World Switzerland Lauterbrunnen

Jeremy's Travel Blog Contiki European Whirl, May 2008

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland Jun 4, 2008

May 22nd, 2008

We reached Lucerne and had about an hour and a half to check out the city and visit a Swiss Knife store for the obligatory knife sales. This time I actually caved and purchased two knives for 47 sf (about 47 USD). Afterwards I took out cash to pay off the Jungfrau excursion and then headed towards the city center to check out the breath taking views.

After a brief time in Lucerne we headed up the mountain to our contiki special stopover in Lauterbrunnen. This is quite possibly my favorite stop of the whole trip, both due to the country and the accommodations. The rooms were 4 share with bunk beds and communal bathrooms, however everything was kept immaculate and we had a view of the waterfalls coming down the mountain from our room. Some of the others had out door patios with even better views of one side of the city with mountains and waterfalls. Although the first night was cloudy and you could not see, we were told the next day was supposed to be the first clear day in weeks and we were ecstatic and you could just feel it in the air that everyone was excited.

After we got settled in we headed down to dinner which was hamburgers, fries, and ice cream which was welcomed albeit not of Swiss nature (that is for the next day). Even though the food was not Swiss, the view of the waterfalls right next to the hotel made up for everything. We ended the night on the patios admiring the view with drinks for the Jungfrau excursion was the next day.

May 23rd, 2008

We woke up at 7:15 for an 8am breakfast of banana pancakes and orange juice, the best breakfast of the tour. After breakfast we left at 8:45 with our tour driver to go up Jungfrau mountain. The trip up to the top of Jungfrau takes under 2 hours both ways with a stop over in a small mountain station. We had 30 minutes at this stop at which some people bought an early lunch, beer (bad decision), or just took pictures of the scenery. The best part was that there was a lady with a St Bernard complete with the alcohol bottle around its neck that I snuck a picture of.

Once we made it all the way to the top our tour driver took us through a guided tour of the Ice Palace, Lookout, and Sphinx at the top of the mountain. Each of these were amazing in their own right and words cannot describe how beautiful the views are or how unique the Ice Palace is. After given time to look around each of these the driver suggested we take a 45 minute hike to the side of the mountain to a restaurant the way he described as '20 minutes and its cheaper.' 45 minutes later and being almost out of breath climbing up a steep incline we made it to the restaurant. At this point the people who had the beer were feeling the altitude sickness and the people who did not pace themselves were feeling it as well. Considering I took it slowly with frequent breaks, I was quite fine and enjoyed my pork sausage and potato salad as well as everyone else's dishes as well. (14.50 sf for my dish). I highly recommend either the pork sausage or the cheese dish with a fried egg on top, both were awesome. This place was slightly more expensive as all food has to be flown in by helicopter.

After relaxing for a bit we headed back down the path which went a lot quicker than the way up. Even so a lot of people felt dizzy at the bottom for coming down so quickly. We caught the train back down the mountain and all passed out on the way down from exhaustion. This is quite possibly the best excursion we did the whole trip, especially because we could see over 20 km in each direction. Others hiked out to waterfalls in a cave and a select few went skydiving instead for almost 400 sf (way to expensive for me). I highly recommend this one although it would only be good if you have a clear day. We had the first clear day in 7 weeks and the tour there before us said they could not see 20 feet infront of them at the top and were severely disappointed.

On the way back to the chalet I stopped and bought two large boxes of swiss chocolates to take home (22 sf), a shot glass (5.8 sf), a magnet (7.5 sf), and a bottle of Riesling for dinner (5.8 sf). We then took a brief nap before the best dinner of the trip of cheese fondue with bread, a chicken dish with potatoes, salad, and a fruit crumble for dessert. (We also went through the bottle of Riesling and had a second one as well). We were the only group at the camp site that night and we just hung out in the rooms, on the patio, and vaguely hit the bar which was not very exciting before calling it a night in the best stop of the entire trip.

May 24th, 2008

We woke up at 6:30 for one of the longest bus rides of the tour since London to Amsterdam and had a 7am breakfast of Eggs in a Basket. We left at 7:45 and stopped for lunch at 11 and a 45 minute break in France where I purchased a seafood jambalaya for 11.80 euro (plus a coke). We drove until 2:30 for another service stop and finally made it to the Paris campsite at 5:30 for the final stop of the tour.

Photos: The included photos include the day sheet, excursions, included dinners, and pictures around Switzerland. I forgot to take a picture off the accommodations and am currently looking for one to put on here. For now check out all the other pictures of my favorite country in these albums:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089689&l=b8b04&id=21902759

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089691&l=72221&id=21902759