My Trip to Our Chalet, Adelboden, Switzerland - Pip Davenport from Lapley Division

On February 14th I was one of 22 Guides and 4 Leaders from Girguiding Midlands Region who met at New Street Station, Birmingham to begin our trip to Our Chalet, Switzerland. We had spent the previous 9 months fundraising and were now excited and raring to go.

We travelled to London where we spent the night at Baden Powell House before continuing our journey next morning by Eurostar to Paris.

There we changed stations to get a train to Geneva and finally a coach to our destination - arriving at 8.30pm on the Sunday evening.

Our week started on Monday morning with our first skiing lesson - I had never skied before but I really enjoyed it. We spent 3 hours at ski school before returning tired and hungry for lunch. The afternoon was spent ice skating and in the evening we went tobogganing. By bed time we were all very tired and aching but I had really enjoyed the day's activities.

On Tuesday we woke to find that it was snowing! Another morning at ski school was followed by igloo building and snow shoeing in the evening. Another tiring day!

On Wednesday we travelled to Interlaken for a visit to a chocolatiers and also had time to do souvenir shopping. We also met Lesley Knighton, Chief Commissioner, Girlguiding Midlands who had come out to visit us.

Thursday saw us return to school - I was getting better but still ached. The afternoon was spent snow tubing and in the evening we went for a sleigh ride.

Friday was our last morning at ski school and I ventured onto the easiest of the ski runs. It was great fun although I did fall over a lot! At lunchtime we had a snow bar-b-que followed by the snow Olympics. We finished our week in traditional style with a camp fire.

Finally Saturday saw us up early to leave at 6am to make the journey home - arriving back in Birmingham at 9pm.

The week was brilliant! It was great fun and I was able to try many new activities and learn new skills. Furthermore I was able to meet Girlguiding members not only from Midlands Region but also from other UK regions, although there was no-one from other countries staying at Our Chalet whilst we were there.

Pip Davenport from Lapley Division