Of Water and Cheese — Jungfraujoch

In German, “Jungfrau” means “virgin,” and “joch” means “pass.”  The Jungfraujoch is a must-see in Switzerland.  Named the “top of Europe,” it is at an altitude of 3,466 metres.[1]  In order to maximize my time at the mountain, I woke at 5:15 and boarded the first available train in Lausanne.

6:35am.  Train to Bern, between Romont and Fribourg

The night fog was yet to greet its day.  The train pulled into the still-sleepy town of Fribourg amidst this fog.  The new moon hung, ever so remotely, far into the vast distance of the mountain ridges.  Switzerland was yet to wake.  The train left this foggy town of Fribourg, the barren trees bid their farewell wearing a fog thicker than their fallen foliage.

7:35am.  Made it through my first transfer

The long-awaited dawn came, the sun’s morning rays shined through a little bit of an overcast.  Past Thun, it shined brilliantly over the lake and the hovering lakeside town.  I have now arrived at Spiez.

For many times in Switzerland, I felt like there was no human words that could do justice to its beauty.  Instead, it must be seen, felt and remembered through the mind’s eye.

From Interlaken I took the Lauterbrunnen route to Kleine Schidegg

9-10am.  Jungfrau

The morning sun has shown its full presence within a vast blue sky.  I was very excited, the photographs would turn out perfect in this weather.  Furthermore to my surprise was the fact that it was not cold even outside in the snowy environment.  Out at the open I saw the tracks of skiers.  How wonderful it would have been to be able to ski at the Jungfrau and upon its glaciers.

Inside the Top of Europe building, the heat was up, even a little too hot to my liking.

Visitors to the Jungfrau have a few activities besides seeing the snowy mountains.  The Top of Europe building provides plenty of educational and entertaining features.  I particularly enjoyed the small museum, where exhibits show the history of building this railway up the top.

The first railway at Jungfrau began construction in 1896, with Adolf Guy-Zeller leading the vision.  The railway began service 16 years later.  The first station that opened was Eigergletscher Station in 1898, thereafter Eigerwand Station in 1903 and finally Eismeer Station in 1905.  On August 1, 1912, Jungfraujoch station opened with a full service.  There were a number of workers that died in the construction of this railway.  The museum duly memorializes them.

There were some other sites within the museum, but I did not think much of them.  However, I did go through all of them.  Seeing that the sun was rising above, I went outside to see the famous view of Jungfrau, including, chiefly, the Concordia Place (Konkordiaplatz) and the Great Aletsch Glacier (Grosser Aletschgletscher).  The Great Aletsch Glacier is the largest glacier on the Alps.[2]

After playing with snow for a while, I decided to go back to the warmth inside the building.  I brought some chicken with me for lunch and I ate it cold.  The train ticket up the Jungfraujoch was very costly, although that already included the entrance fee.  I was not going to spend more on an expensive lunch at their cafe, which, in all fairness, had a good selection of hot food available.  Indeed, I was so good I did not even order coffee.

After lunch I visited another part of the building, the Sphinx Observatory.  At a height of 3,572 meters, the viewing platform provides another panoramic view of the snow-capped mountains.  The observatory houses the Global Atmosphere Watch’s atmospheric research stations.  Needless to say, the air was more than fresh there – it was pristine.

I felt like I have seen enough of Jungfrau by then.  Back at the building I went through the Lindt Swiss Chocolate Heaven, somewhat a commercial museum.  For the first time I saw Lindt hazelnut spread on sale and it was irresistible.  I bought one jar, and regretted only getting one.  Finally, I noticed that the picture on the free Lindt postcard shows a sky a shade paler than the blue sky that I saw that day.  That was amazing to me.  Thank God for wonderful weather – for I only plan on seeing the Jungfrau once in my life.

My last souvenir was a Swiss-made Victorinox fruit peeler and it really is quite a bit better than its peers.  Next to the Victorinox was the post office, and I mailed a postcard.  This would be the highest post office in Europe.  That concluded my time at the Top of Europe building.

I think I spent something like 3.5 to 4 hours total at Jungfrau.  It sounded like very little time, not even as long as a one-way trip from Lausanne.  Yet do note that I did not have a proper lunch.  If one cares for having lunch on the top of Europe, there are certainly choices there.  It would take at least an hour or two more.

1:43pm.  Train back to Kleine Schidegg

I detoured and took the train to Grindelwald instead of the original way of Lauterbrunnen.  There were spectacular views on the way.  The common leg of the journey followed, from Interlaken Ost to Bern.

5:34pm.  Between Bern and Lausanne

Finally my mind was not so busy taking in these wonderful views out the window.  The day was setting, my soul satisfied for having seen the top of Europe, sunlit and cloudless.  A nice warm bed awaited in Lausanne.

[1] The Wikipedia on Jungfraujoch.

[2] Wikipedia on Aletsch Glacier.