Thursday, Day 6 in Switzerland

Ah, the majesty of the Jungfraujoch... the top of Europe. Glorious views of three countries. An overlook of the largest Glacier in the Alps. So much snowy sunshine. And a zillion Asian tourists.

On Thursday in Switzerland, we woke up early in our Lauterbrunnen hotel room to catch the "Good Morning Train" to the Jungfraujoch. It was dark as we walked across town to the train station. The sun came up while we took the long rail journey up into the mountains from the valley. There was a pack of awful Australian people on our train that were very loud and talked too much. But they didn't ruin the trip. We saw tiny ibex grazing near a pond. When we arrived at our destination, the first thing we did was find coffee. Then we enjoyed the incredible views.

Top of Aletsch Glacier, largest in the Alps.

View from the Sphinx Observatory.

You could walk around in the snow. Notice there's not a cloud in the sky--a perfect day for this.

This was no cheap outing. It cost us 140 francs ($150 USD) each to get to the Jungfraujoch, but it was an experience I knew we needed to have if we were visiting Switzerland. This was a VERY touristy place. This was the only experience we found overly touristy during our vacation. But I'm still glad we did it.

During the train ride back into the valley, the sun was out and we were able to fully enjoy the scenery. Incredible.

The Jungfrau and the Monch I think?

So amazing.

We stopped on the way down in a town called Murren, located on the route to Lauterbrunnen. We wanted to check the place out and get some lunch. Murren is a thoroughly touristy place as well, with lots of condo chalet buildings, ski lifts, and sporting goods stores. We were there off-season, so many restaurants and stores were closed. We did find a nice shop for souvenirs. It was called "The Swiss Made Shop." We stopped by the tourist office to ask for a restaurant recommendation. The person on duty suggested we try picnicking in a churchyard that offered outstanding views of the valley. We stopped by a Migros to pick up sandwiches and walked up to the church for our picnic.

Picnic view of Lauterbrunnen Valley in Murren.

The guy in the tourist office was right. The view from this churchyard was phenomenal. My picture couldn't capture it. But maybe you get the idea. Alps with a green valley full of chalets and waterfalls. Unbelievable. I kept thinking, I'm having a picnic here? Really?

By this time, it had warmed up to 68 degrees after it had been 30 or so in the early morning hours. I had on big snow boots and many layers of clothing. I was anxious to get out of my wintery gear, and so we headed down to Lauterbrunnen where our rental car waited. We had a long drive back to Champoussin, and it was getting to be late. We waved goodbye to the Bernese Oberland and headed east, exhausted but happy. Before we left, I got this shot in Lauterbrunnen which helps provide some perspective when paired with the image above.

View in Lauterbrunnen.