Top of Europe

Wednesday 7^th May

A big day today. We were up at 5am to catch the earlybird (cheaper fare) train to Jungfrau – the top of Europe. Unfortunately the weather did not look the best when we set out but we had fingers crossed that maybe it would improve in time for us to see the peaks at the top.

On the way up - before the snow.

The trip up to the top was via train, bus (a section of track being repaired) then train and train. It was a pretty spectacular ride to the top with beautiful scenery along the way. We had both rain and snow on the way up the mountain. Because of the early hour there were not too many people up there and we were able to leisurely wander the ‘tour’ they have there, which is all inside except for one little bit. It was still a white-out when we had finished the tour so we settled in for a cup of coffee and to wait and see if the clouds would roll away.

Early morning at Interlaken station.

The second train on the journey up.

I didn't go out because it was snowing.
They have a good indoor tour at the top.

Ready to leave for the downward trip.

Sadly this was not to be and we decided to head on down and via the alternate route back to Interlaken. This route was more spectacular than the route up and we had the carriage to ourselves most of the way down so were able to open the windows for photos and move from side to side of the carriage as the views appeared.

Grimelwald.

Below are just some of the many scenery photos we took on the way back down the mountain.
There had been rain overnight so some of the waterfalls were looking pretty good. 

(this one was actually taken as we were on the way up)

We took a side trip on the way down via cable car to a little village called Murren. This is said to be an authentic Swiss village with no cars (I think they mean no tourist cars). Unfortunately we were again too early in the season and a lot of places there were closed, but we did have a very nice lunch at the restaurant that was open.

Not a lot was happening in Murren.
I don't know if it was like that because it is not yet the height of summer,
or is only 'open' in the winter months.

One of the many cable cars.

On our way back to the hotel we visited the patchwork shop in the city of Thun. I can’t believe how much they pay for fabric – 32 CHF which is around 40 AUD. Nothing that I couldn’t get at home, no swiss-themed fabric,  so I was happy to just walk out empty handed.

Our hotel.

We had dinner in the hotel which turned out to be a good thing because talking to the hotel manager (who speaks English) we found that the road we planned to take to Brig was still closed with the snow – not due to open till end of May. She was able to tell us about the quicker and better way to go which was via the car train through the mountain. OK. Change of plans. Stupid Australians! What were they thinking???