2003
On a Sunday mid October, 2003 I returned to Grindelwald to take images of Jungfraujoch, named as the Top of the World. It was the end of the trip, and was short of medium format film, so I had to be selective. Had memorable images of this trip, and wanted to share the feeling with my wife.
2022
Last October after landing at Milan, we drove towards Switzerland. Getting close from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen you could see the white mountains. One could see the Mönch and the Jungfrau, as the Eiger was behind a mountain to the East.
Our hotel was at the center of town, which is not big, and had its own large private parking. We got a top floor room with a balcony, viewing the white mountains, and on the side the Staubbach Falls.
After eating a kebab at restaurant in the main street, we preferred dining at the hotel, they had excellent dishes.
However, pizzas made on a wood heated oven, were the favorites of many visitors, some with children. Even staying at the hotel, you needed to make a reservation, or you would have to wait a long time.
The supermarket on closed on Saturday at 5pm and would not open till Monday. We could only find one in the entire town.
The train station to go to the Jungfraujoch was less than 150 meters of the hotel.
We could only purchase the tickets at the train station on the date of the trip.
The ticket would give you access to all points and places of the Jungfraujoch.
On our way to the top
The trip is very fast to the interconnection terminal (Eigergletscher), where you change to a different train that goes through the mountain up to the top.
Arriving to the weather station you have the magnificent view of the glacier.
Unfortunately, some activities were closed, like the walk over the glacier up to the Mönchsjoch hut.
Curiously it was also a mid October Sunday with similar light conditions to my last trip.
One of the few outdoor activities was sunbathing, as you could only walk on a small area.
Besides many helicopters bringing/taking people, there were crows, which were waiting for people to drop or leave food unattended.
After 11AM, restaurant and stores are full of people, so I recommend to take the first early train.
Walking on the tunnel carved under the glacier is impressive, last time I used slide film to record the images.
In this occasion, the digital camera was difficult to manage on manual mode, due to the lack of light, so I had to use it shutter speed priority automatic mode, which increases the ISO, and potentially the image noise.
We found a few curious items embedded in the ice.
They look as placed when the glacier was formed, and the wooden handrail is now changed to metal.
On your way back you can have lunch at Eigergletscher station.
We had sausages with rösti potatoes, that are cooked with butter on a large pan bowl shaped.
Excellent dish, it needs to be accompanied with a draft beer that you can purchase from the adjacent restaurant.
I made many images of the top of the world, however I’m satisfied with just a few, which I share with you.
