Samstag
The church bells ring as we start our walk to the Lake this morning. We walk past the centre of town once again. The bikes from last night are still here. It looks like the event is here for a few more days. Swallows circle around and make high pitched gurgling sounds. They seem quite frantic. The hot air balloon which we saw in the distance when we started our walk looks closer now. The ship shaped glass building comes into view as we near the lake. A few elderly couples and ladies are walking their dogs. There are a few early morning joggers and cyclers. Very few wish us as we walk past. I start saying my guten morgans and realise that even the most grumpy faces acknowledge me as they pass me by. Some nod and some smile. The dark waters of the lake is still, till we pass a duck family having an early morning swim. A couple are having an dip in the warm waters. As we reach the forest part of the lake, conifers line our path. I see a small spruce tree with wild flowers growing around it and it looks like it is getting decorated early for Christmas. An elderly man walks further ahead. He has had a stroke and is dragging his feet but is still making the effort to complete his morning stroll.
I take a deep breath in. The fresh air fills my lungs. Our week here is coming to a close. The fresh air, the pure water, the perfect weather, the picturesque scenery, the colourful meadows, the lazy cows grazing in the fields, the lone deer who ran away as it saw us coming, the juicy wild tiny strawberries and raspberries that we found on our walks and the imposing mountains. We can walk for hours here and that’s what we did today. Almost ten miles and the second part was along a river bank.
I must say a special thanks to our hosts Veronica and Klaus, here at Edelweiss. They treat all the guests as if they are long lost family friends. Always visible, ready to help and pitching in with the service. The small personal touches, like the early morning messages in a leaflet crammed with ideas for the day. The thank you chocolate and a goodbye note with our last dinner. The ever friendly staff. We will miss their smiling faces greeting us each morning and throughout the day. I find out the secret behind our host’s ever smiling faces as I go down the stairs past their wine cellar to store our bags after checking out. A wine cellar filled with bottles all ready to be opened with our evening meal. All neatly arranged and cleverly lighted with a small table in the middle, two chairs, tablecloth, candles and two wine glasses set ready for a romantic meal. A perfect hideaway for the couple if things get too much. Together they have created a picture perfect holiday setting for us and we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. 
