Wengen & Jungfrau

What a picturesque train journey it was from Venice. Past one of the big lakes (Lago Maggiore not Como) through the Italian and Swiss Alps and eventually into Wengen. In total we took 4 trains with our major interchange being in Milan.

When we got into Wengen it felt a little like a ghost town. Barely a sole to be seen in few the streets of this small town. We were undaunted though as we had been in communication with our hotel 3 times in the previous week as they were wanting to confirm our arrival time.

Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the hotel to be 'greeted' by a very abrupt and sour faced woman asking if we had a booking. Assuring her we did and having to confirm this to her with the documents I had with me, she eventually gave us 2 keys for rooms in the residential hotel next door. We were also told breakfast was supplied in the morning and not to come before 8. One of the key tags did not have a key attached and we figured the door opened in a different way. Not the case so Mark headed back to request the key. He was then given a key to another room. This room had a balcony and view of the valley below and mountains beyond. The other room had a lookout to an embankment about 3 ft away. Not nice! So I went back and asked if we could have 2 rooms with views as we were paying the same price for both rooms. After much heated conversation and translating by her son (we believe she was Phillipino) she said our 'children' were not eligible as they were younger than us. (I tried to explain they were in fact adults themselves) No matter what or how pleasant we tried to be, the only way to explain it was she was an absolute bitch from the first minute she laid eyes on us. We were NOT welcome. We were obviously the only guests there.

In the end, during my conversation with her, I told her instead of us staying the 2 nights we had originally booked we would be staying only one and she should take this as my 'official' notification that we were giving her 24 hrs notice of leaving and she could not in fact charge us for this 2nd night. The only reason we stayed the first night was that it was already 5pm, the town was dead, and I resented giving her any money without getting anything for it. None of us were particularly comfortable but we just went out to eat (there was one pizza place open and it was during this meal we decided everyone in the town needed a personality implant. Not a happy face to be seen) and have a look at the view then stayed in to discuss our plans for the next day and night. The weather was very cloudy and we didnt think we would go ahead with our initial plans to go to the 'top of europe'. All we wanted was to be out of this town and as far away as we could. Mitchell fancied the idea of Geneva (and the possibility of sighting some of the 'dodgy' banks he thought may be there) so that was our vague plan as we all went to bed.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful clear sky and view to the top of Jungfrau. Excited we showered, packed and left. (Mark paid by cash so they didnt have our credit card and we happily skipped their b'fast). While we waited for the train to take us up (coffee and pastry to sustain us), we noticed the clouds starting to creep up the mountains from the valley below. Quite a surreal sight. You may be able to see the cloud against the rock face.

We were a little worried that the clouds would ruin the views from the top of the mountain but we soon realised that we were so high and well above the cloud line behind Mitchell. Though we could not see clearly into the valley below we could see some of the tops of the alps in the distance peeking through the clouds. As the clouds moved we occasionally got glimpses into the valley below.

To say we all loved this experience up here is an understatement. Not having experienced a lot of snow in our lives it was such a treat. Also being so high and being at the top of a glacier was hard to take in.
Officially we were above 3,500m. There were a couple of fighter jets that flew over at one stage. We could hear them coming and then going from a long way off. Here Mark, Mitchell and Ashleigh are trying to keep sight of them. It was VERY glary and only Mark and Mitchell had sunnies. (Ashleigh forgot hers and kept avoiding buying another pair and I left mine in a dressing room in Bologna and they were gone in the 3 mins it took me to go back and get them. Damn shame for the person who grabbed them as they had my prescription lenses in them which wont be much good for them. I did go back a couple fo times to see if anyone had handed them in but alas, no.)

Mark and I at the top of the glacier, in the background.

Mitchell having a patriotic moment, having drawn an Aussie flag in the snow at his feet. In the background is the Swiss flag on a pole.

There are a couple of restaurants/ cafeteria also in the building at the top. There were also literally 100's of Indian tourists coming in and out every day. One restaurant was offering a 'Bollywood' experience for group bookings. Tragic, I know!! We think this sign may have been for them.

This is a picture of the town we stayed in, Wengen. We had to concede it was very pretty but we were happy to not be staying there another night.