Jungfraujoch 少女峰

May 25, 2022

We were up early in the morning and sneaked out to see Staubbachfall. Outside was cloudy, but no rain. The town in the morning was tranquil and beautiful. The waterfall was a short distance from the hotel we stayed at. The almost 1000-feet tall fall was striking and powerful. Near the bottom of the fall, there was a tunnel. Without any lighting, the tunnel was dark in the early morning. We were not sure whether we were permitted to go through or not, but we were curious to find it out. Using the light from our phones, we slowly entered the tunnel. Out from the other end of the tunnel, an engraved path on the mountain slope led us up to the steel walkway, and soon we were standing behind the waterfall. Watching the stream pouring down and hearing the waterfall's sound is magical. We didn't stay there too long as we were getting a little wet from the waterfall, and we were not sure if we were allowed to go up there or not. Later we did find out that the tunnel was open for the summer. It was an excellent morning side trip. When we were back at the hotel, the breakfast was ready. We had our morning coffee, pastries, various kinds of cheese, fruit, and painted eggs with a stunning backdrop of Staubbachfall.

Rain was forecasted for the whole week. We worried that we might not be able to see Jungfraujoch at all on this trip. Although it was cloudy in the morning in Lauterbrunnen, the attentive host at the front desk told us that the sky at Jungfraujoch was opening up and showed us the webcam at its peak on his computer. He told us we would have an excellent chance to see it if we went there soon. We had our fingers crossed and were on our way to catch the train to Jungfraujoch. We took the train from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg with a stopover at Wengen. It was a scenic route up to the mountain village of Wengen and then onto Kleine Scheidegg.  From Kleine Scheidegg we switched to the Jungfraujoch Railway. The Jungfraujoch Railway, completed in 1912, is the highest in Switzerland and Europe, running essentially through the 5.6-mile Jungfraujoch Tunnel. The Jungfraujoch railway ride was not covered under the Swiss Travel Pass but with 50% off. The train stopped in the middle of the tunnel for a short time for passengers to get out to look surrounding mountains through the windows. Because of the cloudy weather, there was nothing to see. The whole train ride in the tunnel was uneventful.

We got off the train at Jungfraujoch train station and walked through a tunnel for a lift to take us to the Sphinx observation deck. In the Sphinx Terrace, we had a 360-degree view of magnificent glaciers and snow-covered mountains under the shining blue sky. However, the summit of Jungfraujoch is still hiding behind the clouds.We walked through the ice gateway towards the Ice Palace, where many ice sculptures were displayed. Eagles, penguins, and bears all looked beautiful. A statue of Lang Lang playing the piano there seemed to be a marketing tool to attract Chinese tourists. It was a great experience and the best tour of ice sculptures we had had.

Out of the Ice Palace, we walked to the Plateau where a flag pole was, a view platform on the mountain. Many people were there, and we had to wait in line to take pictures with the Swiss flag. We were able to see the Jungfraujoch, just not the full peak. We patiently waited for the shy Jungfraujoch peak to get out of hiding, but the cloud seemed to become denser. With a bit of disappointment not to see the full face of Jungfrau peak, we were glad to make this trip and enjoy the natural beauty of Jungfraujoch.

After a quick lunch at the restaurant on the top and touring the chocolate shop, we headed back to Lauterbrunnen in a hurry to see the largest underground waterfall in Europe, Trummelbackfall, before it was closed for the day. From Lauterbrunnen, we took a bus to Trummelback with only 15 mins to spare. Once inside the park, a funicular elevator took us up from the bottom to the middle. Then we walked to the up falls and down to the lower falls via various stairs, walkways, galleries, and overlooks. The sound of the rushing water vibrated through the incredible rock formation in the mountain, and you felt the waterfall's power. We were the last tourists today; the park staff was just several feet behind us to turn off the light. We were glad that we made this tour too.

On the way back to Lucerne, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant next to the Interlaken train station when we stopped for a transfer. The restaurant was big, but sadly there were no customers. Our food was ok; we were happy to have some hot food. It was a long day for us. Once we arrived in Lucerne, we just relaxed at our flat and were ready for another busy day tomorrow.

第五天：原本天气预报整周下雨，可是今天一早查看山峰上实时摄像头，顶上天气渐渐放晴，就直奔少女峰！在欧洲屋脊少女峰上享受壮阔美景之后，赶着门关之前，观览了欧洲最大的地下瀑布Trummelback Falls 。