Switzerland trip, day 7, part 1

One of the main attractions of staying in the Interlaken area of Switzerland is the chance to go up to the top of one of the tallest mountains in Europe--Jungfraujoch. (Mt. Elbrus in France is the tallest, but Jungfrau is the tallest accessible by train.) The views are (obviously) amazing, but since it's so tall--4158 meters--clouds typically surround the summit and therefore block the views. Because it's so rare to have a completely cloud-free day, along with the difficulty in getting up to the top, most guide books recommend skipping the journey if there's even a hint of clouds. So we weren't holding out much hope that we'd get to go. Well, we woke up this morning to a perfectly bright blue sky with not a cloud in sight. We were going to get to go! We planned our strategy at breakfast: Jason and James wanted to do some hiking part of the way up, so they took off early to hopefully make it to the summit around the same time as the rest of us, who were just going to take the train. Well, since it was the first perfect day in the area in at least a week, just about everybody staying in the region decided to head up the mountain with us. Remember our experience with the Japanese tour group a few days ago? Multiply that by at least a thousand. There were people EVERYWHERE, all trying to cram onto the same train, heading for the same destination. We finally made it to the top in the early afternoon, just in time to fight more crowds and get some lunch. There was no sign of Jason or James, and Jason's phone wasn't connecting. But there were so many people up there, that even if they had been 10 feet away, we wouldn't have seen them. Because of the super-thin air, some of our group started getting a touch of altitude sickness. We decided to get out of the hot, crowded restaurant and head for some fresh air. We were wading through the seas of people, trying to get out, when all of a sudden, we ran into Jason and James. We all had been getting worried, but not saying that to each other, so seeing them perfectly fine was a welcomed sight! They were pretty worn out, but had a great time, and wanted to do some more hiking on the way down. They found another trail they wanted to try, and they wanted me to go with them. Sure, I thought, they won't invite me along if they didn't think I could handle it. (mistake numero uno) We had a quick peak out on the observation deck, then went back in to stand in the huge line to get on a train. We got separated on the train, so when we pulled into the station where we were supposed to get off to hike, I still had a sleeping Claire strapped to me and no time to hand her off. So, she came along with us. (mistake numero dos) The plan was for us to hike along the ridge of the Eiger Glacier, catch the next train coming down the mountain, and meet up with everybody at the hotel. We started off. It was still a beautiful day, and it was such a relief to be out in the open with no one else around. We even commented how all the hikers that had been out earlier in the day seemed to have disappeared. (hmmmmm......) Claire woke up and did some hiking, we took pictures, walked through a herd of cows, and had a great time. (mistake numero tres) As we were approaching the train station, we noticed a train there. And it left. No big deal, though, trains run every 30-45 min, so we'll just have plenty of time to make it the last bit of the hike. Then, Jason's cell phone rings and it's Dad. He sounds a bit worried and wants to know if we're on the train. "Nope", I tell him, "but we're just about to the station." "That was the last train that just left the station," he says. "Uh oh. What do we do???" I ask, trying to remain calm. He tells us to get to the station, that maybe his train schedule is wrong and there will be another train. So we walk to the station. It's completely closed up, and no one is around except for some people staying in a little house nearby. We contemplate asking them to drive us down the mountain, but decide against it. So, we're stuck--on the tallest mountain in Europe and it's getting darker and colder, fast. And have I mentioned yet that we had only a quart of water and a few granola bars left? AND WE HAD CLAIRE?????? We had no choice but to start walking on the road, down the mountain, in hopes of finding someone who could help us, or another train station with running trains. Our spirits were still high, but it would be a LONG time before we found humanity.....

Walking to the train station in Interlaken--that's Jungfrau in the background

James

Jason

They hiked up this--believe it or not, no stitches were required at any point

Eiger Glacier

On top of Europe
Exploring the tunnel

Setting off on our hike

Claire doing some hiking next to the "extremely difficult" trail sign (the painted rock)

Stopping for a photo shoot

Switzerland trip, day 6

We woke up to a beautiful day, had a quick breakfast, then headed back down the mountain to Vitznau. (Luckily the Japanese tour group was taking a different train.) We retraced our steps back to Lucerne, quickly grabbed all our luggage and ran to catch the train leaving for Interlaken, a resort town high in the Alps. After dropping off our bags and settling in to our rooms, we struck out to investigate the city. We found a great open field where cows sometimes graze (in the middle of the city!), and Claire had a great time chasing birds and just letting loose. We ate a great dinner at a pizza place and listened to a fantastic cover band while Claire played in the little town square. Since we had had so many busy days, we headed back to the hotel early so that Claire could have a good night's sleep. It was a good thing we did that, too, because tomorrow turned out to be much more of an adventure than we had planned.

Everybody sleeping on the way down the mountain

On Lake Lucerne waiting for the boat

Silly Uncle Chuck and cousin John

Getting a little too comfortable with the boat

Spinning with H

Looking for birds with H

Playing chess in the town square with Honey

The view from our balcony--little did we know that we were about to become intimately familiar with this mountain.......

