Eiger, Jungfrau, Mönch
On the second weekend of my parents' visit we decided that more mountains were just the ticket. This might have been the case, but to actually see them we needed actual train tickets. With these in hand we headed to the hills! We crossed into the Canton of Bern, which has as its logo a mighty red-toenailed bear. Our destination was Grindelwald, which is represented by a rearing black ibex. Here are the two of them, hanging out at Interlaken train station.
The Bern bear is always punctual.
The Grindelwald ibex always has his game face on.
He also represents banks.
I went to Grindelwald in 2009 and had terrible weather which meant it was totally fogged in the whole time I was there. This time we had absolutely perfect weather, and it turns out there are giant mountains right next to the town! Everyone was there: The Eiger, Wetterhorn, Mättenburg - it was a total peak party. We took the tourist train up to the Jungfraujoch to see the view from a bit higher up. When I say "a bit" I mean 2700 metres.
That ibex is everywhere!
The Jungfraubahn is super expensive, super touristy, and super incredible. Apart from the view you end up with, it is quite the engineering marvel - it runs for 9 kilometers and nearly all of that distance is inside the Eiger itself, through a tunnel that was first opened in 1912. On its way up it stops at stations inside the Eiger where there are windows in the rock face.
The Jungfrau Railways train at Kleine Scheidegg with the Eiger and Mönch behind.
At the station within the Eiger.
Here's what the view was like. The photos don't do it justice. All those peaks made me very itchy to go walking - while winter weekends were for skiing, this summer is going to be one of climbing and hiking. Mark my words!
View from Eiger station 2.
Another view from Eiger station 2.
At the top!
The view, given the hipster treatment. This is a panorama so scroll away!
The train takes you to a station within The Sphinx, which is a large bit of rock between much larger bits of rock. It sits right between the Mönch and The Jungfrau, which are both pretty large mountains. It is also right at the top of the Great Aletsch Glacier, which is quite correctly named (ie it's great). There's a strange collection of things inside the Bond-esque complex - a whole bunch of shops selling expensive food and even more expensive watches, an ice cave containing ice sculptures, and some exhibition space.
A very strange, giant snow dome.
Ice bears.
We took the train down via Lauterbrunnen, because of its legendary use as the basis for Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings books.
Very Rivendell indeed.
Lauterbrunnen's got balls.
This bottle closed at the top of the Jungfraujoch is now a terribly inaccurate barometer.
Our train ride home took us back past Interlaken and Thun, which are both situated on incredibly picturesque lakes, with mountain views etched into our minds - and into a giant block of Swiss chocolate.
Something for the train ride home, perhaps?
Thun's gorgeous lake; Lake Thun.