Top of Europe, etc.

Wednesday, September 3. I think we got to sleep in a little bit this day...? Then we ate some breakfast, took a train (or three or four), and made our way to Jungfrau: Top of Europe. Have you ever heard of it? It's kind of rad.

Prepare yourself for a few lots of pictures...

I knew I took a picture of Katy's B&B

One of the train rides between Interlaken and Jungfrau

The views are ridiculous.

Am I right, or am I right?

*gasp*

Yep. I want to go back.

There were a handful of stops along the way where we could get out to take pictures.
I think the stops lasted 10 minutes, and if we wanted to stay longer we could catch the next train.

Perdy, innit?

I kind of expected the Alps to be a bit taller...

But with such views, all is forgiven. I mean, LOOK IT!

This thing is gigantic.

Are we huddling close to keep warm? I know it happened a time or two...

Why not pose with a giant wooden cow?

Or with this guy? WHY NOT?

They have an ice palace up there, which was fun to explore.

We had to wait in line to get this shot.

And this one.

And this one, too.

OUTSIDE! It was cold and windy here...

I especially love that my finger is covering part of the frame for the first several seconds.

/I'm on top of the world lookin' down on creation.../
(That's for you, Jeans!)

This picture is out of order (hello, ice palace!), but I'm just going to leave it where it's at.

More gasping. More swooning.

This is the last stop before Jungfrau, and it's all enclosed.

The views, I tell you. The views!

We decided to explore one of the villages on our way back down.
This picture was taken from Wengen.

And was Jeanna ever so glad we explored! We found her favorite beverage at the little grocery store.
Coca-Cola owns Switzerland. It's a monopoly or something.

I can't tell you exactly where this is, except that maybe it's Wengen?

After we finished exploring Jungfrau and Wengen, we made our way back to Interlaken, and we saw what there was to see there.

Interlaken is gorgeous, ja?

Another selfie...

We bought an actual meal at an actual restaurant in Interlaken.
Jen ate some delicious nachos, and Jeans and I each got a tasty burger.

We saw this beaut whilst walking around town.

I wish a knew the name of this river...

Another fountain

Hello from the Ginas Jeannas Jeans and Gina!

Breathe it in, baby!

We had a lovely time in Interlaken and its surrounding areas, I must say.

Interlaken, etc.

After seeing the Lion Monument and eating breakfast, we took a train to Interlaken (and there was much rejoicing that we got to stay put for two consecutive nights!)

The train ride from Lucerne to Interlaken was beautiful. I swear, every view deserves a magazine layout in, like, National Geographic. Switzerland is breathtaking and  so lovely you could just cry.

Ignore the reflection from the train window...

I mean...it's just so lovely.

Can you figure out why this area is called Interlaken? Think about it...

I got all up in other passengers' business to take all these pictures. And I'm okay with that.

When we got to Interlaken, it took us a while to figure out which way was what, but we eventually made our way to our B&B (called Katy's). If you'll believe it, we stayed on the third floor in room six. 

Once we were checked in and had grabbed a bit to eat, we hopped on another train (or two or three) and started exploring. Our first stop: Reichenbach Falls very near Meiringen. Jeanna and I decided we had to go there because Sherlock Holmes (and Benedict Cumberbatch! And Martin Freeman! And also Robert Downey, Jr., and Jude Law!). Jen indulged our little...ah...obsession and went along for the ride. (I freely admit it: I'm hooked on BBC's Sherlock. Because Benedict Cumberbatch. And Martin Freeman. And also Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.)

This is...somewhere in Switzerland. Not sure of the town.

The ride-up-selfie v

And here is our first glimpse of Reichenbach Falls.

Reichenbackfall up close

Panorama of Reichenbach and the gorgeous, lush valley.

Jeanna took this stunning shot from near the falls

Once we took the little train thingy to the falls, we went on a little hike to get nearer the top.

So serene

From the top (and I quote): "It's butt-scrunching!" -Jeanna

A different view of the falls.

Our slow-moving steed. (I can't for the life of me remember what this was called.)

Holmes's business card, yo.

After we were finished with Reichenbach, we had to walk a few kilometers to the nearest end of Aare Gorge. It's basically a long slot canyon with bridges and walkways built into and around "a raging river of death!" (name that movie).

It seems we walked quite a distance...

But it was a very pretty walk.

Our SwissPass allowed us to do this for free, too.

Looking up

More river, more rock wall

Golly, I seem to have a thing for stairs...

Kinda blurry, but aren't they cute?

See how there's a walkway cut into the stone?

This was at the other end of the gorge...nearer Meiringen, maybe. Or maybe not...

Jen had an eye for spotting waterfalls when we were on trains.

Aaaand since we were so very close to Meiringen, we simply had to try meringue.
I'm so glad we split one among the three of us, because none of us liked it.
#TooSweet #Yuck #PassTheAltoids

I'd have to say that Reichenbachfall is probably in my "top five" of neat things to do in Switzerland.

Next stop: Jungfraujoch!