Day 9: Interlaken to Jungfraujoch to Lauterbrunnen

Wow, today we saw a lot of the Jungfrau mountain range. We woke up in Interlaken, had a fantastic breakfast at the City Hotel Oberland and then started our way into the mountains.
A few photos of Interlaken from our hotel.
One of the many beautiful hotels in Interlaken.

Owen reading to Garrett at a bus stop -- a young James Bond novel.

We took the bus & train to our new home base in Lauterbrunnen. We checked into our hostel, which is bare bones but very comfortable with a private room for us. Here are a few photos from our hostel window:

After securing our luggage at the hostel, we boarded a train for Jungfraujoch, which is the highest rail station in Europe, and is very near the top of the highest peak in the area, the Jungfrau peak. The cog train took a windy and beautiful route up the mountain.

From the train, a view of the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

We got off the train in Wengen for lunch. We went to a supermarket to buy a picnic lunch that my wonderful Basque office colleague, Marie Mendisco, would enjoy -- Swiss cheese, fresh bread, and salami, with some hazelnut chocolate treats for dessert.

Wengen is a mountain town where we boarded the serious cog train that goes up to Jungfraujoch.

Photos from Wengen.

As the train left Wengen and slowly moved up the mountain, we saw many random mountain villages that take you back in time.

Kleine Scheidegg rail stop, at 2061 meters.

The route to Jungfraujoch goes through tunnels in the Eiger mountain, made famous in a movie, I think, with Clint Eastwood.

Eigergletscher rail stop, 2320 meters high.

Eismeer rail stop.

At the Eismeer rail stop, there was a structure attached to the Eiger face where riders could "stand" on the front of the mountain and look down. You can see in this photo how the structure is attached to the front of the Eiger peak. About this time, the temperature is pretty cold.
Eismeer rail stop.

After a 1 1/2 hour rail journey, we made it to Jungfraujoch rail station. It was worth it.

View from Jungfraujoch.

From the "sphinx lookout" at Jungfraujoch station. Above the station, there is an observatory and places for scientific research.

Here is a picture of the building above the station.

Can't explain this one.

Built into packed snow on the mountain is an "ice palace." The walls and floor are ice, literally. They encased this nice message to Americans on July 4.

The boys in the ice palace at Jungfraujoch.

After the Jungfraujoch trip, we decided to head down a different route, to Grindelwald, to find a hotel for tomorrow night. From here, we will take a cable car up to a village that has an "alpine slide," which is a summer bobsled-type attraction.

The train down to Grindelwald.

Downtown Grindelwald from the train station.

We found another hostel in Grindelwald and are set up for tomorrow. We traveled back to Lauterbrunnen and had dinner. April had the roesti, which is a Swiss potato specialty dish. I had baclette, which is a baked cheese, potato and onion dish that is outstanding. Back to the hotel and ready for another day. It was a terrific birthday.

Garrett impersonating a dog looking out the train window.