Wengen Switzerland - The Alps

Yesterday we drove about 2 hrs south and east into the Swiss Alps.

Our destination is the small town of Wengen which is precariously perched

high on a hillside below the famous trio of Swiss Mountains named

 Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau.

Our home for the two nights is the

Hotel Schoeneg.

It will be our last hotel of this trip but certainly not the least.

2 sets of twin doors open up to a nice balcony and

the view is fantastic!

One of the reasons I selected this hotel was the reputation of the resturant.

I opted for the "half board" which means a 4-course dinner is included.

Last night we had a pickled seaweed, caviar, and crayfish appetizer followed by

Creamed truffle soup, and finally Medallions of Venison with red cabbage and

a condensed berry sauce.

Our room is the top floor - right side with the two awnings extended.

Wengen is a car free town.   We left the rental in a parking garage at the train station

and took a cog railway train up the mountain.

Today we headed further up the mountain on the train to Kleine Scheideg where

we switched to the Junfraujoch Cog Railway for a 1 hour trip up to

Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe at over 11,333'

We sat next to a newlywed couple who were visiting on their honeymoon from

Singapore.   I learned that in Singapore - English is the main (and first) language.

I visited here almost 50 years ago with my father.

The views from on top are amazing.

Down in the valley in the center of the picture is Interlaken Switzerland.

The Aletsch Glacier - the longest in Europe at about 14 miles.

It is over 3,300' thick.

On Junfrau is the Ice Palace.

It is carved into the Glacier and contains numerous ice sculptures.

Bears

Penguins

Heading back down from Junfraujoch we change trains to the Green/yellow

ones at Kleine Scheideg.   These trains runs down either side of the mountain

into either Lauterbrunnen or Grindlewald.

We took the train towards Lauterbrunnen getting back off at Wengen.

On the way to Wengen, you can see the mountain village of Murren on the

far side of the steep valley.   Kate and I stayed in Murren 6 years ago.

It was cloudy during our stay last time and we never got to see the mountains.

This time the weather was perfect.

We have some time to kill tomorrow so we might head over to Murren,

and take the tram up for lunch and see the view under better conditions than last.

My watch battery happened to start to go bad on me last night.

Since it was made in Switzerland I was able to find a repair shop in

Interlaken so we headed down there this afternoon to drop it off.

It should be ready tomorrow afternoon.

Normally I have to send it out for service and it takes

almost 2 months to get it back and meanwhile I am lost without it.

It's all about timing.

Tomorrow after I get my watch we will head back to

Marcel & Michaelas house for our final night in Europe.

We will say good bye to our friends and head back to the US, to

Ron & Maxine, The Doodles, The RV, and The Arizona Desert.

Thursday we have a 1pm flight on a Swiss A340 headed back

to San Francisco.

Again it will be business class seats so the trip home should be 

another fine flying experience.