Our Switzerland Honeymoon
For our second blog entry, we’ll share the highlights of our honeymoon in the Swiss alps and the historic town of Lucerne.
We spent most of our time in the Jungfrau mountain region. We did not rent a car, but instead relied 100% on the interconnected network of trains, gondolas, cable cars, funiculars and hiking trails to explore the region we stayed in (Grindelwald valley highlighted in the above map), and neighboring valleys and mountains.
Grindelwald Valley and the Glacier Hotel
We stayed at the Hotel Glacier, named so because it was originally built towards the bottom of a glacier in the 1800’s. During that time, the glacier ice was harvested and carried down the mountain on horse drawn carriages. The walls of the hotel hallways had historical photos and stories, including the ones shown above.
In the modern day, the glacier has retreated and a mountain river still flows in its stead. Additionally, the hotel has seen improvements from its days sheltering horses and ice harvesters, now having balconies with beautiful mountain views and a farm to table restaurant.
Mt. Eiger
The valley and had a great view of the north face of Mount Eiger, a climb considered highly technical and that had claimed many lives over the years from sudden rockfalls and treacherous ice fields. This had led to different summit attempts over the years and some of the different routes that were successful can be seen in the photo above.
Top of Europe
In the 1860’s, a Swiss engineer had the idea to build the Jungfrau Railway. This rail line travels through the Jungfrau mountain and culminates to the top of the Jungfraujoch mountain saddle, which connects the Jungfrau and Mönch peaks. This engineering feat to build the ‘top of europe’ station took 16 years and several workers lives to complete, but is the highest train station in Europe located at 3,454 meters above sea level (for reference, Mount Hood summit stands at 3,429 meters). While originally there was a hotel built at this train station, a fire burned it down during the 1970s and in its place was built the current building which has a chocolate shop, history museum and ice palace (palace of ice sculptures where even the wall and floors are ice).
Mountain Hikes and Viewpoints
We took several hikes while in the mountains, while we don’t have any specific stories to share, sometimes the most memorable and beautiful memories are the simplest.
Cliffs & Coffee
While Alyssa was daring enough to enjoy a cliff up close and personal (and sought these opportunities out), Chris preferred his cliffs from a distance, preferably with a cup of coffee. At one cliff side restaurant, Chris ordered an iced coffee and received a decadent ice cream sundae with a dash of coffee. He should have been tipped off when it was under the dessert menu…
Transportation & Viewpoints
It was truly incredible all the different ways to traverse the mountain region from trains, to gondolas, to cable cars, to funiculars. As impressive as the transit it, the destinations were even more so. Some of our favorite transit photos and viewpoints we didn’t even have to work for. Alyssa’s favorite spot was the Männlichen viewpoint between the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen valleys, reached by gondola or cable car
Interlaken Day Trip
At the foot of the mountain valleys was a town called Interlaken, which translates to between two lakes. We spent a day there walking down to the lakes, riding up to the viewpoints, and encountering some of our only rain on the trip. According to locals, it typically rains quite a bit in the fall so we got lucky with how much sun we got!
As we wrapped up our time among the mountains in Grindelwald, we thought of the little things we would miss besides the breathtaking views. Everywhere in Grindelwald, troughs with free flowing mountain water were used as water fountains for cows and people alike.
It seems like the swiss culture of cleanliness and order extended even in death, as we didn’t see mossy graves or crumbling gravestones. Every cemetery we passed well maintained and decorated gravestones, as well as fresh flowers, and sometimes other personal adornments on the gravesite.
While we’re used to mountains sounding like whistling wind, creaking trees, and birds, Grindelwald valley was filled each day with the sound of cowbells from the grazing herds in the region.
Lucerne
We left the mountains our last few days and traveled to Lucerne, a town with plenty of history. We saw rocks from the ice age, medieval tower walls, statues from the time of the French Revolution, and stayed in an art deco hotel from 1910.
Hotel Montana
The hotel had tons of character; from a funicular that would take you from the street to the lobby, to an century old aesthetic, and our room which featured a balcony with a private hot tub and views of Lake Lucerne.
Lake Lucerne itself was beautiful and featured a peaceful walkway along its shores. As the walkway got close to the city center, it turned into a riverside walk. This river featured two covered wooden footbridges from the 1300’s. As if that wasn’t historical enough, the bridges both feature paintings from the 1700’s of the city’s history, of swiss folklore, and of biblical scenes.
Other historical sites we appreciated in Lucerne included the cities towers and a portion of the city walls used in medieval times to defend Lucerne against sieges. We visited a few old churches in the city as well, though didn’t learn much of their history.
While for many cities having medieval architecture would be historical enough, Lucerne also featured a glacier garden. This included rock formations created during the last ice age. The most unique of these formations are called glacier potholes which were formed at the bottom of the glacier by the sheer force of the melt water carrying sand and gravel. As the flow of water gathered speed, vortices of up to 200 km/hr began to form. Within a few years potholes were eroded. Some of the garden rocks also contained fossilized plants and sea life.
Outside the glacier garden was a lion monument, commemorating swiss mercenaries who died defending King Louis XVI during the French Revolution.
One of our last stops in Lucerne was the Transportation Museum… in preparation for our flight home.