Jungfraujoch

Last night after discussion with Irene (the lady I met on the train) and checking the weather we decided to book the train to Jungfraujoch. The Jungfrau is the highest mountain around here.
We started out by taking the train to Kleine Scheidegg then changed trains to Jungfraujoch. From Wengen it took about an hour, the last 20 minutes or so through a tunnel.

I was writing this in the lounge of the hotel but then Irene and I started discussing our plans for tomorrow and I got sidetracked. Irene is returning to Zurich tomorrow but as it’s only a two hour and a half hour trip she was trying to decide what to do. I’m hoping to do a circuit on the other side of the Lauterbrunnen valley that involves buses, trains, cable cars, hopefully some walking and waterfalls. Providing the weather cooperates (it is thunderstorming at the moment) and Irene will probably join me.

Anyway back to today. Jungfraujoch is simply amazing. I don’t have enough superlatives to describe it. There’s a lot to do up there. They have an observation deck that gives you 360 degree views. From there we went to the snow fun. Walking on packed snow in sneakers was not easy. Where are my nailed boots when I need them?
I made it the two metres or so down the incline to some deck chairs. We sat in them, with cold backsides from the cold coming up from the snow and warm faces and legs from the sun beating down. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. There were people zip lining and well as on donuts, skis and something that looked like a tiny ride on mower with no engine.
From there we went to the Alpine sensation which was just weird. They had various wood carvings and an alpine display in a dome. We went through much of that on travelaters. Then the ice palace and theat was COLD. The floor was icy but not necessarily ice. There were various ice sculptures throughout. From there it was the Lindt store where I didn’t buy anything but did see how they get the liquid inside the balls. We got a Lindt ball as we left the shop. We had some lunch and then came back down to Wengen. The ticket checker on the train gave everyone a Lindt ball as he checked their tickets. While waiting in line for the toilet the woman in front of me said “I recognise you.” Unfortunately I couldn’t say the same until she reminded me they had sat across the aisle from me for part of the way on the Glacier Express. They are also staying in this hotel but I didn’t see them at dinner.

Irene and I parted ways, she got off in Wengen and I kept going to Lauterbrunnen. I knew if I went back to the hotel I’d just have a nap and I wanted to make the most of the beautiful day. At Lauterbrunnen I walked to the other end of the village to the Staubbach falls. At nearly 300m are simply stunning. I was there quite a while before returning to the station and back to Wengen.

Irene is lovely, she Canadian and also a solo traveller so we’ve compared notes on what its like. Fortunately we seem to be interested in the same things so travelled well together. See does seem to regard me as a bit of an expert on all things Wengen and surrounds which is a bit of a worry when all I am is quoting TripAdvisor a lot of the time.Read more