Why, yes, I was at the top of Europe.

No, so not kidding. I really was. Lemme splain. No, lemme sum up. ;)

So I woke up with the intention of going to Jungfraujoch aka "The Top of Europe". It is on top of Mount Jungfrau and is the highest train station in the world. 11,333ft above sea level. Whoa. It was a bit cloudy when I woke up today, which made me a little leery of trying to get up there. But as luck would have it, my hotel had to switch my room (that's what happens when you book last minute) so I had to be out of the room most of the day anyway. Plus, I was ITCHING to get up into the mountains! So, to Jugfrau I went.

Wow. Just wow. It was worth the ridiculously expensive trip and the 2&1/2 hours and 2 train switches...but we'll get to that later...

I got to Interlaken Ost train station, and as luck would have it, there was a train leaving for Grindelwald in about 20 mins. Woo hoo! So, I hopped on the train and enjoyed the ride for the hour it took us to get to the station, and as you can see, the view was not too shabby.

On the way there, I saw tons of waterfalls. Tons. I imagine that there are several more now due to all of the floods from the rain they had here last week. I still can't believe what happened to tracks at Lauterbrunnen. But I'm certainly not adverse to seeing waterfalls!

We got to Grindelwald station and had to wait a few minutes for the train to Kleine Scheidegg. I got to walk around Grindelwald very shortly. It is a very small village. But it is not without its charm. It has gondolas taking people up to First and small Swiss Chalets. Every village is similar, but they all seem to have their own charm somehow. It is difficult to explain. But I found Grindelwald to be particularly beautiful. Perhaps because of the valley it lies in. And the way it is surrounded by mountains. I'm not sure. But trust me, it is lovely.


Anywho, we hopped on the train to Kleine Scheidegg. Holy crap was it slow. It took forever. Obviously because it is a cogwheel train system and it is climbing thousands of feet. Ok, it wasn't that long. And the views were spectacular. But it felt long. So there! I got really snap happy with my camera on the way up and down. Lots of pics on my facebook to share!

FINALLY the train stops at Kleine Scheidegg. Everyone off the train! So I hop on my final train to Jungfraujoch! EEE! Beautiful views abounded for about 10 mins. And then into the mountain we went... um. Wert? Yup, into the mountain and up. It was quite narrow. There were inches between the train and the hard jagged rock walls. A bit freaky. But kind of cool. The jungfraubahn is actually going to turn 100 years old next August. Which is amazing. The train had lots of fun facts to watch on a tv to distract people from the altitude change so that's how I learned about that. ;)

The train actually stopped 2 times on the way to help people adjust to the altitude change. We weren't moving terribly fast, but going up almost 13,000 ft from where you first began can be daunting to anyone. I didn't see anyone react badly to it, but I heard a few stories on the way down about people with headaches and the like.

First stop was Eigerwand. Which is 9,400 ft up. It had a few viewing decks. Everyone hopped off and took advantage of the 7 minutes we had at the stop and snapped a ton of pics. I did, as well, of course. You can see Grindelwald waaaay down the bottom of the pic. Kind of.

Our 7 minutes was quickly up and everyone got back on the train. At about this point, I start thinking about the altitude change. Why am I thinking about it you ask? Because I started experiencing shortness of breath. Oh, crap. I tried not to panic. I breathed very slowly and deeply. (Well, as deeply as I could with thin air.) And thankfully after a few moments, it passed. I actually made the mistake of running to the train platform during the break at Eigerwand, and they specifically told us to take it easy the whole way up and when we were there. OOPS! But I was fine. No more shortness of breath for the rest of the trip and NO HEADACHES! I was very worried about that.

10 minutes later we hit our next stop - Eismeer. Sounds like a name straight out of Lord of the Rings. But, no. Its a tiny stop on the way up to the TOP OF EUROPE! Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Eismeer is approximately 10, 368ft above sea level. It was cold and icy and looke like it would be fun to sled down!

Then again, maybe not.

Of course, none of us on the train really know how cold it is yet, as we have not been outside since Kleine Scheidegg. It wasn't so bad there. So how bad could it possibly be, right?

