Monday, 21 September 2009

Jungfrau- Top Of Europe!


I am starting to put the dates on these blogs, of when the trips I'm writing about occurred otherwise things are going to get confused as I get more and more behind with whats been going on! So this is the 12th and 13th of September folks, here goes.

Just before the weekend started, I was able to go to a Swiss brewery and enjoy the local beer. It was very interesting, although the guided tour was a bit boring for me, as I couldn't understand the detailed german explanations of the hops used and brewing methods. A lab colleague translated bits for me to keep me more in the loop. We had a BBQ and free beer was on offer. I naturally tried a few, the "better than Guiness" beer, the owner recommended really didn't have a patch on Guiness though.

That weekend we went to Jungfrau, in the Bernese Oberland and it was incredible. A train to Grindelwald, which was like a postcard Christmas village, where we stayed Friday night, was the first step on the way to "the top of Europe". Then in the morning we got the train, completely packed at 9am, up to Kleine Scheidegg, which is the departure point for the steep cable car up to Jungfraujoch. We had a good ride up, with ear popping, and were given a few stopping points to look out at the view. At the top it was incredible-it was more than a blanket covering of snow, as far as the eye could see there was an entire landscape of snow, that glittered like crystals. After a few rides on the snow disks and a very short husky ride (it was literally a minute, but we got to pet the huskies after, who were soo cute and reminded me of Australian dingoes), so short all you could hear were American tourists complaining about it, we walked through the snow, with incredible diificulty, due to lack of fitness, to a station about 45minutes away to eat lunch. It was so cool to just be walking past huge snow covered mountains supplying an amazing background.

After lunch, the now downhill walk to the Sphinx observation platform at the top of Jungfrau, was much more manageable, although the sun had became to melt the top layers of the snow, so it was more slippery, we pulled ourselves away from the huskies, and visited the Ice Palace. It was full of ice sculptures, and is kept cool, believe it or not, by use of renewable solar power. After buying a few tacky souvenirs at the gift shop it was off back down the mountain, and a well deserved rest. We noticed at this point we'd all got a little bit sunburnt from the strength of the ice reflection of the sun!

The next day I visited Schynige Platte, which is a beautiful old fashioned railway up to a Mountain station, with beautiful views, unfortunately these were obscured by the fog when I got up there, hey ho, never mind. Did manage to visit the alpine botanical garden, and glimpse some Edelweiss before it disappeared for the winter period. There was also a little teddy bear exhibit near the hotel, which perches on the mountain, which was sweet, but not solely worth the journey up the mountain for!

So that's it for another instalment of Swizzy's adventure, special birthday wishes for Smell on the 25th for her 25th (sorry I can't be there).
Loads of love,

Swizzy x x x

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