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Published: June 27th 2005
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Date: 31.12.2004
Destination: Zurich, Switzerland
Day: 5
We reached Zurich early in the morning. We had a few hours to look around before heading to Interlaken so after exiting from the train station, we walked straight to the old town. There are a lot of boutiques and posh shops around, but nothing original to Switzerland. We were hungry so we find some cheap food in the old town but to no avail, the cheapest food, a kebap costed around RM30! No choice but to eat it. Zurich is very peaceful and clean, feels like an isolated mountain town from the world, with the snowy mountains around. As we walked further to Grossmuenster Cathedral, we saw just a normal small church. Maybe the 4 tiring days of touring Italy had taken its toll, so we were now more interested in something different.
Along the way to Zurich lake, we walked past some old building and the river leading to the lake. After snapping some photos of the picturesque small town, we went to the lake. As it was winter, there was nothing much on the lake, just some ducks and gooses. But the nice thing is far away is the
line of snowy mountains. Something never seen before in tropical countries. We didn't walk further as we realise there are not much to see so we went back to the train station through the Hauptbahnhof strasse, the main shopping street in Zurich. There are more people here than other place else, maybe people prefer shopping more... We took the earliest train to Lucerne first before boarding the scenic train towards Interlaken.
We didn't visit Lucerne, skipping it because the scenic train was leaving immediately. The scenic train is actually just normal train but slower and has larger windows. On this train, we went into the mountains. There was snow around, getting thicker as we went deeper and higher. The view of the Alpen mountains was just amazing. Scenic snow-covered houses along the slopes of mountains and ski resorts. Just sitting and enjoying the view was relaxing and an unforgetable experiance. The journey is a 3 hours ride through several villages and towns in the Alps. As we were reaching Interlaken, we went past the two lakes that made up Interlaken. The lakes were peaceful and certainly nobody were swimming around. The view of the icy-cold lakes were absolutely breathtaking,
just as in the picture perfect post cards.
As we reached Interlaken, we went to the hostel in this small town. Interlaken is the gateway to Jungfraujogh, the Top of Europe! The hostel was equally unique with a lot of funs and activities. As today was New Year eve, we decided to have some nice food down the hostel cafe to celebrate. Everything was really expensive in Switzerland even in this sleepy town. Nothing much was happening outside the hostel as it was a holiday and a strict rule to keep down the voice after 10pm. We had a good sleep to refresh for another interesting day.
Date: 01.01.2005
Destination: Zurich, Switzerland
Day: 6
Today, we are going to the Top of Europe, the highest point in Europe... We woke up very early to prepare some food, spagetti to be specific, as we know the food here is too expensive. This food was for our breakfast and snacks. The ticket up to Jungfraujogh cost around 99Euros which is very very expensive considered this is just for the train but we came so far just for this, maybe just once in a lifetime. So,
we can't take money as a problem.
The train start from Interlaken and going to Lauterbrunnen. Along the way, the snowy mountains became nearer and the snow surrounding the place became thicker. There were a lot of picturesque house half covered with snow along the mountain. We took some time off just walking around this small ski town. Nobody around as it was still too early so we had some fun with the snow. This was the first time in our life coming across to such thick and white snow so it was quite estatic! As we reached Kleine Scheidegg, we must changed to another train to go up to the top. This stop was the main part of the ski resort of Jungfraujoch and everywhere, you can see people skiing or just walking with their ski equipments. Some even just sit down in the middle of the resort having a cup of hot chocolate in this sunny but cold winter.
The last part of the train brought us from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch. The short journey was not that interesting because it was going into the mountain through the tunnel. But reaching the middle of the mountain, the train had a 15 minutes stop for us to view the mountain from the safe side of a big window. We were nearing the top of the mountain and the view was just special. I do not think there are places in the world that can quite compared to the serene of this place. A few minutes later, finally we reach Jungfraujoch. This place is a big complex building built especially for research and viewing. We went straight to the Plateau where one can go outside of the complex to have a look at the eternal snow and the glacier. It was so windy and cold at approximately -15 degree celcius. So cold that we can't stay outside for more than 10 minutes. We went out and again inside for a few times, just snapping photos, especially the view of the glacier, the mountain with the Swiss flag and of course the Sphinx Observation Terrace. The cold wind was so strong that talking and even opening both eyes was hard. Nevertheless, this was really something special for us.
Another attraction was the Ice Palace. It was just tunnels made entirely of ice and some sculpture of animals. Taking photos here was hard as the flash was useless. Then, we went toward another important part of the complex, the Sphinx Observation Terrace. We can walk out of the terrace to have another view of the surrounding. This time, the wind was not as strong as earlier. But the white surrounding was equally breathtaking. Everything was just white and as this is one of the top spot on the moutain, you are actually really standing on top of the clouds... We took a lot of photos around this place because this time was the most amazing compared to during summer. After a few hours and some spagetti as lunch, we began our way down back to Interlaken.
The way down was the opposite of the way up. We Grindewald, another small town but more lively. We took some time to buy some postcards and souvenirs but everything really are expensive. Nothing is cheap in Switzerland. This town is feels more like any town in Switzerland as there were cars and people walking around. It was such a pity that we can't have some time to ski, or more specifically learn to ski. Really such a pity. After this town, the train reached Interlaken again. It was getting dark so after packing our luggages, we headed to Basel. We were tired after these few days but the trip up Jungfraujoch certainly made up for it.
Upon reaching Basel, we took another fast speed train out of Switzerland and back to Duisburg reaching very early in the morning. Eventhough this whole trip took just six days through three countries, we certainly experianced the life of Italians and Swiss, learned about the ancient world of the Romans, felt about the romantic life in Venice and admired the sheer nature beauty of Switzerland Alps.
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