2 years and 74 days since the start of the 1st lock down in March 2020
Not exactly an early start but we did the alarm for 7.30 to ensure we had plenty of time to get ready and get the train tickets for our adventure up to Jungfraujoch.
I was ready first (even after filling the dishwasher) so I headed off to get in the queue… of what turned out to be one person in front of me. The half price cards I invested in are paying their way already. I was so quick that I had time to pop to the Post office and buy some stamps. By the time I came out Colin was waiting in the same place he had been when we first arrived in Grindelwald on Wednesday.
The train pulled in with perfect Swiss timing and it was nowhere near as busy as I had thought. It was a rack train so it took amazing bends and very steep dips up to the Alpine station of Kleine Scheidegg in the mountain pass below the North Face of the Eiger.
It was stunning and we decided to wait for the next train up to the Jungfraujoch to give us more time to photograph. Colin had to keep reconfirming exactly which mountain was the Eiger so I could take the photos! We caught the next train up and again, despite the warnings about how crowded it can get, we had 4 east to ourselves. It was unimpressive half an hour journey as we passed right through the rack of the Eiger and enjoyed two stops on route during which we could get off the train and look out of the windows onto the snow of the Eiger.
When we reached the top of Jungfraujoch it was rather tacky with displays, chocolate shops and themed displays. We rushed past all of that and headed for the very fast lift to the Sphinx observatory where climate change studies are undertaken. We were able to walk outside in the -1.5 degree mountain air and look right over the expanse of the 14 mile long Alestch Glacier. It was stunning. There were black birds with yellow beaks flying around as well which turned out to be Alpine Choughs - one for the ID list. We spent quite some time up here trying to photograph the views before the thin air started to get to us and we went back inside and then down a few floors to the cafe. I enjoyed Swiss sausage with onion gravy and Colin had Schnitzel. In our excitement not to miss the next train down to Eigergletscher stop I totally forgot to have a hot chocolate with a commemorative glass to keep! This was almost remedied by the fact that the ticket inspector - after checking our tickets and passes - dished out chilled Lindor truffles to every passenger. This is something that I think South Western Trains could adopt back home!
The cable car was very slick and very fast - 45 minutes faster than the train up there earlier in the day. The views were impressive as we sped along high over the Swiss Alps. We were soon at the bottom at Grindelwald Terminal and from here we managed to find the bus stop and get a free bus (thanks to the voucher our host had given us) back to the centre of the town.
We walked slowly back home only stopping for an excellent ice cream in two flavours. What a day.
