Quickly asked mum and aunt came out to take some photos.
Then we head str8 to the breakfast buffet. The staff actually dressed in traditional swiss outfit and make us individual pot of tea/coffee, so nice. Enjoy eating the cheese, even though the tourmates didnt quite like the smell. The ham was good too. So far, the breakfasts that we had in all hotels are really ok.
Went out to see the newspapers and saw the pictures of the big rocks on the front page. Those were the rocks that delayed our journey.
At 910am, we set off to Grimblewald and reach the train station just in time at 935am. (This is what i noticed about the drivers, they are very confident that they will reach just in time even though we sometimes delay a little bit.). Winnie quickly get the tickets and we rush to the train. So nice, we have a reserved cabin all to our group. That's the best thing about group tour. The window can be opened easily. Here is the trick, dont just pull it down. Push it up a little then pull it down again. You will find that the window will obediently come down. So dont just use brute force, it wont work in Switz. Aunt was really nice. She pulled out the cherries and blueberries that she bought in Lugano and we all enjoyed the fruits and the view outside. So nice...
The view outside the train is very picturesque. Little hamlets and houses, farms, cows, against the sold backdrop of snow-peaked mountains. Ans guess what, patches of ice and snow are already visible before half way to Kleinne Scheidegg Station.
We changed train at the Kleinne Scheidegg for the final pull to Jungfraujoch. This phase of the journey is mostly in the tunnel and we will only stop at intermediate stations for 5 mins to peep at the outside panaromic views. Finally we reached Jungfraujoch, the TOP of Europe.
The sign board indicated -14.9 degress outside.
I quickly went outside to snap some photos, without realising that i am exhausting myself at such an altitude. I started panting and feel my breath getting heavier. Still I persisted and went out. I felt the frostbite instantly once i stepped out. Quickly i move back in, put up all my protection and went outside. Needles are pinching my ears!! Time is limited, i rushed to where my slippery shoes can tahan and trek till the photos point. The fujifilm worked!!!!! Thank god! I asked some angmos to take some photos for me cos' they look quite tough, but the photos didnt turn out that well cos i guess the ice is blinding, they cant see the LCD display. I tried asking diff people to cut losses.
Until a point where i cant take it, i just walked back to the building and wow....it is so comfortable inside the building. back to the gathering point for lunch, so good to enjoy a hot meal in weather like this.
I quickly finished my meal, and head back to the plateau for a second take with Mr.Yap but he was obviously ill-prepared cos half of the time, instead of taking pictures, he actually hid his hands inside pocket cos he never wear any gloves. So i was helping him to take photos instead. And the weather turn blurry too. Cant really see anything. I fell on the way of going up, slippery i guess. Lucky the ice cant melt so i wont get wet.
I raced to the other outdoor place - steel cage, which is really the TOP of europe.
But again, due to the blurry weather, cant see anything. If sky is really clear, should be able to see Black Forest in Germany and Mont Blanc from where i stood. And now all not visible. After taking some photos, have to race back to the train station for the 115pm train. By the time we gather all people, it is already 112pm and we still miss Mr and Mrs Chua. We went to the cabin while Winnie stayed back to look for them. The train left without seeing the three of them in our reserved cabin, look like we have to wait at the Kleinne Scheidegg.
Guess what when we got down at the station, Winnie came out with Mr and Mrs Chua froma another cabin. So they made it at the last minute actually. There is still a good 15 minute before the train towards Lauterbrunnen starts so I decided to take some photos before going down. I managed to get back to cabin at 215pm, the train will depart at 223pm. Again two of the marketeers were missing. Winnie went down to look for them, and this time round, luck was not on our side, the train pull off punctually when Winnie and the couple were still walking towards us from far. I shouted to the station people that there were still thre more passengers, but the staff shouted back "too late!". No choice we just have to wait at Lauterbrunnen. Upon approaching Wengen station, you can already see the Staubbach Waterfall.
Francisco came! He helped us picked up the luggage from hotel. We gave him a warm welcome back. This will be his last trip with us as tomorrow there will be another driver sending us to Zurich Airport. According to Winnie, there are about 6000 drivers in Europe driving tourists coaches, and in all her 5 years, never met a driver twice. fate i guess...Once everybody is here, we went on to Luzern. on the way, saw many scenic lake town.
Francisco will be serving us for the last time as there will be another driver tomorrow. We reached Luzern at 5pm. The hotel is rather small cos it is at the city center.
After dinner, we went round for last minute shopping. Luckily today is Thursday, all the shops extend the opening hours till 9pm instead of the usual 6pm. I managed to get a Swatch for my bro. The Swatch they sell here is more expensive than that at US, so pls don buy Swatch at Swiss even though it is a Swiss brand. The seller is a friendly Hongkie and he told us quite abit about Luzern. Once all the choc shopping done it is back to the hotel and started packing. Our tour finally come to an end...
No comments:
Post a Comment