From Modena we took 7 trains and 13 hours to get to Wengen, Switzerland and arrived in extreme fog and cold. It was quite the adventure keeping up with changing platforms and a few involved some running. Our last train was one on cogs that went straight up the mountain to Wengen, our destination village. Coming into town in the cold and fog felt like this leg of the trip was maybe a mistake and I feared it wouldn't be as great as a few years ago when I went to nearby Gimmelwald. However, the next morning after a delicious breakfast in our fantastic ski lodge hotel, we walked outside to a wonderful view of huge mountains. When my brother, who doesn't show much outward excitement, stopped and said, "Wow, that's a big mountain," I knew it was going to be good. The first day we hiked almost four hours up the mountains to Kleine Scheidegg (don't hurt yourself saying that one--we had fun trying to even get close to the pronunciation of words around town!). Because I had to pack versatile items so that I could only have the carry-on, it meant I was hiking on snowy paths in Chaco's and short sleeves with layers. I was worried I was going to have to break down and buy a ridiculously over-priced coat from one of the two stores, but thankfully once we got moving, it got quite warm. The views have you pinching yourself to make sure you're in reality. You just can't keep your jaw up awing at the beauty.
View from our hotel
The soundtrack of the hills is (aside from hikers humming Sound of Music tunes) cow bells and distant waterfalls!
A simple reflection of Swiss perfection. That's why they make such great designers.
One photo, and then five minutes later:
Kleine Scheidegg. I cannot tell you how overjoyed my lactic acid-filled legs were to finally see it atop the hill. Needless to say, the next day we only took a short hike downhill and then trained back up.
All of the gardens were immaculate.
The valley below with Lauterbrunnen.
The Jungfrau, highest point in Europe.