One of the coolest ways to spend the summer is on the Swiss Alps. Just a few days in the Alps becomes a total recharge from the hot and humid world below. An easy way to get up into the glaciers is by train. We stayed in Bern with friends and took the train to Jungfraujoch from Interlaken.
The train up pops your ears and a few people are knocked out by the sudden change in atmosphere and oxygen levels once you get to the top. I would not recommend the trip for the elderly or for those with heart problems or breathing problems. The air is thin inside the tower and you feel like you want to go outside.
For me it worked to go outside although the air pressure was the same I felt much better breathing and jumping in the snow. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to take the zip-line or go sledding in August.
The white snow is blinding in the summer mountain sun without sunglasses. And it's important to look cool in the Swiss Alps so don't forget to bring sunglasses.
On the train coming back down I decided to stop in a small town called Alpiglen and walk to the next station Brandegg. Alpiglen looks like something out of the 19th century. The train station is just a little shed and the trail down is something out of this world.
Everything was completely still and serene except for the sound of cowbells all over the fields. Even "The Bruce Dickinson" (Christopher Walkin) would be satisfied with the sound of these cowbells. The cows in those hills are impressively large and peaceful. They look like friendly giants. Still I wouldn't go out of my way to touch them. Be aware there is electric fencing along the trails. They don't tell you that on the brochures. You just have to find out by touching it and getting shocked.
The next day we took a road trip up through Klausen Pass. It really should be done with a sports car or a motorcycle. We were in a large Mercedes and I was sick as ever. I felt like I was on a terrible never ending roller coaster. The weirdest part was that there were no trees on the side of the road. Everywhere we went there were just glaciers. I did like getting out of the car and running around. I didn't take many pictures because there was just so much beauty around us that it all seemed like it belonged there. But there were a couple times my friends took pictures of me. Those are the pictures that remained.
As we came back to Bern that afternoon I looked out the window at the mountain streams. I'm so used to seeing rivers and streams that are green and blue but these were white with stone.
It was as if I had landed in some candy world for a day. Everything was changed. Before this trip I had never really stayed up in high lands. I could imagine living up in the mountains but I would like to be somewhere below tree line. I don't think I could ever afford to live in Switzerland. I would be broke after a few nice meals and a hotel stay. We stayed with friends and had some Italian lunch-meat and bread and Ramen. That works for me. They were charging 20 dollars for Ramen on Jungfrau but we brought our own^^.
$20 Ramen on Jungfrau
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