Working out, Swiss style!

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

I had planned to wake up between 7:30 and 8:00 this morning to try and be out the door by 9:00, but when I woke up at 7:30 and then again at 8:00 it was so thick with fog outside that I didn't see the point in getting up quite yet, after all what is the point of hiking in the Alps if you can't even see them! Luckily by 9:00 or so the fog had really started to burn off and we got up to have our breakfast and pack our day bag with lunch/snacks/water for our hike. We left the hotel sometime after 10:00 and headed to the train station. We purchased tickets to Grindelwald and a cable car from Grindelwald to First, as well as a return ticket from Grindelwald, with a plan to hike from First back down to Grindelwald, this cost us about 70 US Dollars, which seemed like a lot until we realized that most people were paying over 150 US Dollars per person to go to the top of Jungfrau. The train to Grindelwald took 45 minutes or so and then we had to walk about 20 minutes through town to the cable car which took another 30 minutes or so to reach First (essentially a hut with an extremely overpriced restaurant and restroom facilities). From here we hiked uphill for about an hour or so to a beautiful lake where we stopped and had our packed lunch. From here we walked mostly down hill but on a less groomed path where you had to carefully watch your step over rocks and streams. We hiked down approximately 3500 ft in elevation and I don't know how many miles over the next 3 hours, but I can tell you that by the time we reached the bottom, my legs felt like jello. The views were definitely worth the strife though, pictures can't even begin to do it justice. On the train ride back to Interlaken from Grindelwald I could barely stay awake. On our way back to the hotel we stopped again at the grocery store and got a lasagna to bake for dinner. Then after a short rest we made dinner and were off to bed early. Tomorrow we head first for Bern where we hope to spend a few hours before continuing on to our hotel in Zurich.