Apologies for this late post … we had an internet issue last night and nothing would send, nothing would upload, nothing would save … and after a few hours of frustration, nothing could stop me muttering “I’ll just have to do it tomorrow.”
So, a day late, here’s what we did yesterday …
After Tuesday’s walk into town with Pastora and Iva, Leo was also keen to get back into the walking swing. We did some walks in winter, but not many of length, so with the sun trying to shine (and a chilly two degrees to start the day) we caught the bus just after 9am to Aarberg, a beautiful little village further along the Aare river.
Unfortunately we didn’t go into the old town centre, so I have no photographic proof of how quaint Aarberg really is – we just walked straight off the bus onto the path to Wohlen. I’ll do a photo post about Aarberg in summer, when the trees in the main square have leaves. (*oops, didn’t manage to do that!)
There are many different wanderweg trails from Aarberg to our house, but we chose to go through Lobsigen, Baggwilgraben, Elemoos, Wahlendorf, Meikirch, Uetligen and then home. A surprise change of plans meant we ended up walking through Lobsigen, Baggwilgraben, Elemoos, Wahlendorf then Sariswil and home.
And what a lovely excuse it was – a Bernese mountain dog became our guide through the forest just after Elemoos. She became totally overexcited when we met her, and ran to the path to lead the way. It was like she knew what to do, so we thought she was walking home and encouraging us to follow her. She kept turning back and checking if we were still there and then running ahead, on the exact path we were planning to walk. Then she’d run back to us for a pat. When I was deleting old photos off my phone because the memory was full, she ran down to see what was holding me up, and barking as if to say “Come on, hurry up, what’s keeping you, let’s go!” The surprise and comfort of walking with a dog was so sweet, even though we kept encouraging her to go home.
Turns out her name is Luna and home was where we first met her, when the track dissected some farm buildings. We found this out from the closest vet surgery, in Sariswil, where we went to get her microchip checked. The vet said Bernese mountain dogs love company and love to explore. Her owners were on a day-trip to the ski fields, so she adopted us as her family for the afternoon to keep her entertained. Oh, the lovely Luna. The vet waited with her until someone, arranged by the family, came to take her home. She was unsettled as we left, and I was too. Really makes me want a dog even more!
All up, a great day. We saw so many animals – dogs, cats, horses, sheep, goats, ducks, cows, chickens …
So enough from me, I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story. I think the internet crashed last night because I tried to upload so many!
Wishing you a wonderful day.
- Straight from the bus/train stop and onto the Wanderweg
- There’s a big sugar factory in Aarberg, and I’m sure these fields across the road grow sugar beets
- The sign on the right says we’re coming up to the factory
- Follow the yellow away from this mess and into the hills
- Off the sugar mill access road at last
- Sweet house on the way up
- Gimme some sugar! On overview of the sugar mill
- Leo surveying the mess below
- This dog didn’t want us coming on his land!
- And he made sure we walked on past his road
- I love these yellow signs. Shame about my finger in the top corner!
- Go this way!
- Farmer in the field
- You can see the Aare river on the right in the distance
- We walked into the sun which made for some not so great photos. We walked over the mountain range
- Liking this landscape
- The old and the new, half and half
- Home sweet home for someone small
- Stairway to heaven? No, a ladder which goes into the water drain below it. There must be a very extensive underground irrigation system here!
- Walking into the village of Lobsigen
- He’d just finished having a big drink of water
- A grand looking entrance to a farmhouse in Lobsigen
- Need to find the name of these purple beauties so I can plant some for next spring
- No adults are able to park their bikes here at the schoolhouse!
- A timber yard right in the middle of the tiny village
- The Lobsigen School
- Old tractors were littered all over this place. All for spares?
- The goats saw us and all ran away!
- They settled down the bottom, in safety
- Across the road from the goats were the sheep
- Looking back to Lobsigen and Leo taking photos of the goats
- Love the old water troughs
- The goat and sheep property also sold honey
- This house had the goat, sheep and honey business
- This black sheep sounded hilarious, warning us to move on … or else!
- Mum and two bub goats
- The baby goats were so cute and sprightly
- Hello babies!
- Dad looking proud
- After the goats we walked uphill to be greeted by this lovely house
- Everything was so well maintained and neat
- The path continued up past the house
- An electric feeling
- It’s always surprising to see where the snow and ice hangs around the longest
- This fire pit has a dragon sculpture attached. Must look a treat when it’s lit!
