Train to Top of Europe

We awoke on Saturday to a beautiful, clear, sunny day!

Here are some sunrise views from the hotel room:

The Weather Gods have certainly smiled upon us on this trip; whenever we have needed a clear day we have gotten it, and there has been rain only during travel times. It was a clear sign that we should splurge, pay the 190 Swiss Francs each, and take the train to Jungfraujoch (pronounced "Yoong-frow-yoke"), the "Top of Europe"! We decided if we came back to do this later, we may not get the weather we need, so we should do it now.

Here are some shots of the Parkhotel Schoenegg, where we are staying:

We were bundled up when we left the hotel, because it was about 35 degrees F out! Brrr!

We walked 10 short minutes from our hotel to the train station in Grindelwald to catch the first train to Kleine Scheidegg (pronounced "Kline-uh Shy-degg"). There we had to change trains to reach Jungfraujoch.

Here are some images of Kleine Scheidegg:

It was really fun sitting out in the warm sun to have our delicious lunch!

The lighting is tough in this photo, but you can see where we are going behind me:

As you can see, Kleine Scheidegg is really lovely!

Jungfraujoch is a mountain resort that is the highest in Europe to be served by a rack railway. The site includes the famous summits of Monch, the Eiger, and the Jungfrau, as well as the Aletsch Glacier.

Here are some pretty views as we were leaving Kleine Scheidegg:

The second train ride was mostly through tunnels cut into the Eiger mountain, and it made a few stops along the way to let out hikers and to allow passengers to take photos of the glaciers. Then we reached our destination, the Top of Europe Station, elevation 11,333 feet.

We took the fastest lift in Switzerland (108 meters in 25 seconds) to get up to the Sphinx Observation Terrace!

From here, I shot a good panoramic video, which I will download when I can figure out how, but Brock shot most of the good photos of the landscape. This map helped us understand what we were looking at.

Here is a close-up of the mountain Jungfrau:

This is the Aletsch Glacier, flowing like a wide river:

Check out this immense crevasse! You wouldn't want to fall in this! There were crevasses all over.

Interlaken is down in this valley (see the lake):

You can see the Kleine Scheidegg train station far below:

Here are some shots of the tourists on the Sphinx Observation Terrace:

There were many selfies being taken, and more than a few rude people.

The peaks you are seeing are:

The Monch - 13,448 ft.

The Fiescherhorn - 13,284 ft.

The Aletschhorn - 13,757 ft.

The Jungfrau - 13,642 ft.

Here are some cute photos we took in other areas of the resort:

Pretty views of the valley as we came down:

What an amazing day! And we were so blessed to have good, clear weather!

On the train trip down, we enjoyed meeting 3 Australian Mates on holiday. They had great, dry senses of humor.

Once back at the hotel, we enjoyed spending some time at the pool, jacuzzi, steam room, and sauna, followed by a dunk in the ice bath - that will wake you up!

We had another great dinner - salad bar, cream of asparagus soup, veal for Brock and salmon for Jane. We met an interesting couple, Margaret and Peter, from Ipswich, England. They have been coming to this hotel for 27 years. They drove over from England, and got their car on the Chunnel train. They had their Bernese Mountain Dog, Olivia, with them, and she was very sweet and enjoyed all the attention she got!

As it turns out, we stayed the last 2 nights at the Parkhotel Schoenegg before they close for the fall season. They reopen on Dec. 15 for winter. So we have no choice but to check out on Sunday. We plan to do some shopping in town before we head out. This was a wonderful, memorable visit to Grindelwald. By the way, it rained the day we arrived, and the day we left!