Euro Trip - Part 4

Despite great temptation to write about the Simpson's movie which i saw yesterday and was brilliant , i will persist and continue the account of the euro trip

Day 6 :

The day began with a visit to Trummelbachfalls ie Glacier falls .. The river cuts its natural path through the mountain and they have cut out parts of the rock to allow tourists inside to observe the falls - the only such type of falls in the world . There is a path up the mountain and various view points on the way from where the falls can be observed



This path ^^ was on the outside of the mountain to come down .. While goin up we took a lift to one level and then took the steps cut into the mountain .. The water from the falls was very cold and was flowing with a great force making a deafening noise as well .. With the dark conditions inside the mountain and the constant water splashing onto the path it dint make for very good photographic conditions though






After spendin bout an hour here we left and proceeded to the train station from where we were to take a mountain train upto Jungfrau

Jungfrau is called the top of Europe .. It is a mountain peak at a height of 11,782 feet above sea level .. It was and still is considered one of the harder peaks to climb up ... In fact only a week after we were there 6 mountaineers died trying to scale it .. Keeping this is mind it is quite an engineering marvel that they built a railway line all the way upto the top as far back as the 1920's or so .. So we got onto the first train and went upto a intermediate station from where we had to switch trains .. On the way up of course we were treated to some astounding views of the countryside and i couldn't stop clickin pics



Got out at the inter station and switched trains to get us to the top .. This train stopped for 5 mins at two viewpoints each on the way up so that people could get off and look down the mountain face .. Unfortunately the weather was very bad the day we went and all we could see was fog :(

Reached the top of the Peak .. Here they have a huge indoor complex which contains all the restaurants , shops , train stations etc and there are exits from where people can get out onto the snow itself ... We first proceeded for lunch where we had out local meal with champagne :) .. After that we went around and saw the places of interest .. There s an ice palace , the whole structure being made of ice which has rooms , ice sculptures etc inside it



After this we went out via one of the exits onto the ice shelf ... It was freezing cold , especially with the gusty winds .. Spent about 2 mins there and could not take it anymore and returned to the warmth of the indoor heated complex



On a fine weather day one would get a fantastic view of the neighbouring mountains and the entire mountain range from out on the ice shelf .. But all we saw that day was fog and ice .. The temperature high that day was -0.5 degree centigrade and it was at -1.2 degrees when we were there with winds blowing at speeds of a maximum of 62 kmph

From here we proceeded to the Sphinx View point ... another place where ,as the name suggests , one would get a good view of the mountains .. Also in this place were snow dogs , snow plows and people working to keep the path safe .. Wanted to go for a ride on the sled pulled by the snow huskies but the bad weather did not permit it



Went back , rejoined the group and went down the mountain and back to the bus after this

From there we drove to Interlaken . As the name suggest it is a city situated in between 2 huge lakes and is very picturesque .. It is also a place where a lot of Bollywood films are shot against the backdrop of the mountains .. Strolled around the place for a while and had some Swiss coffee and took some pics .. Officially the currency of Switzerland is the Swiss franc but most shops also accept the Euro



After this we returned to Engelberg and to the hotel .

Day 7 :

Started off the day by going to Mt Titlis .. This was reached via a set of cablecars .. The first one being a steep inclined climb in a 4 person cable car followed by a Rotair Cable car which rotates 360 degrees while moving up so that a person gets a panoramic view of the mountains .. The weather on this day was sunny and afforded good visibility of the magnificent( yes , im running out of superlatives ) view




On reaching the top we were greeted by bright sunshine on the snow .. I had never understood why mountaineers needed sun glasses but appreciated them now as the sun s rays beat down really brightly at that altitude and also off the snow .. took a few more pics from the top



Played around in the snow for some time , which was exactly the right constituency , not too hard nor too soft .. Threw Snowballs , plodded knee deep in snow etc etc ..
After this we took the ice flyer down to an area where they have snow rides .. Kind of like the water slides in amusement parks , but on snow , going downhill .



They even had a ' magic carpet ' built into the snow , kind of like a travellator to bring u back up the hill .. Went on all the various sleds , losing balance and falling off twice as well on a chair like sled :(



Time flew by unheeded here and after a LOT of fun , we proceeded back up to the main mountain via the ice flyer ..The shade that the clouds cast on the snow led to brilliant interplay of their shadows juxtaposed with the pristine white snow below us making for a beautiful view as me moved up

Once back up we took a photo next to a snowman someone had painfully constructed ;) and back in the main complex we took a family photo in the native Swiss clothes and settings and then proceeded back down via the same way we had come , ie the cablecar
The contrast in setting from the snow covered mountains to the verdant valleys could be clearly seen as the descent proceeded .. All in all , a quite beautiful and enjoyable experience

Side Note : After we came back down from the mountain , I realized the sides of my sneakers had lost their brownish hue and had become sparkling white .. The snow must have had quite an effect on them , takin away the dirt and cleaning them for me :-)

From there we drove to Lucerne .. Once there we first visited the Lion statue , One of the symbols of Lucerne .. This was commissioned as a tribute to the soldiers who had laid down their lives in some battle ( forgot which one , this is why i shud have written this earlier :-/ )



Once the sculpture was completed though , the King did not pay the artist the full payment that had been agreed upon .. To show his displeasure the artist made the cavity that the lion is resting in resemble the shape of a Pig .... If u look closely u can clearly see the snout and ears of a pig being carved on the cavity to the left and top of the lion

From there we proceeded to the Wooden bridge , Another one of the symbols of Lucerne .. This bridge was adorned with flowers on the railings and paintings on the ceilings .. Half of them were destroyed in a fire many years back though .. It also contains a huge water tower .. Walked around the town for a bit , went into a chapel , strolled around the lake . As it was a Saturday most shops were closed thought

Another amazing thing about Europe is that people take their dogs everywhere .. Into shops , into restaurants along with them etc .. Saw lots of people walking their dogs around the lake here , some which were growling and snarling and looking to fight the ducks :))

We were then taken for a cruise on the lake of Lucerne



After the cruise , we left Lucerne and drove to the Marriot in Zurich .. That night there was Zurich fest goin on which was a once in two years thing .. With music , dancing and general merriment going on in all the the streets of Zurich .. The city was about 15 mins ride from the hotel we were in .. Badly wanted to go for the fest but no company , so skipped it and spent 2 hours browsing the Internet , watchin you tube clips :-/