The Scroop's European Holiday: Lauterbrunnen

Our first morning in Lauterbrunnen starts with Tyler and I running a reconnaissance mission down to the Coop supermarket, bakery and ATM while Kris and Mia take their time getting ready. By the time we get back it starts to rain and there is a lot of low lying cloud. We head back out and grab some groceries and we also visit the local hiking shop to get Kris and I a decent rain jacket each because we are going to look ridiculous running around the alps with cheap Paris raincoats. We also got some great advise from the hotel owner last night about buying a Jungfraubahnen pass (click to see map - everything in red is covered by the pass) that allows us access to about 80% of the local trains, mountain cog wheel trains and cable cars in the Jungfrau region. It was bloody expensive but doing all the things we want to do and paying every time to do it will end up costing us a lot more. Lauterbrunnen sits in a valley between two sets of huge mountain ranges and we are keen to explore. So with our passes in our hands we walk about 50 meters to the first of the cable car stations that will take us to Murren which is higher up behind Lauterbrunnen. This is a large cable car that fits about 50 people (all though there is only a few of us on it) and takes us to an altitude of 4,885ft before we jump on this little train carriage that takes us along the edge of the mountain for about 5km to Murren and increasing in altitude to 5400ft. From here we can catch another cable car to the Schilthorn which is 9710ft in altitude. Unfortunately today the weather is very cloudy and when we reach Murren there is not a lot to see. Apart from the small town itself, everything is immersed in cloud. We are a bit disappointed so we have a look around and get back on the train and head back to Lauterbrunnen. Once back at Lauterbrunnen we jump on a cog wheel train across the road from the cable car station and head up the other side of the valley. We decide to get off at Wengen which is a town that sits at an altitude of 4180ft and get on another cable car to a spot called Mannlichen at 7300ft. The cable car arrives and it is similar to the one we went on to Murren and it starts to go up and this one is steep. As its going up though it goes straight into cloud and from about the half way point all we could see was white. We get to the top and we literally cannot see more than 10 feet in front of us. We follow a path to another cable car station and we could not see a thing. It was so cloudy and we had no idea how far away the station was but as it turned out it was only about 100m away. This station had the little 4 person cable cars which we jump on and this takes us for miles, a trip that lasted about 30 minutes to a place called Grindelwald back down to an altitude of 3100ft. From here we jump on another cog wheel train that takes us for another half an hour back up to a station called Klein Scheidegg and back to an altitude of 6770ft. This is the main stop before continuing on to the Jungfraujoch or as its called around here, "The Top of Europe". Due to the poor visibility we Did not go up. Our pass gives us as much access as we want to all the trains but we only get access to the Jungfraujoch once, so we save that for another day. We hang around here for a little while and we get a hot chocolate and apple strudel because it has been cold and damp most of the day. While we are sitting in the restaurant Tyler says he need to go to the toilet. So do I, so we head downstairs and the men's toilet has a sign on it. It's in German so I've got no idea what it says but I'm assuming it may be something to do with cleaning. I check inside on no one is in there so I assume it's ok. I take up a position at the urinal and Tyler heads to the stall (number 2). So I'm standing there taking a leak and someone enters the toilet. I don't look up because I don't really car and then I start hearing this "squirt, squirt" sound like someone is spraying a squirt bottle. I look around and there is this woman cleaning the around me. Now I'm standing there with my snag out half way through my wee and she hasn't battered an eyelid. So I continue on and she continues on and when I've finished she heads over to where I was standing and "squirt, squirt", starts cleaning where I'd been! So I'm washing my hands and Tyler comes out and she heads in there to squirt, squirt where he'd been! So Tyler and me high tailed it out of there quick smart laughing our heads off. We leave the restaurant and get back on another cog wheel train that takes us back to Lauterbrunnen via Wengen. By now its starting to get late so when we get back and head straight for the Coop for some groceries because tonight we are eating in. We dump the groceries at the apartment and go for a wander to the waterfall that sits pretty much behind our apartment. This waterfall is amazing. It drops 290m into Lauterbrunnen from the mountain above down a sheer rock face. There is a track that takes you up the cliff face about 40m and you can stand behind the waterfall, it's incredible! When we get back to the apartment Mia makes up a menu. Tyler and Mia have decided to be our Master Chefs tonight and the dress up and serve our beer and wine and decorate the plates. It was great and Kris and I just sat back and enjoyed the attention. We sit and cha and have a good old laugh and we are hope tomorrow's weather will improve, we doubt it though.