Jungfrau Region

We woke up this morning, checked the live weather cam on the Jungfrau Joch and, seeing it was clear, we were on a mission, leaving Bern at O'Dark Thirty to head off to Interlaken. It was on this part of the trip that the conductor noticed that our Swiss Rail Pass had not been validated and he was threatening to charge us another CHF 80 apiece! I explained to him that my boneheaded nephew ("Sitting right THERE!") told us that the conductor was capable of validating the pass on the train and that we didn't need to have it done beforehand. After one look at Brian, the conductor relented, leading us through the Interlaken station to the ticket counter to have the station attendant validate it. He left us with a "Good Luck!" (leaving unspoken: Stupid American!) and disappeared. We boarded the train to Lauterbrunnen with our Wonderfully Validated Pass and from there, we got on a cog railway to head up toward our ultimate destination of the Jungfrau Joch.

The Bernese Oberland is a mountainous region in central Switzerland dominated by the 3 mountains, the Jungfrau, the Monch, and the Eiger. They got their names from some fairy tale about a young maiden (JungFrau) being protected by a monk (Monch) from an ogre (Eiger). The entire region is criss-crossed by hiking trails, quaint hamlets, and glacier-fed streams. We were on the alert to spot Heidi jumping out from behind any chalet to bid us welcome. On the ridge between the Jungfrau and the Monch, the Swiss constructed an ice station for research and tourism (over 100 years ago!) called the Jungfrau Joch. This was our destination.

The whole transportation process is not an easy task, as it turns out. Getting on the cog railway at Lauterbrunnen, we had to change to another cog train at Kleine Scheidegg, a remote outpost above the tree line. While waiting for the final train up, we were treated to a herd of Swiss cows ambling by with their cow bells tinkling in the thin mountain air, making the most of their now limited time in the high pastures before wintertime brings them down the mountain. See "more cow bell!" video.  I swear the last cow passing was holding out a pan for tips, but she got no takers from our group. When the train arrived, we started up the mountains again with a 4 mile stretch INSIDE the Eiger (see "Eiger" video) to emerge on the other side and cross below the crest of the Monch to reach the Joch. Unbelievable!

Four hours after our journey's start in Bern, we stepped off the train on the Top of Europe! We stepped outside to do the mandatory picture-taking routine of Europe's longest glacier. (Iceland claims "Europe's Biggest Glacier." The difference? Dunno!) As we walked around the ice station, we kept discovering new views, locations, and activities. We were right under the Jungfrau and as we walked around, the Monch emerged. See "Top of Europe!" video or "Top of Europe II! video.  And then we saw the observation tower another 300 feet above us. See video from Sphinx observation tower.  Went to that and saw the play area below us and went to that. This is where Brian and Bree did their Zip-Line routine - Bree screaming like a girl until landing ass-first in the snow, Brian not realizing he did it until it was over. Nice videos, though!  See Brian's Zip-Line video.  See Bree's Zip-Line video.

Not content with all this activity, we entered the Ice Palace, a cave with a winding tunnel the Swiss carved out of the ice near the ice station which holds some nice ice sculptures, touristy photo-ops, and opportunities for those with limited mental abilities to stick their tongues to the walls.  See "It's cold!" video.  

The last train down the mountain was at 3 so we took off and started our descent, using a different route near the bottom to get back to Interlaken.  See video of descent.  We found a lovely outdoor restaurant where we had raclette, fondue, and rosti while people watching the downtown Interlaken routine. Looking at the parasailers crossing the Thunersee from their mountainous jumping point to land in a park just down the street from our restaurant, we decided that we were tired and it was time to head back to Bern. Another successful day!! See slide show.