Parents' Visit: Schilthorn and Jungfrau (8/16/1983)

Tuesday, August 16, 1983

I walked with a suitcase down to Mühlebrücke, and a #1 trolleybus came by, so I took it to the train station. I went to the Club Hotel to get the room key from Mom and Dad who were breakfasting. I had to explain myself to the man at the desk as I passed him with a suitcase! Mom and Dad came up at 7:15, and we left to go to the train station. I bought myself a half-price round trip ticket to Interlaken for 13 CHF/$6. We took the 7:34 train to Bern, changing to the 8:21 train to Interlaken, arriving about 9:15.

Interlaken boat landing (GJT)

I bought tickets, the half-price Schilthorn Tour ticket for 31.10 CHF/$15 for myself, and the Mürren Schilthornbahn tickets for Mom and Dad at 29 CHF/$14 each.

Schilthorn Tour ticket

Their Swiss Rail Holiday Card was good for most of the Schilthorn tour. We were part of a “tour group” with a blonde lady who spoke English better than she spoke Swiss-German (she was German? or is this another dialect?). We each were given a pin and a brochure about the waterfalls. The train to Lauterbrunnen ended up leaving a few minutes late at 9:30, and we wound up through the valley to Zweilütschinen where the two Lütschin rivers met, the “black” one from Grindelwald (actually a pale gray!) and the “white” one from Lauterbrunnen (pale green).

Where the two Zweilütschinen rivers meet (GJT)

The place where the two rivers merge was pointed out, and you could see the contrast in colors. Just before we reached the town of Lauterbrunnen, we saw the remains of a landslide that had blocked the roads and railroad only a couple months earlier (about the time Marsha C and I went to Schynige Platte).

Avalanche debris

Staubbach Falls in Lauterbrunnen valley (GJT)

At Lauterbrunnen, we followed the guide's flag of the Schilthorn symbol and walked across the street to the Grütschalpbahn/funicular. There was a tremendous crowd waiting, and we had to wait with the rest. It must have been an hour wait, as we took the fourth car up. They were also loading and unloading baggage and freight.

Our car took up the soft drinks! At the top we were able to board the narrow gauge train right away, and made our way to Mürren with the 3/4 panorama view of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.

Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau

Vew of Lauterbrunnen (GJT)

Eiger and Mönch (GJT)

In Mürren we walked quickly through town, hearing lots of British English. We passed the Allmendhübelbahn/funicular and arrived at the Schilthornbahn, an aerial cable car. Here we were able to board right away, but we were crushed in the middle of the car and were not able to see anything. But after changing cable cars at Birg, we were at the front and able to see the sheer cliffs in front of us, patches of snow, and hikers making their way upward. Arrived at 12:30 at the top of Schilthorn with its revolving panoramic restaurant. We wandered around to view the Alpine panorama, including the Jungfrau in front of us.

Schilthornbahn cable car (GJT)

Mönch and Jungfrau

View east?

View west

Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau

Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau postcard (GJT)

Eiger and Mönch, cable car station  (GJT)

Looking down (GJT)

Looking up

There was a bit of cloud cover, but it was higher than the mountain tops. We then left the group to make our way down to Mürren, where we went to take the aerial cable car to Stechelberg.

Mürren (GJT)

Luftseilbahn Stechelberg Mürren Schilthorn (GJT)

Luftseilbahn/aerial cable car (GJT)

It wasn’t to depart until 13:00, so we had time to use restrooms and buy a Suchard dark chocolate bar. On this cable car we had view of cows and white goats below.

Cows

We changed cars to make a hairpin turn, then the last stretch dropped us into the valley (whoop!) past the sheer cliffs.

Dropping into Stechelberg

We saw the Stechelberg (or Mürrenbach Falls), Falls which are supposed to be among the highest in Europe (N.B. Not even close! They are the 2nd highest in Switzerland.), and also saw a rainbow.

Stechelberg Falls

Stechelberg Falls (GJT)

At the foot of Stechelberg Falls

At Stechelberg we hiked over to the foot of the falls, and then back to catch the 13:37 bus to Lauterbrunnen.

