THE ICE DAY
Today most of us got up at about 7:30 to get ready for breakfast (a snack) at 8:00. Breakfast consisted of brown bread (some stale) with butter, cheese, jams and a drink.
After breakfast we loaded the bus with all our fat bags and got ready for the reasonably short trip to Engelberg. When we arrived the road crew unpacked the junk while the rest of us took the chance to take photos of the scenery. After about an hour (of trying to get everyone motivated) we finally started the concert (with no. 6, of course). The music was ECHOING ECHOING ECHOING through the mountains. It was really cool!!!!! After the concert (when the audience
had left) Dick collected everyones’cameras and took pictures of all of us standing on chairs (wobbly benches). He looked funny standing next to a table with about 20 cameras on it. When we finally finished the photo opportunity we got our lunch and all crammed on the bus to get changed into our winter woollies (hope no one’s claustrophobic).
Then we got back on the bus to drive about 2 km (not Italian length) up the road to the bottom of the gondola. Today, because of the condition at the top, we only had to pay 76 francs for the 5 of us. Kids were free and the adults only had to pay half the price. The first leg of the journey was in a 6 seater gondola. It was really shaky when we got to a pole. The second leg was the same. The third leg was a little room that 80 people could stand in. Everyone was surprised to see Jenny up there. We thought she’d chicken out. The last leg of the journey was a round room for 80 people. The floor rotated so everyone could get a better view (of the cloud).
Once we got up there we were free to do our own thing. Our family went to the ice grotto first. It was a cave that was totally made of ice. Then once we had frozen we walked down a corridor that was about 20 metres long. Towards the end you crossed the border into Austria (editors’ note - hmm... did you now?). At the end you could look out a window to see CLOUDS, what a surprise! Once we’d walked up and down the tunnel, Alex was busting to go out and play in the snow. So we went outside and had a snowball fight, but as soon as Jenny came out she was the immediate target. When we got sick of the snow and cold air we got back on the Rotair to go back down. At the bottom it was raining so we had an icecream, believe it or not.
All in all, it was a day to remember.
