Swiss Alps

We arrived to our ski chalet in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, and it was magnificent. Several waterfalls cascaded above from the surrounding mountains. A clear blue river carved its way through the valley. Velvety green grass lie at our feet. And right in the middle was our adorable, wooden ski chalet.

After enjoying a typical Swiss dinner of fondue, and doing about two loads of laundry from last nights nightmare, I passed out from exhaustion and a full belly.

The next day, it was off to Jungfrau, the "Top of Europe." Although this mountain does not have the highest elevation in Europe, it nearly touched the sky at 11,333 feet (slightly shorter than my little mountain town's star, Mt. Humphrey's). We took a two hour train ride to the top, which offered some pretty awesome views. Once we reach the summit, I realized I was no longer adjusted to the altitude of Flagstaff as I tried to climb the stairs to the observation deck. After living in Nantes, which is almost sea-level, going back to such a high elevation is going to be rough. I crawled up the last few stairs and stepped out into the icy cold. The wind was blowing and snow was falling. But it was all worth the view. Right in front of me, was the peak of the the rocky mountain, all covered in snow. There were parts of the mountain that were actually covered with a glacier. This giant was huge and impressive. If the snow hadn't been so dense, the view would've been 100% spectacular. However, I always welcome the snow, so I had fun playing in it for a while.

After sufficiently frolicking in the snow, we went back inside to warm up and explore the rest of the Top of Europe. There were several different areas. My favorite was the ice palace. Just as it sounds, the entire area was made of ice, floor to ceiling. It was so cool (haha). There were ice sculptures, tunnels and caves made of ice, and even that dinky little squirrel from Ice Age was frozen into one of the walls. It was a lot of fun, despite the slipping and sliding on the ice floor.

Inside, there was even a Lindt chocolate shop. Of course, I had to buy Swiss chocolate from the top of the Swiss Alps. It was tasty!

When we got back to the chalet, I really wanted to go for a walk and see more of the breathtaking nature. It was such a peaceful and meditative stroll. I went alone, so I had all the time in the world to just think and absorb it all; something I'd sorely missed. For me, this was definitely a downside to Contiki. There's never really any time to just soak it all in. We went from place to place to place, but I was never able to take a breath, enjoy my surroundings, or make new observations and discoveries. Interestingly enough, this nature walk was probably my favorite memory of the trip. Everything else was, of course, amazing and exciting, but it was such a whirlwind, it's hard to remember the details.