Jungfraujoch and Lauterbrunnen

For our second anniversary, since we happened to be in Switzerland, we decided to make the most of it. On the actual day, we went out to dinner with my mom and John to celebrate. The next weekend, Duane and I jumped on a train after work heading south deep into the Swiss Alps to Lauterbrunnen.
Lauterbrunnen is nestled in this beautiful thin valley below the snow capped mountains. All over these jagged cliffs, giant waterfalls (the proper Californian kind, not these wimpy Europe ones we've seen) are pummeling to the valley below. It is absolutely stunning and definitely earns its nickname, 'valley of 72 waterfalls'.

Thunersee
Lauterbrunnen Valley
The view from our balcony
Because Swiss Alps... and cheese
We were up bright and early Saturday morning to grab some breakfast and take our chances going up to the Jungefraujoch. There was a forecast of rain in the afternoon and the mountains can be a bit tricky with it's weather. We jumped on the 7:35 train up the mountain and we were not disappointed. Fun fact - Jungfraujoch is the highest railway station in Europe and located 3,454 metres above sea level. On the way down, we even saw a small avalanche roaring down the steep cliffs of the mountains.

On the way up

A stop in Kleine Scheidegg
Grindelwald valley from way up above
Almost to the top!
So. Freaking. Cold.
We made it!
On top of Europe!
You can't tell, but it really hurts to smile
Spot the thing that kept me giggling for a good 10 mins...
Exploring the ice palace



After some lunch, we set out to walk down the valley to the Trümmelbachfälle. These are 10 consecutive glacier-waterfalls that have carved their path through the mountains are Europe's largest subterranean waterfalls. The sound was deafening, but it was so spectacular.



This is me channeling my inner Maria from the Sound of Music
Inside Trümmelbachfälle





After we met up with my old friend and Deutsche bruder, Andreas with his little family to explore Grindelwald (a neighboring valley, and grab some well earned dinner). 


To follow the theme of our trip, bipolar weather, Sunday we woke up to snow. Just in time to make our way back to Zürich to have a visit by the one and only Miss Megan.



Location: Jungfraujoch, 3823 Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

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