Some of you may remember my post about our lame attempt to visit Jungfaujoch, the highest train stop in Europe. Without reliving the horrid details, the trip ended prematurely due to poor planning, poor parenting, and to be blunt, pure stupidity on our part. But the Mjaanes family doesn't shy away from a challenge due to one failed attempt, so a while back we made attempt number 2. Some adventurers take several attempts to reach the peak of Everest, the Mjaanes family takes more than one attempt to reach a mountain tourist attraction by train. Sad but true.
I'm happy to report that this trip was MUCH more successful. We had done our homework, (a.k.a. tried once before and learned the hard way) and decided to make it a 2 day trip. So we stayed in Wengen, which is a little resort town on the way up the mountain. Wengen was perfect because there are no cars, there is a playground in the middle of town, and it was off season so there weren't many tourists to glare at my loud American children. The owners of the hotel were extremely friendly, and really tried to make our stay a comfortable one. However, they didn't have any children, and this was immediately apparent when, upon arrival, they handed my 5,4, and 2 year old kids glass champagne flutes filled with juice. They also kindly let us know that if we wanted to have dinner at the hotel, they offered a children's dinner prior to the adult dinner seating so we could enjoy our meal without the kids. Aaaahhh... dinner without the kids........ Apparently here in Switzerland leaving your children unattended in a 2 story hotel room with a balcony isn't frowned upon. But Bryan and I are still clinging to a few of our American ways and decided rather than chance our kids pilfering through the mini bar while we enjoyed our quiet dinner, we'd enjoy dinner with the family.
Bryan indulged me that night and offered to put the kids to bed while I went out exploring the town by myself. I'm pretty certain he checked to make sure all the shops in town were closed before he granted me this gift. He also demanded payment for his services in the amount of 1 beer from the hotel bar when I returned. For an hour alone in the Alps I would have personally dragged a barrel of beer up the 5 flights of stairs to our hotel room and then gone back to grab a glass of wine for myself. But fortunately my husband underestimated my desire for alone time and I quickly agreed to his small request.
Wengen is the most beautiful place I have ever been. And although I haven't traveled extensively, it is hard for me to imagine there exists a place more beautiful. There was a church a little way down the path from our hotel that sits on what must be the best piece of land in the area. The church itself is quaint and cute, but you can't beat the benches they've placed in an out of the way spot in front of the church. You can sit and look out at the valley, with the snow capped mountains in the background and waterfalls in the distance. Although I'm not an extremely religious person, I consider myself to be spiritual and it feels like you can't get much closer to God than sitting on one of those benches. I could have sat there all night, except for the fact that I could see our hotel balcony from where I was sitting and I kept wondering if Bryan was cursing me as he beerlessly tried to get the kids to sleep on his own.
The next day we packed up our things and headed up to Jungfaujoch. Most of the train ride is through the mountain so there isn't much to look at. Which was fine because on this particular train ride, we were paid back for all the times that our kids were less than pleasant to share a train car with. There was a little German boy seated behind us who apparently had some ear trouble due to the altitude. And when I say had some ear trouble, I mean this poor kid looked like he had been possessed by the devil. He screamed at pitches that forced you to wince and worked himself into such a sweaty red faced frenzy that I even offered his mother our last dum dum lollipop to try to soothe him. I don't take lightly giving up E's candy pacifiers, so when the kid refused it and the obnoxious older brother grabbed it and shoved it in his mouth with a laugh, I embraced the Swiss custom of shooting a dirty look before enduring 30 more minutes of ear drum peircing screams and a few flailing arms to the head. My kids had no thoughts of misbehaving as they were too busy looking on in horror at the meltdown of all meltdowns happening in front of their eyes. I think I saw a look of respect in E's eyes as she witnessed a tantrum that put her little American outbursts to shame. It's so nice to be on the other side of things for a change....
When we got to Jungfraujoch, we were greeted by a zillion other tourists, many of whom were keeping the typical tourist stereotypes alive and well. It seemed as if a couple dozen Japanese tour buses must have dropped off what appeared to be a beginners photography class. They were on the glacier taking pictures of each other posing in numerous animated positions. I have never seen so many smiling happy Japanese tourists slipping and sliding on top of a glacier while cameras clicked away. One particular man chose to wear wingtips for his glacial adventure, causing me to curse myself for not tossing the camcorder in my bag. Picture a baby deer with a large camera on his neck on a sheet of ice. Now replace the baby deer with a tall lanky Japanese tourist, and it was as hilarious as it sounds.
Bryan and I enjoyed the views from the glacier, but the highlight for the kids was the ice palace. Inside the glacier there is a tunnel built into the ice. Aside from a railing you can hold onto, everything is ice. It's not the place for the claustrophobic, and with the high altitude it can feel a little closed in. As we headed toward the entrance to the ice palace, Bryan decided he was feeling a little lightheaded and wanted to sit down. I'd like to say I was full of compassion and concern, but I think I reminded him of how he used that same complaint to steal my thunder in the delivery room with 2 of our 3 children, and suggested he buck up. I wasn't about to experience the hell of Jungfraujoch with three young children while he hung out on a cot at the first aid station. Fortunately my tough love approach annoyed him out of his lightheadedness, and we enjoyed the day as a family of five.
The kids also got to take a dogsled ride which I think was another highlight of the trip for them. For some odd reason, I find dogsledding fascinating. I think seeing the Iditarod race would be a thrill (for about 5 minutes) and when I heard they had dogsled rides, I was all over it. But because I'm a moron from time to time, I actually thought they would let you crack the whip and yell "MUSH! MUSH!" while the dogs pulled you standing on the back of the sled. Apparently there is more to dogsledding that cracking whips and shouting "MUSH" because Bryan found it quite funny that I thought I was going to lead a pack of dogs on top of a mountain. It was much less exciting in reality and they just sat the kids in the sled and someone who apparently knows how to give dog commands took the kids for a slow ride around a short track.
So our second attempt at Jungfraujoch was a success and we feel like we are starting to figure out this whole traveling thing. I think the key is to allow twice as long as you think you'll need for every activity and accept that you won't end up doing half the things you planned on doing. Inevitably there are meltdowns, fights, 4 times as many potty breaks as a normal family needs to take, and 296 photo opportunities for Bryan to stop and take dozens of pictures of. On this trip I believe we took over 400 pictures. The happy Japanese tourists have NOTHING on Bryan. For our next adventure I may even buy him a fanny pack and some black socks to complete the stereotype. We're just doing our part to keep the typical American tourist stereotype alive and well in Europe.
