We woke to a beautiful clear sky, which meant Operation Jungfrau was a-go. Denise prepares breakfast for the chalet guests, served family style, so after a nice meal and enjoyable conversation with the other guests, we were off! Trains leave Murren at :18 and :58 past the hour, so we boarded a train at 8:58 that took us down where we caught the dreaded gondola to descend some more. Then we boarded a different train to begin our ascent to the Jungfrau. At 11,333 feet, it's quite a climb that required two more different trains and two+ hours travel time.
It's quite a shock to emerge to the blinding brightness and crisp cold air. The visitors center is arranged very neatly with clear directions leading the many tourists to the observation platform, a small history exhibit, the ice castle, an outdoor viewing area of the glacier, the gift shop (of course!), and the restaurant.
The Ice Palace was something else, with floors, walls, ceiling, and sculptures completely of ice. We scooted our feet through this area carefully. We don't want any injuries this close to the end of our trip!
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After all of this, we made our way to the area marked "Snow Fun," where visitors can ski, snowboard, tube, and sled. Tim and the boys enjoyed both the tubing and sledding, and they quickly worked up a sweat. It was surprisingly warm out there!
After leaving the Jungfrau we had to make the two hour trek back to Murren. This return trip seemed to take a lot longer as we were all very tired. On the way back to the chalet we stopped by an Asian restaurant to get carry out ( yes, even in this Swiss village we can get take out!) We ate in our pajamas and played a game of Harry Potter trivia pursuit. Now we are all tucked in and looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow.
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