From sea to shining..glacier?

I know I promised I'd write every day but the weather yesterday was so crappy and made me very sleepy. Thus the laziness.

Yesteday, I visited Jungfraujoch. I was on a train for most of the day and the weather was not so nice. Which definitely made me sleep for most of the train rides. Except for the fact that the most annoying people always pick the seats across from or next to me.

We rode in a tunnel for most of the way from Kleine Scheidegg. The only way to get up to Jungfraujoch is through the tunnels because of all the snow up there. The train stopped at two peaks on the way up but because of the clouds, all I could see was white. No rocks, no snow, nothing. But when we got to Jungfraujoch, there was one side of the mountain that was mostly wind and clouds, but the other side had a better view. Even as you looked up, you still couldn't see the top of the mountains around you because they were surrounded by clouds.

I went to the Sphinx lookout to get a bunch of pictures. The deck for standing was more like grates (I guess for the snow to fall through). I am deathly afraid of heights and it took a lot for me to walk around on the deck because I could see right through to the ground a couple hundred feet below me. I did manage to get some awesome pictures through my scaredy-cat attitude.

Then I found a mini sports park, where you could either ride a disk down a little hill or zip-line. I would have done it except for my shoes had no tread, and in the snow, I would not have made it back up the hills. This was also the time my camera batteries died. I go through two sets of two double-A batteries a day on these excursions. And they're not cheap here - four for 7.80 S.Fr.

On the ride back, two girls were sitting next to me and asked if I spoke English - that was a first! I guess I don't look American enough that an English-speaking native can't figure out my native language. I asked them: "Where are ya'll from?" New Zealand and Australia. They asked me where I was from and when I told them, the one said, "I should have known, you said 'ya'll'." I also mentioned that I had no idea they spoke English in those countries. I'm really smart, apparently...

After I finally reached Interlaken, I caught a train back to Bern. There were two Japanese women across from me and an English woman next to me. The three started conversing in English, so naturally, I eavesdropped. The Japanese women were visiting Switzerland for the first time and the English woman was here for her third visit. She kept telling them things about Switzerland that the average person wouldn't know. For her third time in Switzerland, this woman sure messed up a lot of her common knowledge facts - such as not mentioning the fourth langauge, Romansch. So, being an arrogant American, I corrected her. She started asking me all these questions about Switzerland that I was actually surprised that I knew the answer to. She even asked where I lived (obviously meaning in Switzerland) - which just made me think she was dumb because my accent hardly resembles anything European, not to mention that I speak perfect English.

Today, I visited Lucerne (or the German name: Luzern) and Titlis, in Engelberg. I walked around Lucerne for a little while before jumping on the train to Engelberg because I knew when I got back to Lucerne, everything would be closed and it wouldn't be as sunny. I got a few good pictures there.

The train to Engelberg took about an hour, with many stops in little towns on the way. I even passed Beckenreid, the little town my dad and I stopped in on the way back from Milan. Engelberg is a cute little town in the valley, it's mostly restaurants and hotels - basically a tourist trap. I walked over to the station for Titlis - I'm glad I got there when I did because I was among the last allowed up.

FYI, Titlis is a mountain in the Alps that reaches 3020 meters/9908 feet. It's also very covered in snow and ice.

There are three different types of cars that take you up the mountain, at different stops along the way. The first is your typical cable car, which takes you to the second stop on the mountain (you can stop at the first, too). Between the first and second stops, there is a field where cows graze. I finally got to hear cow bells!

The second kind of car is a stand-up cable car, where you smoosh your way in. This one takes you. The third car is a rot-air, a rotating stand-up cable car - also where you smoosh your way in. This one takes you up to Titlis, the final stop.

I couldn't see much once we passed the third stop on the mountain - it was very cloudy, which is the norm for that height. I took as many pictures as I could, but it was very hard to see. It also made an interesting ride because you didn't know what you might be able to see, but at the same time, scary, because you couldn't see more than 3 feet of the cable holding the rot-air.

In Titlis, there is an ice palace, rather an excavated ice cave. I immediately became obsessed with taking pictures in here. The coolest part, besides the colored lights shining on the ice, was being able to see the layers of ice built up over the years. I lost all feeling in my hands because the temperatures were in the negatives.

I also tried to take pictures on the panorama deck but I couldn't see past my hand.

I didn't get to stay very long because the station was closing as soon as I walked out of the ice cave. I also barely caught the train back to Lucerne from Engelberg.

When I got back to Lucerne, I found myself in the middle of the "Blue Balls Festival." It was an open-air (concert). I didn't find the music appealing so I didn't stick around. It was after seven and I still had another hour on the train and 1/2 hour between catching a tram and the ride/walk back to my flat. I didn't end up making it home until about 9:45.

Tomorrow I'm riding the Swiss Chocolate Train. I will be visiting Montreux, Gruyeres and Broc. I've got to catch a train from Bern at 7:04AM!

Goodnight!


Love,
Jessica