Post Telefon Telegraph/PTT bus (GJT)

Lauterbrunnen valley and falls

There I bought tickets to Grindelwald, 16.50 CHF/$8 for me and 22 CHF/$11 each for Mom and Dad, then the Jungfraujochbahn tickets of 32 CHF/$16 for me, and 48 CHF/$24 each for Mom and Dad. Daddy bought a couple books.

Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald train ticket

We caught the 14:10 train to Kleine Scheidegg to climb up out of the Lauterbrunnen valley.

Lauterbrunnen valley (GJT)

Berner Oberland Bahn train

Berner Oberland Bahn train (GJT)

Unfortunately it seemed to be clouding over. At Kleine Scheidegg we heard an Alpine horn! The tip of Jungfrau was in a cloud.

Mönch and Jungfrau with Jungfraujoch in between

Eiger and Mönch

Jungfraujochbahn train

Jungfraujochbahn ticket

We boarded the Jungfraujoch train, in a car that had Japanese lettering and flag on the side. Inside the car, Mom and I read (in Japanese and German) that Interlaken and its sister city in Japan together dedicated this car and named it for the sister city of Ōtsu.

Ōtsu car (GJT)

Ōtsu car (GJT)

We then headed towards the Eiger, having to wait a long time at the mouth of the tunnel for trains coming down. Most of these trains were the old wooden ones! Finally it was our turn to enter the tunnel. There was taped music playing and a recorded message in four languages (German, French, English, and Japanese!) telling us about the stops we would make, first at the Eigerwand/Eiger Wall where we looked out through large windows down into the “valley” to see Kleine Scheidegg and Grindelwald.

View towards Kleine Scheidegg

View towards Grindelwald

A Spanish family had taken our seats when we got back in the train, so we took theirs. They looked guiltily back at us.

Glacier (GJT)

Next we stopped at Eismeer/Sea of Ice to view the glacier.

Eismeer station (GJT)

Eismeer/Ice Sea

When we returned to the train, we assumed the Spanish family preferred our original seats, so again took theirs. But this time they took yet another set of seats! At the top station at Jungfraujoch, the highest railroad station in Europe at 3,454 m/11,332’, we disembarked and took a peek to see that the Jungfrau was in a cloud. So we climbed many stairs and followed a long corridor to reach the Eis Palast/Ice Palace, carved into solid ice.

Eis Palast/Ice Palace (GJT)

We walked on wooden boards along with hand railings until we entered a large room. No more boards, so we had to step carefully. We were directed into a narrow passage then up some stairs to pass a carved VW bug. There was a room full of rocks, and one with two Swiss flags, a new one and one covered with ice. We went out on the viewing terrace to view the cloud. We walked back down to the station to sign the register and buy postcards. Then we passed an exhibit to the elevator to the Sphinx Observatory. We were the only passengers on the elevator, and were taken up into the cloud where the observatory is located!

Yuriko and Tamiko at Sphinx Observatory (GJT)

We went back down too catch the 16:58 train to Kleine Scheidegg. Kleine Scheidegg was closing up and it was getting very cloudy. We hopped right away onto a train to Grindelwald, but had to sit in the “foyer.” A German hiker talked to us in rather good English. Mom and Dad thought he looked like their neighbor, Mr. Huntington. Obviously I have never seen this good-looking neighbor before! He told us it took four hours to hike from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg. He had also taken two days to hike from the Gletscheralp (Eigergletscher?) to Jungfraujoch! He also told us that several days earlier they rescued a couple Germans off the face of the Eiger who were stuck in one place for nine days, and were literally half-frozen. At a later stop we looked for the windows in the Eiger wall, but I guess the clouds were already too low. It started raining hard, and there was lightning! The train went down into the valley and switched back to climb up the other side to Grindelwald. There a train was waiting, so I ran to get my half-price ticket for Interlaken for 3 CHF/$1.50, and hopped on the train, which was crowded.

Grindelwald to Interlaken train ticket

The conductor told us just to sit in First Class where Mom and Dad could anyway. From Interlaken we caught a train to Bern, arriving about 19:30 (an hour ahead of our planned schedule) and going to Wendy’s for dinner. We took the local 20:08 train to Biel, arriving at 20:40.

Wednesday, August 17, 1983

I realized I had forgotten to give my parents more cash, and tried to call early, but they had already left. They went to Pilatus today, and did have enough money for that, then they changed money in Luzern. After aerobics I went to the Club Hotel to leave a note with cash.