Wanderweg

I have been exploring the great outdoors since my last post. We went to Jungfreau yesterday. It was a two hour train (the train looked like a Disney World excursion) ride to the top. Once there, it was absolutely amazing. We could see glaciers and mountains for miles. We decided to hike to a lodge from the base. As we tredged through more snow than I have ever seen in my entire life, the sky started to close in. That is right, we were stuck in a white out. I could not see my hand in front of my face. But, the pursuit of beer always prevails and we continued to hike toward the lodge with hopes of a clearer view from the top.
We eventually had our beer. It actually tastes better at 12,000 feet. Unwilling to wait any longer for the clouds to disappear, we trudged back in the white out. It was really surreal. I could barely see David next to me. Once at base, we explored an ice castle (unnecessarily touristy) and stopped for more beer (David) and hot chocolate (me). Despite the white out, it was nothing short of amaying. The white out was a pretty fun adventure too. Afterwards, we returned to Interlaken to fetch our stuff for Lucerne.
We spent today in Lucerne. We listened to the advice of a receptionist at our hostel and headed on a free trail toward Pilatus. To say it was a mistake would be the understatement of the century. We climbed for five hours directly up hill through a swamp. It was exhausting. Unfortunately, when we reached the top, it was too cloudy to see all of Lucerne. We rode the cable car down. To give you an idea of the distance, it was a 25 minute cable car ride. I have never been so exhausted in my life. I guess we can say we climbed it? Once at the bttom, we treated ourselves to Swiss beer by the lake. It was certainly the most successful part of the day. At least we got our Swiss hiking in. Headed to our final stop, Zurich, tonight.

Nice Mouth Awareness

There is no possible way to describe what I saw today. It was so wonderful that I had to call my mom from the top just to tell her what I saw. We hiked through one of the tallest mountain ranges in the Alps today. In addition to taking David's hiking virginity, it was an extraordinary hike. The Alps are so majestic. I had to continually remind myself where I was as they are overhwhelmingly enormous and beautiful. There were peaks on all sides. It was an amazing and humbling experience to see them from below yesterday as a rafter and from within today on my hike. I will see them from above tomorrow on our hike to Junfreau, which should really be the icing on the cake. Clearly, Interlaken is one of my favorite stops thus far.

Looks like David is ready to trade his Converses in for hiking boots and that I am particularly greatful that my family instilled in me a love of the great outdoors. I really cannot get over how amazing it is here.

Anyway, we are clearly exhausted and will be retiring soon with hopes of seeing the sunrise over Junfreau tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night....Lucerne!

Deaf Lesbians

I have been fortunate to see a lot of wonderful places in my life, thus I have a frame of reference. In Pollock-Goldberg family terms, today I spied "a pretty thing." An exceptionally pretty thing. It exceeds many other pretty things.

The weather in Interlaken has been pretty rough, but that was no deterrent. Today we hiked to see a set of seven waterfalls in the alps. It was extraordinary. The waterfalls ran through the inside of a mountain, and we got to go inside and see them. The glacial water formed immensely interesting and varied patterns in the rock which in turn created fascinating waterfalls. This was a top not set of waterfalls and I am a true (self-proclaimed) connosieur.

This afternoon, I left Davd in the hostel for a rafting adventure. Despite the chilly water (it was seven degrees celcius), it was a great trip. Everywhere I looked, I was surrounded on all sides by the alps. The river was glacial so the water was incredibly clear. We ended the trip, which was a pretty tough paddle, in a brilliantly blue glacial lake. Every mountain top was covered in snow and I was in awe. I went for a refreshing (read: exceptionally cold) swim in the lake and enjoyed the scenery. I feel like I need to pinch myself it is so beautiful here. Still thawing out, but loving every minute.

Stay tuned for the hike to Junfreau tomorrow.