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Published: April 2nd 2015
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On the third day of our bus trip, we headed into the beautiful Switzerland. Our destination was a town called Interlaken, nestled in the Swiss Alps. At first, the scenery looked just like that of France, but as we neared the city, we began to get the breath-taking sights of the mountains outside our windows.
The hotel we stayed at is owned by a downhill ski world champion named Urs Raber. It was a quaint, unique place, because Urs has a lot of rules for people staying there, such as absolutely no electronic devices in the dining room during meals! But I loved the hotel and the homey feel to it. :-)
We hit first an ATM so those of us planning to do the optional excursion the next day could get Swiss Francs. Luckily, the machine took my Japanese debit card and I had no problem getting the money out. We had some down time at the hotel, surrounded by stunning views of the Alps, and then another included dinner in the hotel, which was delicious. The vegetarians in our group got a hilarious meal of pasta, cheese, and an egg, and it became a running joke the
whole trip, because Urs does not think highly of vegetarians.
We also got to try a local beer called Ragenbrau at the hotel bar, which I really enjoyed. We didn't do much else besides chatting in the lounge before bed, and the next day was our optional excursion up to the top of the Jungfraujoch!
The Jungfraujoch is the highest train station in Europe, set atop a glacier in the Alps themselves. We got up early to eat breakfast before we set off on the two and a half hour train ride up to the station - We knew the weather was not cooperating, but our views of the mountains on the way up were so beautiful anyway! Some people going up with our group felt the altitude and felt a bit bad, but I didn't feel a thing, so I was pretty lucky.
By the time we reached the station at the top, the rain outside had turned to snow and we couldn't see a thing, but it was alright because there were things to do in the station itself, like walking though the Ice Palace, filled with ice sculptures, and the history you could learn
as you walked through the cutely decorated Alpine Sensation area. We also ventured out onto the outlook in near blizzard conditions, and although we never got the gorgeous 360 degree views the station boasts, we did get pictures at the iconic Swiss flag surrounded by nothing but blowing snow. Definitely worth the trip despite the weather.
On the top, there were even some wild black birds that ate bread right out of our hands!
On the way back down, the snow turned back into rain, and we slowly made our way back to Urs' place for more local beers and a dinner of traditional cheese fondue, which was SO delicious!! I really loved Switzerland, and thought it was beautiful and relaxing, though I'm sure I would get tired of the cold if I lived there. It was the first time during my trip that I slept really well and didn't wake up early.
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K Davies
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Are you travelling with Top Deck?
Hey, I've just had a read of you last few posts and they sound a lot like the tour I'm taking with Top Deck in 2 weeks! Are you on the Mega European tour or something shorter?