Day 2
The sun sets late in the evening, somewhere around 9:30 pm and sunlight starts appearing somewhere around 5:30 am. And I was up. Filled with excitement, getting my winter clothes out again, for we are off to Jungfraujoch.
We crossed those marvelous countrysides once again and our first halt was at Interlaken. A town between two massive lakes, Lake Thun and Lake Brianz. The lakes skirted around hills and were enormous water bodies. But there were many locals who were kayaking and rafting.
While pointing out places of interests, our tour manager led us to a statue of Yash Chopra, a small bronze colored statue, and a lush green field were the shooting of DDLJ took place. Did I mention, that on top of Mt Titlis also, there was a cutout of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, wooing the Indian visitors?
Well, I have been drawn to this place because of its natural beauty, not because it had been patronized by Yash Chopra, who had been designated as a Cultural Ambassador for Switzerland. But proud to see a mark of India in this far off place.
I could see many paragliders jumping off the cliffs and floating and descending on to the field we were in. Just behind these hills, I could see a glimpse of JungFrau where we were off to next.
We reached Grindelwald Terminal, and boarded a large open cable car, which could take in 15 passengers and slowly made our way up 10,000 feet. Mesmerizing surroundings once again! One had to take a long train journey to reach the heights earlier, before these cable cars were built. That would have been awesome too feasting your eyes with splendid natural glory. The strong cables comforted me. I could see the trees below, swaying, but couldn’t feel that motion while we gently went up and up.
Many said Jungfrau and Titlis are similar. Well they are both Alpine peaks, but I found a rugged beauty true to its name, which means Young Lady or Maiden Saddle. The height is more, the snow was more, and sites to see were more.
We reached a place called Eiger and came to a train station, from where a cogwheel train would take us to more than 11,500 feet. We were told of the marvels of the cogwheel train, the visionary behind it and the effort it took over the years to blast through the mountains and create the track.
It was Adolf Guyer Zeller’s idea to blast a tunnel through the rocks of Eiger and Munch (the other peak) and build a cogwheel railway track to the top of JungFrau. It couldn’t be achieved in his lifetime. The construction started in 1896 and finally the railway opened in 1912. During its course of construction, the company faced many hardships of financial crisis, labor shortage and strikes, casualty of labors due to the high-powered dynamites. But work had continued, perhaps due to the determination and the support of locals too, who could see this as a means to attract tourists. Eventually and now, it is the highest railway line and station in Europe.
Soon we were at the top, the Top of Europe, as it is called. And the massive expanse of snow and mountains, some swirling glaciers, combined with ‘don’t mess with me’ beauty left me spellbound. And when we finally deboarded the train, we were escorted to a restaurant called Bollywood. Indians and Indian business everywhere!!
It was cold and the glass façade of the restaurant was covered with snow at many places. We could also see some ice melting and falling off from a height and there were some places which were marked as out of bounds.
Since we were told often that at that height we might experience some dizziness or breathlessness, my Apple watch started sending out warnings that my heartbeat had accelerated. I did feel rapid heartbeat, whether it was excitement or the high altitude, I do not know, but my spirit was undaunted. We went to the Spinx observatory, in a high speed elevator which took us to the top in 27 seconds. There too was a cliff walk which we used to see the surrounding Alpine range, the Aletsch Glaciers and the other dominating mountain peaks. We moved out into the snow and felt the icy air on our faces, the snow crunching as our feet sank beneath. It was an effort to walk, maintaining a stooped posture to manage your center of gravity so that we don’t fall and skid off to somewhere deadly.
We spent several hours in the snow, in the Ice Palace, and the museums and shop and it was time to make our journey back the same way we came up. I felt small and humbled at this natural abundance of thick snow, jutting black rocks, some swirling points, and deep valleys when you look down. One would revere and fear at the same time.
Day 3
Winter clothes packed off, as we are now going to visit places in the plains and the temperatures will be moderate. We checked out of our hotel in Ofringen and will be going to Germany.
On the way we halted at Rhine Falls, next to the town of Schaffhausen, in Northern Switzerland. Many would say that when compared to the lofty falls of the hills, this pales in significance.
But Rhine Fall is a fall on the plain, formed by erosion-resistant rocks, on the path of Rhine river, some 14-17,000 years ago, towards the end of Ice Age. It has its own distinctiveness and attractiveness, and we could go as close as possible with our boat and then be pushed away and out due to the sheer force of the water tumbling from a height of about 75 feet. In the summer months, the force and volume of water is higher.
Once off the boat ride, we were shown an Indian shop selling Samosas and Masala Tea, but that is not why I have come here so I pass.
Excited! We are off to the German border. It was with a bit of trepidation too, as images of WW2, brown-cladded, machine gun wielding German soldiers killing indiscriminately came to my mind. But nothing of that sort. We entered Germany and the landscape beauty continued, though I noticed that the fields are not that well pruned as those in Switzerland. The folks we met throughout our journey were all smiling, helpful and cordial though.
Our first stop in Germany was the Black Forest. The place were Black Forest pastries and Cuckoo clock were conceived. It is situated in the German state of Baden Wurttemberg. The name Black Forest is because the forests used to be so dense that the sunlight wouldn’t reach the ground. But a lot of deforestation is happening now.
Woodcarving and glassblowing are traditional handicrafts of the region and we saw some exemplary evidence of both. We were shown how cuckoo clocks were built over the centuries. It was to sustain the farming community over the winters and harsh climates. The earlier clocks were large in size but with exquisite wood carving. These had to be wound several times during the day. Gradually that advanced to weekly, monthly and now in the age of battery, the cuckoo clocks requiring wounding are precious antiques. I bought a battery-operated one as a keepsake but it has stopped working.
The site were we offboarded was a decent one with few shops, yes, you guessed it right, an Indian origin diner was there too. We tasted an original Black Forest pastry seeped in rum.
We spent a good amount of time, before proceeding towards Heidelberg our next stop in Germany.
Heidelberg is a city also in the German state of Baden Wurttemberg, situated on the river Neckar. It is known for its reputation as Science, Arts and Literature hubs. It has been known as a center for Arts and Literature for centuries and in the Heidelberg University, Sanskrit is taught as a subject.
There is the dilapidated Heidelberg castle on top of a hill. The rest of the city flaunted the old European structures of cobbled pathways and baroque architecture but alongside some modern buildings.
The city had the look of a small university town, with many students cycling or gathered together at the end of their day. The sides of the roads sprinkled with bookshops or souvenir shops, and eateries.
It was evening, though the sun was high up, but it was time for the shopkeepers to call it a day. In all of Europe, the shops are closed by 6:30pm and eateries by 10 pm. Family and personal time are important to them.
From Heidelberg we headed towards our hotel in Russelsheim. Many hotels in Europe do not have air conditioning and this one was such. It was already past 10 pm, but still light outside. I kept the windows open and one opened into the balcony. My balcony was at a jumping distance from the next room. While a gentle breeze flowed in and it was quite pleasant, I had trouble falling asleep in an alien place with windows open.
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