Swiss Alps
Leaving Germany was a sad feeling, especially after having only been there for a day, but knowing that we were
going to return for a few weeks upon the conclusion of our tour meant I wasn’t too devastated. Adding to that was
the fact that our next stop was probably my most eagerly anticipated of the trip; Mount Jungfraujoch in the Swiss
Alps. After a brief stopover in the tiny country of Lichtenstein we arrived in the Swiss city of what I think was Bern (at
this point in the trip it was not uncommon to get on the bus in the morning with no idea where we were going, fall
asleep, and wake up in an entirely new country, so Bern is just a guess based on the route we took from Munich),
and proceeded to visit a Swiss watch and Army Knife shop, where after a short tour we were given some free time to
spend hundreds of euros on whatever we chose, in my case being a Swiss Army knife.
Our Swiss accommodation itself was nothing special, bar its location. Nestled at the bottom of a huge cliff in front of
the Swiss Alps themselves, the landscape was by far one of the best we’d seen all trip, and easily the best we had
stayed in. As an idea of what the area was like, Chris and I were instantly reminded of the Lord of the Rings city of
Rivendell when we saw a small bridge backed by snow-capped mountains and waterfalls, only to discover that the
bridge was actually the basis for the bridges used in the movies in the fabled elf city. Being another Contiki-owned
accommodation, we had a party night our first night there, although our plans to climb the Swiss Alps the next day
kept the night fairly under control – no one wanted to forfeit their 200 euro tickets for the climb, let alone miss out
on the experience.
The next day was probably the best of the trip, with about half the tour experiencing their first touch of snow. When
we first arrived at the summit of Jungfraujoch we were pretty much in the middle of a blizzard. Although being really
cool, especially for those who had never seen snow before, it was a bit annoying as it meant we missed out on the
iconic views the Swiss Alps are so famous for. However after a few hours of exploring the area and its ice sculpture
caves, we decided to go back outside one more time for a quick look before we returned home, only to discover that
the snow storm had completely cleaned up and there was barely a cloud in the sky. We then decided to brave the
very, very cold temperatures to stay outside for another hour or so taking in the breathtaking views and snapping a
few hundred photos each. Although the whole experience put us back about 200 euros each, and involved a two
hour each way painfully slow train ride up the steep incline of the mountain, it was undoubtedly more than worth it
and something I recommend to anyone given the chance to do it.
After the Swiss Alps came a brief stopover in Bad Salzig, a small town on the edge of the Rhine in Germany where we
stayed for a night and visited a beer stein making factory, before continuing on to the exciting yet depressing final
stop of our tour, Amsterdam.
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