Day 5 Swiss Alps: It’s a guaranteed snow day!

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For 365 days of the year, the summit of Jungfraujoch is covered in snow. A group of us are going to the “Top of Europe”. It is a spectacular glacier and we can enjoy the incredible views!

It’s another early start this morning. The alarm went off at 5:45, which allowed for a 10 minute snooze, which felt like I was actually sleeping in! I showered last night, and sorted all my stuff for today so that I could move myself with less hassle this morning. I do find that being prepared the night before helps with the early mornings! I was down for breakfast in good time at 6:30.

At 7:30, we headed out for the journey up the mountain, which we are told, is a highlight in itself, providing panoramic views of mountains, lakes and glaciers.

It took about 90 minutes to arrive at the starting point to the day. We passed by Lake Thun, the scenery is breathtaking! The we passed through
Wilderswil, which is where our tickets were collected in Grindelwald.

On we go to arrive at the base of the Eiger. We split up, and look around the couple of shops. At this point I bought a little Swiss cowbell. It’s actually a key ring, but it’s not for that it’s for my travelling memory Christmas tree!

We have 30 mins to look around, then we are straight on to the cable cars - 21 of us in each car. Then we start the most amazing climb up the first sage of the climb. The scenery was epic. I did take pictures, but they simply don’t do it justice, then it was a short escalator section to the train stop.

At this point, we are told that a bit of chocolate may help at the next section, so every got their chocolate out. Who needs an excuse for eating chocolate. I have a Curly Wurly with me that I had in my sweet stash from home! It’s a bit bent and battered, but it will suffice!

We set off on the train through the tunnels in the mountain. As we get higher, my ears are popping their very own symphony!! We stop for a 5 minute photo shoot at Eismeer. We are now at the height of 3160m… and feeling it! Then up we go again! We are going up to 3454m, which is the height of Jungfrau. I keep checking my heart rate on my watch as we go. It did a jump to 100bpm, but then settled back to 80, so, I’m still good to go!

I started at point 1, through to point 3, the 3d experience, which I didn’t like. It is as a bit disorienting, especially at that height with no heating! Next, we queue for the lift to take you the extra 108m up to area 4, the Sphinx area. Now at 3571m. My heart beat jeeps jumping between 80 to 100 bpm… just keep walking slowly, and breathing deep. The tour continues on to point 5 Snow Fun. It was great just watching everyone playing in the snow. They were so excited to see it for their first time. There were many different areas to explore, a Lindt chocolate area, shops, and restaurants, the Ice Palace was amazing too. To be honest, there was so much to take in…. And my phone died!!! I did manage to send myself a postcard. It was something I wanted to do as it gets franked as being from ‘The Top of the World!
We spent the whole day there, and no time was wasted!

We returned back down the mountain by train. The scenery was incredible. From the waterfalls, the houses, the lush surroundings, and of course, the sow topped mountains. I’m hoping to get some photos from the rest of the group later! But as I said earlier, you simply can’t do it justice. This trip is an absolute MUST!

The coach came to pick us up at 5:20, which gave us time for a coffee break, which was needed by this point!

The group are going for dinner at a local hotel, I’ve opted out…. I feel a bit ‘dinnered out!’ On the drive home, I decide that I definitely have log envy! They have great storage for the logs, and they are so neat!!!! The sight of them pleases my OCD!

I took a short walk away from the hotel that the group were eating at, I found myself a little quote hotel. I had a spag Bol and a coffee. I have to say, it’s great being with the group, but it was also nice to spend a bit of time on my own.

We all met back at the groups dinner hotel for our journey back to our hotel in Bern. The coach ride home was a good laugh. We all had a good old sing-a-long! Most people seemed to really let loose. It did feel like everyone is totally getting on the same page… day by day. Each day I speak to new people, learn more names and make more friends. The social group that gather on a night, gets bigger every day! Which is really nice! After getting back, we all went to our rooms to do whatever we needed to do, I organised my clothes for tomorrow and repacked. Then we all met outside the hotel on the decked area for drinks and chats. Really good day, and a lovely evening. Now, blog and bed

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