Jungfrau ... I went to the Top of the World!

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Yesterday we ventured over to Interlaken once again, this time to take the Jungfraubahn up to Jungfrau mountain, the highest peak in Europe. Jungfrau is part of the three sister mountains - Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger. The peaks are known as the "Bernese Oberland" and were among the first high-altitude mountains in the Swiss Alps upon which man ever set foot. Monch is the highest of the peaks ... 13,475 feet above sea level. Up on the mountain is the Sphinx, 11,760 feet above sea level, where you can send the highest postcard in the world (unless you find a place to mail one up on K2 after moutainclimbing ... I doubt that is part of my life plan however!). Although Jungfrau is a tourist destination, there is a good deal of environmental research being done on the mountain as well, due to the stable weather conditions and high degree of air movement. Jungfrau has probably the cleanest air quality in the world - or at least that I have ever experienced -

We played with the sled dogs (who were too tired to sled) and walked around the snowy mountain in tank tops! It was a breathtaking view ... I felt so small and insignificant! After a bit too much goofing around in the ice cave, Marc and I ended up wiping out ... Marc's elbow grew to the size of a baseball and my knee is surprisingly fine this morning.

The bizarre hat was a dare ... and when you are on top of the world, it really doesn't seem so big of a deal to wear a crazy hat all day. I'm sure I would probably have done that anyway, even if I wasn't on top of the world.

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