Well, I found out when I took my 1st step out of the train station, out of the observation deck and straight to the main plateau on the top of Jungfrau only 12 mins after leaving Eismeer. It wasn't THAT cold. I mean, yah, it was below freezing. -3 in celcius actually and the wind was so nasty that people were having a hard time standing up. But it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. When I took my steps onto the Alpine snow, (or should I say Ice?) I felt at home. I felt like I used to feel at the top of the mountains in New England. Ok, so they aren't even remotely the same. But that feeling of being at peace is the same. I often say that the mountains make me human. I know, that's weird. However, I get a strange sense of self when I am in the mountains. I feel invigorated and full of life. It is incredible. Not that I'm a thrill seeker. Me no likey all of that paragliding and mountain climbing and white water rafting. Noooooo siree, Bob! But the mountains are special to me. I am a child of nature. No, not one of THOSE. Sheesh!

ANYWAY, back to the amazingness (its a word) that is Junfraujoch. So, it was cold. And windy. And full of snow. But the views were unparalleled. I went out onto the plateau like a champ, cuz this girl knows how to walk in snow and ice! Others up there, were not so lucky. I couldn't help but snicker occasionally when people fell. I was more concerned for my own safety, though. That wind was crazeh! I was snap snap snapping pics and tried to get one of myself when a very nice couple from Tennessee offered to take a pic of me. And there I am! That little hill behind me is the actual tippity top of Jungfrau.

I love that coat. No seriously, I do. I bought it for this trip and I adore it. I know, I have a weird relationship with my clothing. When I get home, I am going to hug all of the clothes in my closet. Living out of a suitcase ain't easy! A girl needs to have some options!  TANGENT! Back on track!

After fighting the winds to stay upright, and taking a pic of it, I decided to forget all of the voices in my head telling me not to go up to the Sphinx Observation tower. What it that you ask? (See that tiny thing on the mountain to the left? That's it!) Well, I am happy to tell you that according to wikipedia, the Sphinx Observatory is an observatory that is located on Junfraujoch. Really wikipedia??? DUH! It is actually used for lots of scientific stuff like weather research, ozone research, and other kinds of research. A part of it is open to the public. I wasn't going to go. I've heard that in the wind it shifts and it terrifying. And the elevator to go up there is weird. But I soldiered on, went through a dark mountain tunnel, got on the lift and voila! I was in the observatory - observing. It was actually really beautiful inside. And quite warm. There was also an outdoor terrace which I spent all of 2 minutes on cuz it was scary as hell. Also, there was someone hanging from it while trying to fix it, so I skedaddled. But it was cool. The views were beautiful and I am very glad that I went up there.

That was about it for my time up on Jungfraujoch. The train ride home seemed much much much longer than the ride up. I was exhausted. Its a day trip. Takes almost 3 hours up and the same down. Plus an hour or two at the top. The travel is difficult but well worth it! Its hella expensive too. But I didn't care. Its something that I will never ever forget!

Observations while coming down to Interlaken: My mom once told me that when she went skiing in Switzerland, that they spent hours in traffic in the car due to the cows crossing the highway getting home to be milked. Mind you, a "highway" is a simple street here. But you get the idea. To my great delight, I was talking to my mom on the train down, when I saw a traffic jam because of a herd of fuzzy cows going up the street to their barn. No one was leading them, they just know where to go. And everyone very patiently drives behind them and waits until they get there. It was awesome. I loved seeing that. I felt giddy.

Also, I noticed something interesting. There are a few playground here. They have your typical stuff, monkey bars, swings. But they have and added bonus. Rock climbing walls. I don't know why I find that amusing, but I do. I guess they get those kids ready early for climbing all of those mountains!

Tomorrow the weather isn't supposed to be the best, so I may take a castle lake tour. Interlaken is between 2 lakes that have castles aplenty along their shores. There are also some very famous waterfalls along one of them, so I may hit those rather than try to climb another mountain. I will leave with some pics from the top of Jungfrau. Catch you later!