There are no words to describe the Jungfrau region of Switzerland other than jaw dropping. Looking outside the window first thing in the morning and all you see are huge snow covered mountains towering way above and beautiful green valleys below. The place was incredible.

We stayed in two small towns: Murren, which was on the edge of a cliff, and Grindelwald, set within a valley. To get to Murren we had to catch a cable car up the side of a mountain and then a scenic cog rail with the most amazing views. It was the best welcoming to a town I have ever had. We had a lovely chalet in Grindelwald which was like living in our own apartment. It had a great balcony with the best view of the 3 biggest mountains in the region but it was a 30 minute uphill walk from the train station and the town, quite a treck after a day of hiking and a full belly after dinner!

We mostly did a lot of walking and hiking between small towns in the area amongst beautiful scenery. Everything is so green, which is a change coming from Melbourne. Walking amongst the mountains felt a bit intimidating because they are so big and threatening. During our walks we would stop in an isolated pub for a cold beer or a farming village for some local cheese and yoghurt, which always tasted better than anything you could buy in the Supermarket. A highlight was seeing a huge glacier and walking through amazing valleys and forests.

Unfortunately it rained a lot for us. Which made it hard to plan hikes. It also made it hard to plan when to go up to `The Top of Europe´ on the Jungfraubahn. This is basically the highest view point that anyone can reach in all of Europe on the Jungfrau mountain some 3000 metres high. You reach it via a special train that goes through the mountains on the steepest rails. You could probably guess that it costs a mint to take the ride up and so you would want to chose a clear day to get a nice view. When we woke up early in the morning the day looked glorious so we decided to go but it soon started to cloud over. When we go to the top we had a good 20 minutes or so to look out, which was something words can´t describe, and then the clouds set in and we couldn`t see a few feet out. It was an amazing experience though, one I will never forget. I mean, imagine being on the highest mountain in the Swiss region!
The view from Jungfrau

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday messages, I really appreciate it. I had a great day in Switzerland amongst the mountains and a lovely fondue dinner, which consists of a whole bunch of melted cheese which you dip bread and potatoes into. It`s a traditional Swiss cuisine and I loved it. Michael also bought me tickets to the Versailles palace near Paris which we are going to for a day when we get back to London (we are staying in London for another 4 days soon). We missed it last time cos it was closed on the day we went. So that was a great present!

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Stay tuned!