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.

3 trains and 9 hours later we are in Switzerland!

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Today was our earliest travel day since we left Athens. We left the hotel around 5:30 a.m. to walk to the train station to catch a 6:00 train to Zurich. The trains are actually very comfortable, so we were both able to get a little sleep on the train. That is until the gentleman next to us on the train decided to conduct a business meeting over the phone and spoke so loud he literally woke us up and continued in this manner until finally he got off the train at one of its numerous stops. The rest of the the 5+ hour train ride was spent doing some reading for my required summer pre-work until I felt I was falling asleep then on the computer typing up some of these blogs to try and get caught up. We arrived in Zurich around 11:20 and switched trains to catch the 11:35 train to Luzern. This was just a quick one hour or less ride then we had to switch trains again in Luzern. In Luzern we needed to grab lunch, but we didn't have very long as our next train departed for Interlaken at 12:55 and we didn't have any Swiss money yet, so we had to go to Burger King, the only place we could find that would accept credit card. And let me tell you one thing about Switzerland, it is FREAKING expensive, I don't believe we will be eating out at all in Switzerland, meals will be sandwiches in the hotel room for the next several days. Two chicken sandwiches, a small drink, and a small fry cost us $20 U.S.! So after this shocking lesson we boarded our scenic train to Interlaken. The train car we were in had panoramic windows that allowed for outstanding views of the mountains as we made our 2 hour journey to Interlaken and into the Alps. We arrived in Interlaken around 3:00 in the afternoon and walked from the train station to our hostel, the Lazy Falken. Luckily we had a private room at the hostel, although I am certain we are paying more than we should for it, but its nice to have your own bathroom and not have to share a room with strangers and worry about your belongings. After settling in, we walked to the grocery store to buy some groceries for dinner/lunch for tomorrow. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore Interlaken at all today as shortly after we got back from the grocery store it started raining. So we had a lazy evening at the hostel, made dinner,and watched some soccer. Honestly, I think we both really needed a low-key day. Tomorrow we plan to go hiking up in the mountains, so I think we will need the rest!