Switzerland trip, day 5

We left Mt Pilatus this rainy, dreary morning by going down the mountain on a cogwheel train. It was so steep I don't know how we didn't all fall to our deaths. Once to the bottom, we got back on a boat to head back to Lucerne. We traded out clothes from our stored bags, then hit the town for a bit of sight-seeing. Some of us chose to walk to one of the most moving statues in the world (my mother, among others, has been known to cry from its raw emotion), while others took in some shopping in the altstadt (that means "old town" for you non-German speakers). We all eventually met up, then headed back to the dock to jump on another boat to take us around to the town of Vitznau, where we started another journey up another mountain--this time to the top of Mt. Rigi. Unfortunately, this is where the story gets annoying. You see, so far, our group of 14 (!!!!!) had done a pretty good job of taking over whatever establishment we had been staying in (which should come as no shock to those of you who know this group). Well, we were in for a not-so-pleasant surprise. Because, no matter how, shall we say, persistent, our group can be, we are no match for a group of Japanese on an organized tour. First, we were crammed into a small train car to take us up the mountain, which would have had enough seats for us all if some of them had just made room, then we were literally pushed aside as the entire group of them ran up to the hotel to check in. It was ridiculous. Luckily, they didn't seem to want to explore around outside, so once we got checked in and settled we pretty much had all of the hiking paths to ourselves. Later that evening we had a lovely dinner where we celebrated David's birthday. And after this really busy day, we headed to bed.

Riding down the mountain

The lion monument--it was created to memorialize the Swiss military who fought in the French Revolution

Taking the obligatory walk across the super-old Lake Lucerne bridge

View from the top of Mt. Rigi

Our hotel

Switzerland trip, day 4

We left Zug this morning and took the train to Lucerne, where we stored some of our bags so we didn't have to lug them around on our next adventure--going up to the top of Mt. Pilatus. We took a boat around Lake Lucerne to start our journey up the mountain. Unfortunately, bad weather struck, so our original idea of picnicking at a playground halfway up was scratched. But that didn't stop some of the group from deciding to hike up the rest of the mountain, instead of riding the cable car like normal people. The weather was so cold and windy at the top that Claire and I decided to bunker down in our room while others hiked around. Just to give you an idea of how windy it was, Claire's hair rubber band was literally blown out of her hair. The hikers finally arrived at the top, and we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner while the hurricane-force storm raged outside.

Here's a recreation of a picture we took the last time we were here--in 1993. L was shorter than me then....

Heading out to hike

Hmmm, which looks like more fun??

This:

Or this!

Our hotel

Exploring the caves

Thanks, H!!

OK, here's us at the beginning of dinner. Notice the weather outside:

This is what it was doing by the end of it:

Switzerland trip, day 3

We took a day trip out of Zug today to visit the monastery and beautiful chapel in Eisiedeln. Jason and I attended part of a Mass there, while Lauren and Chris shopped and Honey and H played with Claire. There is a Black Madonna in the church that has been associated with miracles for over 1000 years, and it was so amazing to be so close to her. Obviously, we weren't allowed to take pictures there, but this is one I copied from their website:
(In case any of you are wondering why she's black, it's from all the hundreds of years of candle soot she has been exposed to.)

Once we got back to Zug, we walked down to the lake to enjoy the nice (but hot!) weather. Claire enjoyed a cup of mango sorbet and had tons of fun feeding the ducks with Aunt Lou.

Happy girls

Fun with H

Big girl on the train

A wonderful day with Daddy

Feeding the ducks
Zug sunset

Part of the gang

Our little geologist

Switzerland trip, day 2

After landing in Zurich on Friday mid-day, we met up with the rest of the family and jumped on the train to our first destination--Zug, a small town on a beautiful lake just south of Zurich. We checked into our hotel, changed clothes, and headed back out to try to get our clocks adjusted to the time change. We went up to explore the top of Zugerberg--the mountain overlooking the town and also the place where H went to middle school. After a tour of the school and surrounding grounds, we ate an early dinner then went on a walk before catching the cogwheel train back down to the hotel and an early bed time.

Walking from the train station to the hotel

Our hotel

Institut Montana--H's school

Having a great time on the playground at dinner

Watching the....

COWS!!

On a walk in the woods

Switzerland trip, day 1(-ish)

And we're off! We met up with almost the whole gang in Houston and caught a British Airways flight to London on Thursday afternoon, July 3. After a quick tour of Heathrow airport on Friday morning, we were off again on our way to Zurich. Claire did a fantastic job on the plane. We were lucky enough to get an upgrade and a free seat for her, where she felt like an awfully big girl watching her movies and reading her books. Playing with Honey and Great Grandma also helped all those hours go by a little bit more quickly.

Watching all the planes at the airport

Honey time