Hot Chocolate at 11,782 feet, numb hands, and a bird on a wire

Jungfrau & Trip to Lausanne
Friday, Jun 12

We carried through with the previous days decision to hit the top of Europe no matter what (despite the $110sF cost). We woke up around 7 and had eaten, packed, and had stashed our gear in lockers at the rail station by 9 am for the trip up the "hill". The 360degree view on the website showed that visibility at the top was already a little better than the day before. The trip to the top takes 2 hrs. From Lauterbrunnen you take cog trains up to Wengen and through to Kleine Scheidegg. Once in Kleine Scheidegg we swapped to the Jungfraubahn which takes you from 6762ft to 11333ft in an hour. Quite a climb! The train stopped twice along the way for 5 mins each for passengers to run out and snap pictures from windows cut into the rock (most of the Jungfraubahn was a tunnel up the mountain). Once at the top, we went directly towards one of the outdoor terraces (at around 11,333ft). At first it didn't seem too bad, but then once you were out where the wind could whip at you, it was almost unbearable! The temp was about -3.5deg C, which isn't too ridiculously cold, but I think the winds were gusting to 50-60mph. I went out first, snapping pictures back over the mountain range and also down the front side, where the clouds had cleared enough to see down into the valley below where we hiked yesterday! Just above us, a cloud layer hung thick like a soft blanket. Pretty awesome. Out at that peak the wind was at its worst. I turned back to find Kev and Joe navigating the icy slope to the top -- both were red faced by the time they made it to me. We snapped a few pics at both faces and then I started taking a 360deg video. I had my hands out of my pockets the whole time, and (the Black Keys "Just Couldn't Tie Me Down" just came on...good stuff, love the Rubber Factory album, thanks Lance!)
could barely feel them! My hand was shaking so bad taking video that I had to steady the camera with my other hand. We hurried back inside right after that and my hands actually hurt for about 10 minutes. Crazy... So worth it though...the view was outstanding. One of those things you'll never forget!

Once back inside, we went through the ice cave--corridors and rooms carved through solid ice with sculptures along the way. Its like every kids dream -- every time it snowed, Jason, Kevin, JD, Dustin and I would try to build huge snow igloos. Only actually happened once or twice, I guess we didn't quite live in the right climate.

Then we hit the elevator to go brave the elements about 400 feet higher, at the upper station. There was an outdoor platform constructed of I-beams and gridded metal just behind the station. The station itself seemed to be just barely on the ledge to begin with, the platform really felt out there. Only one side of the platform was exposed to the wind... which of course happened to be the only side where the clouds lifted for about 15 seconds to reveal the valley below. With polarized sun-glasses we could just make out some mountains on the other side, but the pictures just show a complete white out. Birds had found there way up to 11,000ft and perched themselves on the wires above the platform, begging for scraps of food. Look at this guy...just hanging on with one leg, unfazed by the altitude and vast open space below. Just in front of the station you could see people walking along a path 400 feet below. we decided we needed to be there. Big mistake.

Supposedly there was another small station you could reach by walking 45 minutes along this "ridge'. We wanted to just walk out there for a little ways and check out the dog sleds and the ski/sledding slopes. We made it out to that stuff and as soon as we turned around to come back, the wind gusted right in our faces -- a complete white-out. You couldn't even face into the wind because it was spitting little bits of ice right at you. Wearing only lightweight jackets/sweatshirts, no hats or gloves, we scurried back into the tunnel like little mice running from a cat. Afterwards we went through the souvenir shop, grabbed some hot chocolate, and caught the train back down the mountain. By the time we got to Lauterbrunnen it was already 3:00pm. We still had to grab our gear and catch the train to Interlaken. We quickly went to the Coop (a grocery store) for some eats and more of that cheap, cheap beer. :) The train to Interlaken was packed. We realized just prior to departure that we were sitting in 1st class (and weren't supposed to be) and tried to make it back to 2nd, but even the aisles were packed, so we stood awkwardly in the aisle of 1st, probably pissing off all the people who paid extra and now had butts and backpacks in their faces. Oh well...who pays extra for 1st class on a 20min ride anwyway? When we made it to Interlaken, it was close to 4pm.

We selected the 5 o'clock Golden Rail train from Interlaken to Lausanne. At first we weren't sure what the big deal about the "Golden Rail" train was because we were on a normal (read, crappy commuter) train. Well, lets rewind a minute. We actually didn't know what was going on at all because it seemed like we were the only people on the entire train. After confirming the itinerary, we sat back and cracked open some .90sF 50mL beers. (Cheapest of the entire trip!!) Just before the train pulled out of the station, a group of kids ran up and just made it...so we felt better knowing someone else also believed this train actually had a destination.

The train filled up pretty well after a few stops and we switched trains about an hour into the trip. The 2nd leg was a much nicer train. After dying of heat during the first leg (people won't put down their Damme windows), Kev and I left Joe in 2nd class and headed for 1st, becoming the car's only occupants! I did some contortionist maneuvers in the water closet to change into shorts...and then sat down to write up some blogs with live Alp scenery to my left and Bob Dylan's Desolation Row playing on my i-Tunes (and another .90sF Tell beer).

BTW, I haven't mentioned this yet...but every train comes equipped with a little red hammer for smashing out the windows. Some windows even sport a little red spot to indicate where to hit it. So tempting....

Just before Lausaunne, we passed by Montreaux, a beautiful little town on the eastern shores of Lake Geneva. You look one way out the train and we saw the sun setting on the lake, look the other and you see Alps. Wouldn't mind that view everyday!! Lausaunne was the next town to the north. I'm sure there were similar views, but all we saw was the train station, and a small little street just under the railroad. It must have been 7 or 7:30 by the time we made it to Lausanne, and we didn't have a hotel booked. We walked along the road that ran adjacent to the railroad towards a hostel, but they didn't have any vacancies. We walked back towards the station to try a hotel that they recommended. Thankfully they had rooms. To fit 3, we had to split up --2 in one room and 1 in the other. It wasn't cheap (210sF), but we were wiped out from our journey -- both to the top of Europe and on the trains to Lausaunne. We were in no mood to keep trekking around with our bags. We had dinner right next door...and afterwards none of us had the energy to explore the town. Especially with an 8:20 train outta there heading to Milan. Maybe some other time.