Swiss Alps

Breathtaking.....
That's about the only word I can conjure up to describe the scenery that we saw today. On being picked up by the tour bus at 9:30 this morning, the guide quickly talked us into an itinerary upgrade. We had originally booked a trip that would take us half way up the mountain but thankfully we listened to his advice...(he being a young kid from Thailand living in Zurich....) and paid the extra francs...(Switzerland like the UK being a Euro holdout).

The journey to the mountain was spectacular, the first hour being on a coach with a brief stopover in Interlaken. Shortly thereafter we transferred to first one train and then another with 4 or 5 stops along the way and the opportunity to get off for a few minutes and enjoy the panoramic view. The last portion of the jouney was a 7 kilometre trip through what seemed like an almost vertical climb in a tunnel before arriving at Europe's highest train station Jungfraujoch, 11,000 feet above sea level. The thin air was very noticeable and for the first 5 minutes we were light headed and a bit shaky. There is a whole complex build at that level, with an Ice Palace carved out of the glazier, observation decks, movie theatre, restaurants, gifts shops etc.. We even went outside and walked a bit in the snow. The weather was spectacular, sunny and warm even at that elevation. We spent 2 hours at the top of the mountain and then retraced our journey. I don't ever recall seeing such wonderful scenery...around every corner there were new, awe inspiring lakes, mountains, cows with bells on and chalets. We took between us about 100 pictures...lots will be deleted but there are some real keepers among them and I'll post 3 or 4 after supper.

Hello everyone its me.....Una....Switzerland truly is a beautiful country... none of the pictures do it justice. What a perfect day. On our first stopover in Interlaken we bought a few post cards for Dad, Uncle Tom & the grandkids & sat at an outdoor cafe enjoying the wonderful view & fantastic cappuccino. As we were sitting there at least half a dozen skydivers landing in the park in front of us... what a wonderful sight, mountains, blue sky, gorgeous flowers & wonderful green grass. The journey up the mountain was great until we got inside the dark tunnel going up the inside of the mountain. That part lasted about 20 minutes & I have to say I was a wee bit claustrophobic. Inside my head I was shouting for my Mummy and Daddy!! but anyway the journey was worth it, (guess I was in a cave on top of a mountain, something I've always wanted to do..... my sisters know what I'm talking about ha ha...) We stood in snow today, but honest the weather was warm. We wore our red jackets only up at the top, otherwise it was short sleeves all round. The town of Lucerne is lovely, situated at the foot of many spectacular mountains. Our hotel is right on the river which runs directly into the lake. We can hear the clock chiming from our room, which is lovely however at the moment sprinkled with all our laundry trying to get dry ready for the morning. There is a whole story about my khaki pants which "must be told"  however I don't have all night, so will leave it till I get home.....anyway we are now off to "Starbucks".. (Brian's new Pub) he needs to do something with the Blog.

Cheers...talk to you from Salzburg Austria, our next stop.


P.S. Just read yesterday's comments...loved them...keep them coming....By the way the suitcase arrived a couple of hours before we left for the airport.