SWITZERLAND IS BEAUTIFUL

Two weekends ago I took a trip by myself to Grindelwald, Switzerland.  I was able to relax and enjoy this massive beauty all for myself.  

It began with an overnight train from Dusseldorf, Germany.  We were awoken with one hiccup when Catherine (I took the train with four other Castle Dwellers who were also going to Switzerland) almost had her purse stolen by an evil little French man.  I woke up to Catherine yelling expletives and a pointy-faced French guy sheepishly cowering, "Je m'excuse! Je m'excuse! Je cherche ma copine! Je cherche ma copine!" ("Excuse me! Excuse me! I'm looking for my friend! I'm looking for my friend!")  Catherine responded with a ferocious point toward the door and an even I-mean-business-ier "Get the (insert... well, you know) out of here!"  Apparently she had awoken to her purse being guided out of its net on the wall by a slimey set of fingers.

While I could have done without the almost having my Eurail stolen (we had given them to Catherine to store in her purse) and the not being able to sleep for fear of someone else sneaking into our compartment, I'm kind of glad it happened.  What night train experience is complete without some kind of sketchy activity?  At least I have a story to tell.

Subsequent to all of that excitement, I took a lovely train ride to the mountain resort of Grindelwald and proceeded to enjoy my next two days there.  Since I arrived midday on Friday, I took a short gondola ride to a point called Pfingstegg and hiked back down to Grindelwald.  While on the mountain I read some Steinbeck and spent some needed time just listening to music.

My original plan for Saturday was to take a train up to Jungfraujoch, which is the highest railway station in Europe situated at 3454 meters (more than 11,000 feet).  When I found out that my discount off of the full price of the ticket would be upwards of 100 Euro, I decided to find something else to do.  I ended up taking another, longer, gondola from Grindelwald to First (a location at 2168 meters, 7100 feet) and hiking from there.   I decided to hike to Schwarzhorn, the highest peak in the Jungfrau Region reachable by foot.  It reaches 2928 meters, which is about 9600 feet.  Do the math.  It took me (with breaks for breathing and lunch and without any proper hiking gear i.e. I was wearing my topsiders) four and a half hours to hike up to Schwarzhorn and back down to First.  

The views, though, were breathtaking.  And to be honest, the hike was empowering.  On my way down I would continually look back up in amazement at from where I had just come.  Had you told me I would be hiking to there before I arrived (I wasn't sure to which peak I was hiking in the beginning), I would have told you that you were crazy.

But, take a look at the views for yourself.

I made it home with no real incidents and the realization that traveling alone (when the destination is safe) is actually a wonderful thing.