Alpine HighJun 23, 2010
|
|
| Day 3- We awoke to crystal clear skies! Well, Olle told us to be prepared for a great day so we got up and were down to the gondola for the first run down at 7 AM. Picked up the car and it was so early they didn’t charge for the lift ride or the 2 days parking!! Drove down to the train station and bought the tickets for the Jungfrujoch train…They cost a whopping 322.00 US! Good luck continued to follow us as the next train was leaving in 3 minutes! We sat on the right side for the best view and ate yogurt. These electric trains are cog wheel run and cute as an antique street car. We climbed out steeply up the mountain with great views of the town and into an area with a tunnel .The first stop Wengen. You can see the snow covered peaks some from below but now we were getting full on views to the Eiger, the Monk and the Jungfrau (Ogre, Monk and Virgin) We climbed through a tall evergreen forest (lush) and steeper on to the treeless zone of green pastures. There were great views of the valley and Murren across ...Keine Schidegg was the last stop where there were restaurants (terraces) and a hotel. The views from here were remarkable!!. All white peaks from here!. the train then clicked it’s way into the Eiger by tunnel and we stopped twice to look out viewing windows. It was now 35 degrees and our stop on the Jungfraujoch observatory was to be 11,330 ft. This is the highest train station is Europe. I tried to tape a video saying all this stuff but I was overcome with cold and altitude that I sounded like I’d had too much snapps … What was wrong with my cameras!!! The station consisted of viewing platform, restaurants, gift shops, and places to get out to snow. The activities included a zip line, hiking and disk sliding. There was also an ice palace that features ice carvings. (lame as Justin would say).Most of the tunnels were inside the mountain and just the observatory was visible but blended well and was hardly noticeable. You got to love the Swiss! I’ve never seen a glacier before and I felt like I was on Everest. It was that kind of view. I was having increasing problems with my camera it was not focusing . It has ruined a great day. However on the way down we stopped at Kliene Schidegg for lunch of soup and sandwich and dessert of apple strudel with vanilla custard sauce (yummy). We sat next to some kids form the US who were dressed in “costume”...she, an 1890s riding outfit (thrift store) with red rose on her hat,and he was wearing dress whites and a British policeman’s white helmet and the mustache to go with it. The Japanese tourists wanted pictures Back in the valley, We watched the paragliders floating down like a steam of water as we waited for the gondola…and if it weren’t so expensive I’d have done it!. By the time we got back up the lift to Gimmelwald it was 4PM and it was time for a needed rest. |
Advertisement 
|
