October 19 Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe

October 19 Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe

This morning we awoke to the sound of cow bells, or what I thought were cow bells. They were, in fact bells on the many sheep that are grazing in a steep field next to the campground. I am sure they are quite used to tourists because they posed so nicely for a picture.

The train left the station at Lauterbrunnen at 9:14 en route to Jungfraujoch and we were on it. The climb to the top took about two hours. The train goes slowly and I read that the gradual gradient (maximum 25 cm per metre) permits progressive adjustment of the human body to the high altitude.

The view on the way up is nothing short of breathtaking. However, it was the view from the top that the tour book authors write about. From the top, which is 4158 m, you can see France, Italy, and Germany. The sky was very clear and the sun was bright and so we could see to forever. It was also very cold, about -17 but very warm when walking on the glacier in the bright sunshine. (Warm clothing and sunglasses are recommended for the trip)

We visited several viewing areas, went through an "ice palace" which is a tunnel through a glacier where everything is made of ice...the walls, the floor and some neat sculptures.

The trip down took a little longer than the trip up. We stopped at the village of Grindelwald, browsed around a few shops and stopped for a hot bowl of soup. It was delicious.

From Grindelwald we took the train to Zweilutschinen and then were supposed to transfer to a train to Lauterbrunnen. We thought we were on the right train, but the train separated and we were on the half that was returning to Grindelwald. We managed to get off at the next stop and were relieved to see on the schedule that another train was coming through in about seven minutes. Luckily Michelle saw a sign that said that the train would stop "by request" only. We found a button to push and luckily it was the right one because the train did stop for us.

Upon arrival back to the campsite we stopped by to see the baby lambs (they could barely walk), visited the campsite grocery store for some water and headed back to Gracie to turn on the heater.

Tomorrow we will leave Switzerland and head for Germany.