Europe 2000: Switzerland and Portugal

During the climb, there were some soldiers shooting with machine guns and artillery in a nearby peak. During lunch time they took their meal out of the mess tent and they start cheering me (either that or they were warning me that a bomb was about to fall on my head). It was a lot of fun to hear the reaction of the soldiers every time that I finish a traverse or got to a ladder.

At the top of Daubenhorn, the view was awesome and I could see all the way to Mont Blanc; but I was confronted with the problem that I have no clue how to go back to Leukerbad. I follow a use trail that was going in the right direction, but it ended at the edge of a glacier. I didn't feel like crossing a glacier just by myself, so I started following the edge of the glacier. I didn't know that the glacier ended as a hanging glacier and a waterfall. It took me some climbing and backtracking until I was able to find a place where I could safely cross the big stream coming out of the glacier. Then, I have to climb up a big and steep lateral moraine, until I got to gentle terrain that took me back to Gemmi pass. Because of all the backtracking, I missed the last cable car for about 20mins, so I have to walk all the way down to town (about 1.5hrs). Everything looked closed in Leukerbad, but the hotel manager sent me to a pizza place that closes late so I was able to have something for dinner.

A typical segment of the Klettersteig

Airy!

Ladder

Maximum exposure (500m?)

Leukerbad

Series of ladders

Half way in the ladder

Swiss flag

Half way point (end of "easy" part)

Towards the top
(this is actually a false summit)

Self portrait

Death of my camera

BTW, postal buses in Switzerland have the right of ways no matter what. People will back up at high speed to get out of the way of the postal bus when they hear the horns played by the bus (which sounds like a charging march).

From Leuk, I went to Brig, and from there to Zermatt. Again, the ride from Brig to Zermatt (one of the legs of the Glacier express) was just incredible. Switzerland is a country where travel time is not dead time, the views from the train are almost always awesome.

In Zermatt, I took the cable car to Sunnega, and did a nice hike from there to Riffelalp. This hike took me through a series of lakes with nice views of the Matterhorn at all times. I visited Leisee, Stellisee, Grindjisee, and Gruensee. A very nice hike, although the Mirages and F-18 flying and chasing each other in the air was an annoyance.

When I got to Rifflealp, it was still early, so I decide to walk down to Zermatt, instead of taking the Gornegrat train. The walk down was very enjoyable, with more views of the Matterhorn, and many swiss traditional houses surrounded by cows.

In Zermatt I slept in Hotel Garni Cima.

Lunch spot

Matterhorn reflection on Leisee

Hiking in the alps

Mountain Hut Fluhalp with Monte Rosa (4834m) in the background

Stellisee, Mountain Hut Fluhalp, and Monte Rosa

The start of Fall colors

Near Findelnbach

Zermatt with Matterhorn in the back

In Zermatt

Zermatt's church

Street in Zermatt

Gornegrat train

Hotel Garni Cima

From Gross Scheidegg, the heads up the hill through snow sheds until Eigergletscher is reached after about 10 minutes. During these 10 minutes the scenery is breathtaking as the train climbs up in the shadow of the Eiger, Monch, and the Jungfrau. The ice of the Eiger Glacier becomes visible and glistens in the sunshine even though this old ice is coated in a dusting of atmospheric pollution giving dirty black shading to the ice. From Eigergletscher, the train enters the forbidding tunnel through the storm doors and proceeds slowly up the gradient. This section is boring but is relieved by short sightseeing stops at Eigerwand and Eismeer tunnel stations respectively. Eigerwand is a tunnel station stop behind the north wall of the notoriously infamous Eiger. From here there is a breathtaking view over Grindelwald and Kleine Scheidegg that is beyond belief. Only a climber on the North face may share this view. It is a unique experience, but if you feel that you want to get out, there are doors to the outside for people who want to do ice climbing. It was fun to see the slow progress of the climbers below The next stop around the corner is Eismeer. It is a window looking out over a snow and ice field with contrasting dark colored mountains ruggedly and sharply rising in the background. It is silently eerie and awesome. The stops at Eigerwand and Eismeer are awesome, so make a point to leave the train. Each stop lasts about 5 minutes and they won't leave without you. Slowly, eventually, the train arrives at the underground station at Jungfraujoch.

At the "Top of Europe" there is a lot to do. I went to the Observation Deck and enjoy the view of Jungfrau, the Monch, and Eiger. These are in English the Young Lady (or Virgin), the monk, and the troll. To remember the order of the peaks, the locals use the phrase: the young lady is protected by the monk from the troll.

A particular attraction is the ice palace, where passages are carved out of the glacier ice with ice sculptures inside. The place was a lot of fun and one can see the different layers of the glacier as well as the debris that the glacier is carrying. Outside, there there is a "safe" corridor on the glacier with a hotel at the end of it (50mins walk). There are also free snow disks that allow one to slide through another safe corridor in the glacier. There was also a ski lift, but the equipment and ticket was 30 CHF and the thing didn't look very exciting (I would rate it as an easy green). I also went to the museum that explains how the tunnel of the Eiger was built (very nice museum) and to a movie about the Top of Europe (just a very boring infomercial). I got back late at night to Grindelwald, where I stayed in Hotel Tschuggen.

Grindelwald-Gross Scheidegg train

North face of Eiger

North face of the Monch

Down the north face of the Eiger

Up the East face of the Monch

The door to the outside

On the Observatory (The Monch at the back)

On the Observatory (The Monch at the back)

On a safe area of the Jungfrau glacier

Inside the Jungfrau glacier (The Ice Palace)

Slippery ice chair

Panoramic of the Jungfrau glacier

Sunset on the Monch and Jungfrau

Schwarzhorn klettersteig

At the top

Cows

Bern

Don't miss the medieval part of the city. In that area, the streets have covered walkways that invite for a leisurely window shopping. The covered walkways also make the city convenient in case of rain (like when I was there). There are fountains that once provided the municipal water supply every block or so in the main streets. These fountains can be quite elaborated and colorful. On the main street, you will also find the "famous" clock tower. It's amazing that the clock have been performing since the 16th century. But, even more amazing than that is the crowd that forms to watch the slow motion show that starts 4 minutes before each hours. In my opinion, the clock may have been impressive 300 years ago, but today it's not such a great deal.

I also visited the Bear Pits. It's kind of sad to see four nice brown bears trapped in the pits. It's even sadder when you learn that those bears are extinct in Switzerland and there are only between 130 and 200 bears living in the wild in all Western Europe (mostly in France, Spain, and Italy). Fortunately, there are 35000 bears west of the Urals in Russia, and there are some plans for reintroducing the bear in Western Europe. To say something positive about the pits, there are quite big (for a zoo) and the bears have plenty of "toys" to entertain themselves. According to Louis' father, it hasn't been always like that.

The fascination for Bears in Switzerland comes from the fact that the bear is the symbol of Bern and is found on the canton's flag. According to the legend the name Bern was given to the city by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen after a hunt held in the wooded surroundings of his new town in which his first prey was a bear.

Bern main street

View from Cathedral

View from Cathedral

A fountain in Bern

Murten

I was very impressed and surprised by the Swiss wine. I didn't even know they made it until Louis' parents served some to me. We stopped at a winery in the Jura region and enjoy some of their wines.

Murten and the lake

Avenches

The Swiss haven't forgotten their Roman Heritage. In fact, the "CH" on the cars doesn't stand for chocolate. That's Confederation Helvetica, the original Roman name for Switzerland.

Dinner with Louis' parents

Paris

The Seine and Eiffel tower

From the top of the Eiffel Tower

The Seine

Arch de Triumph

At the top of the Eiffel Tower