- I disturbed these two from their sunny patch as we walked past the house
- They moved in such similar patterns, Leo said they were like synchronised swimmers
- These snow bell flowers are called Schneeglöckchen and grow in random patches at the end of winter/start of spring
- This is with my new macro lens (x10)
- And this is with macro x15
- For me they symbolise happiness and light. Bring on spring!
- Around this corner, we were greeted by a big dog
- This working farm could be the dog’s domain?
- Meeting the dog for the first time. Little did we know what was about to happen …
- Pat my belly, you know you want to!
- Here, follow me, because I know the way and you’re going to love it!
- Looking back down the path the dog had just run up
- A rustic old bench to admire the view. Leo suggested sitting for lunch but I was worried we’d break it
- The view from the rustic bench
- But a few seconds later we found another bench and stopped. I had to admire Leo’s Swissness – neither of us had checked the watch and it was bang on midday. Most of the Swiss break for lunch at midday
- Our new friend is sitting on my foot as I eat sandwiches. She didn’t beg, she was just happy to stay close
- She was very happy to hang with us
- We’ve walked up this big wooden tower, which on a clear day has amazing 360 degree views to the Alps and several lakes
- After having a few snippets of salami, she happily moved away to let us finish
- She was so excited when we stood up, she barked and jumped up and then raced off ahead
- Follow that dog into the forest!
- Love seeing sunshine stream through trees
- She would lead the way then come back and check on us
- One more sunny shot
- Stop taking so many photos. Hurry up!
- Keep coming people!
- This house on top of the hill before you walk down to Wahlendorf is our favourite
- Lovely front yard but alas only a view of the village, not of the Alps
- I wonder if the house on the hill is admired by all the Wahlendorf residents?
- This is how close the house is to the finish of that lovely forest section
- She waited patiently while we admired the house and took photos …
- … and then ran off like a crazy woman as soon as we started walking again, leaping around the fields and having a great time
- Cows in Wahlendorf. We stopped here and asked at the village restaurant if anyone knew the dog, thinking she might live here. No one did, so we said we’d take her to the vet in the next village
- These would have to be very happy chickens in all this space
- Just checking to make sure everyone’s ok …
- Looking down to Sariswil with Möriswil half way up the next hill. The gap in the treeline on the ridge far right is the road leading to our house
- Love the twin looks in this pic! But it wouldn’t be long before we’d be in Sariswil to find her rightful owners. Sad!
- We walked freely on the country roads
- But on the main road of Sariswil we had to hold her tight
- More blooms in a garden on the main road
- An ornate garden waiting for spring
- Leo and the dog crossing the road to school
- While waiting for the vet to arrive, I made sure we had lots of cuddles
- The vet told us her name was Luna, she was four years old and she lived … where we met her. She definitely wasn’t in the mood to stay at home today!
- Leaving the vets, we walked straight up the street into Möriswil
- One of the two rooftop barns in Möriswil with access ramps over the road
- One of two cats we saw on the walk
- These lambs were really playful
- This special fertiliser gets piled up next to the fields, ready to use. It steams in the heat and smells pretty bad
- A man working alone in the fields, trimming trees
- Less than 300m ’til home
- I went straight home and Leo walked back into Wohlen to collect the car. The plan had been to walk to the car from another direction but the vet’s was so close to home it made sense to go straight there
- The woodpile near home from another angle and another path to our house
- You can see the back of the big farmhouse
- Back onto the property
- Back to the little Stöckli
- Back to the owners’ dog Boy … who only has eyes for the ball! Oh, don’t worry Boy, we still love you too
Great weather for a walk!
Bernese are THE best – ours was a grey with blue eyes due to his 1/4 Bergamasco blood, he was brilliant and I had to laugh when you wrote Luna sat on your foot, never cold feet with a Bernese!! Hamish lived to 14 and there are stories about him on the blog. He was a total love.
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Oh Hamish. I will definitely look for him on your blog, thank you for letting me know. They seem to be the most affectionate dogs. Luna is a new friend I hope to visit again soon (and leave behind this time, now that we know where she lives!)
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So great – feeling like I’ve been a walk with you guys… and the Lovely Luna. xxx
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She was so lovely, curlymint77. The lovely Luna. Sigh … maybe we’ll go back for another visit soon … sigh …
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I meant ‘on a walk’.
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[…] so we walked one of our favourite walks to Aarberg. We did this walk in reverse in March, when we met the lovely dog Luna. This time we walked from home and caught the bus back. Glorious! My hip gave out on the walk from […]
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