approach is a novel one here - very experiencial in its use of the arts as a learning avenue. Works for me!

The skies are amazing, with the mountains piercing them and the clouds snuggling in like batting spilling from an quilt. The mountains look different every day and even from minute to minute. I wish I had the energy to do some more hiking but not today. We are going on an excursion to a glacier on Saturday so I am saving my energy for that.

I am over half way in the academic timetable and am feeling the exertion both physically and mentally. Second year seems a lot more demanding, or maybe being a year older makes more difference than I imagined. Whatever, it is an awesome and fulfilling experience that should pay off in the end with work that excites and supports me - and that's the whole point anyway.


The photo with the umbrellas and flowers is of the patio and lawn where we EGS students eat lunch and dinner. Nice, eh? It's great - food appears, dirty dishes disappear and it happens three times a day! It is usually too cold to eat outside at breakfast, but some hardy souls do anyway.

This is one of the furry beasts that I passed by on my way to school. They have been moved now to another part of town, so I'm glad that I caught this guy on camera when I had the chance. Nice 'do, eh?

On Thursdays there is a street market and most of the stores put out tables and tents to sell their wares. There was one artist making greeting cards and I wondered how well she did for the day. She was very involved in her work and didn't look up when I entered, so I didn't try to chat.

Swiss cows get to live in town, just like the rest of us. I pass by some very large ones with big horns every day on my way to school. They get moved from small pasture to small pasture, so get to see all the sights!

I live in a building much like the ones here - just a little further to the left of where this photo was taken. The rooms are spacious and bright, and I have a large larch just outside my window to keep me company. I have great roommates and we have had some happy times. Most time, though, is spent working on various things. Today I will continue working on my presentation for tomorrow about my thesis topic ( which is still under construction!)

This is the little jade-coloured lake that I painted beside and where the butterflies and other creatures came to observe and taste me. It looks fake, but it is very real and very beautiful.

Haute cuisine and Swiss Delights

This is the Swiss version of "Haute Cuisine"! It is a popular spot perched high on the mountain side. I didn't eat there as it's VERY expensive, but I did hike by and check out the deck view.

I have only gone on one hike as my energy level has been pretty low for physical exertion, but the desire still pushes me up, up, up! I had a wonderful day wandering the trails and resting long enough to do a small painting beside an incredibly turquoise tiny glacial lake. That is where the butterfly came and rested on my finger. More of his friends arrived later to tickle my legs, arms, and even the top of my head. I don't know what the attraction was, but they were certainly smitten! I also had a staring contest with a very large and neon-coloured dragonfly.

The huge Grandfather larch was a great find. He is perched on the edge of a very steep incline and looks as if he has been there since time began. We had a great visit! I asked if I could speak of him and and was granted permission and an audience!

So, I am back in the mountains of Switzerland after a rather stressful time trying to get here on time to start school. Apparently there are quotas for Eurailpass holders so I was not able to get a train from Paris to Geneva until a day and a half later than scheduled. Quel dommage! An extra day in Paris was great to have once I had figured out the logistical challenges of rearranging CouchSurfing lodgings and letting the school know.

I was extremely lucky that Frederique was willing to contact her friend in Geneva so that I had a place to go. Veronique was just as fun and welcoming as Frederique. I enjoyed a lovely evening with her walking the old part of Geneva and chatting while she sipped coffee and I had a chocolate sorbet. I am one lucky lady!
But now it's time to work - and work we do. Just getting up to school is a work-out. We have finished our first course (Social and Developmental Issues) and will begin the next one after a Community lecture tomorrow. I am wishing for more energy and time to work on things that I must present next week. Our first assignment was to tell our life story in a 10 minute artistic presentation.
Last night the moon was stunning as it rose up from the mountain like a pearl. Everyday there are new things to see that I didn't see or notice last year.

There are many vendors on the streets that parallel the river. This is one of the few artists that still sell their work there. most stalls now sell used books and junky souvenirs. Sometimes there will be original art, but mostly that looks like it has been whipped up as well. This particular artist is the one that I chose to purchase a small watercolour from.

And yes, this is the typical "c'est moi!" photo at the Eiffel Tower. It is a work of engineering and structural steel art, for sure. It's also brown. Which I didn' know. It is lovelier than I expected. I didn't go up, but rather chose to rest in the sun on the ground in the park with the gazillion other tourists. Only I decided to paint this lovely "old lady" instead of buying postcards.
I wanted to post the last picture with the caption of "It's smaller than you think!" but I couldn't get it in the right spot. And actually it was larger than I thought!

Notre Dame looks as if it was born there, thus giving it ownership of that portion of the Isle de France. It is a huge structure that is visible for a long way. The day I was there they were cleaning the pipes of the giant organ. It sounded a lot like Phantom of the Opera! The inside was dark and cavernous, but the windows were breathtaking.

The Louvre is the largest building I think I have ever seen. It wraps around an enormous courtyard and has many arches and entry points. I was lucky enough to stumble by on a discount evening so got in for only 6 Euro's. Things here are very expensive, but if you're frugal and creative and don't mind eating fruit, cheese and croissants from the vendors stalls, it's not so bad.

In the Louvre, I saw up close and personal paintings that I have only seen in picture books. To my amazement we were allowed to take pictures, even with flash (although I just couldn't bring myself to use the flash, knowing how damaging that can be to the works). I only had an hour and a half, but that was enough for my poor feet and to see some astounding sculpture, paintings and objet d'art.

I also had the pleasure of the company of this couple from New Zealand. We had a lot of laughs and conversation on the top of the tour bus as the gems of Paris went whipping by.

In Paris, it's all about the angels!
And the gold. There are angels everywhere keeping company with the gargoyles and the saints. The architecture is ornate and amazing. To think that all this has been there for longer than Canada has been a country! The dome is from the top of a large palacial building that once housed a hospital for soldiers and others suffering from infirmities. There is a tomb of one of the mighty under the dome.

Now that's a turtle! Or several, actually, that ringed a huge sculpture in the middle of this fountain. I have many more pictures, but not much time to download them.

On my first evening, I walked toward the Seine and was treated to some lively music by these buskers near the bridge. There are often music makers about - a sax player under the bridge, a floutist in the arch of the Louvre, or wherever tourists are likely to gratefully toss coins in their cases. I was no exception!

There are many open air cafes and stores along the streets in the heart of old Paris, just as one would imagine. It is a lively, crazy, busy place! The streets make no sense and I could get lost if I can't see the sun. It's like trying to find your way around a spider's web with more intersections at odd angles!

The Seine isn't blue and beautiful, but it does make a dramatic line through the city's centre. There are many bridges that lead to the Isle de France, each one a work of art on it's own with sculpures or cornices or whatever the engineer at the time was inclined to add.

Parisienne adventures

I arrived in Paris very weary but managed to make my way to the home of my couch-surfing hostess without too much difficulty, other than a long walk with too much luggage. My French is passable, but gives out on me when I'm frazzled! Frederique was a wonderful hostess. We had dinners together, I met her boyfriend, Jude, who was also really nice. I had my own room that looked out onto this darling little courtyard. I rested here the first evening just writing and taking pictures.