Travel Period : 16 – 20 July 2013

Location: Grindelwald, Switzerland

[ Previous Post: Gallery and Ice on Jungfraujoch]

Day 4 – Evening

It was a nice scenic ride down to Grindelwald. We passed by mountains with lovely houses placed sporadically in villages and caught a glimpse into the  lives of the people. Many of them were farmers, keeping cows and making cheese.

We alighted at Grindelwald station with a slight drizzle.

Our aim to come here was to do a short exploration walk in this well-known village. Doing research on the Jungfrau region, you would find people asking which village is better to stay in? Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen or Wengen? We chose Wengen because we wanted to be up higher and closer to the Alps and wake up to the wonderful scenery from our window. People who stay in Lauterbrunnen like the view and sound of waterfalls in their surroundings. Those who stay in Grindelwald, on the opposite side of the Jungfraujoch to these two villages, wants to have the spectacular view of the Eiger Mountain. If you stay in Interlaken, you are probably on a budget because accommodation is the cheapest.

And that was what we saw. Except…the construction damaged the scenic look. That’s why this is the only photograph we took. -_-

We walked around the shops, mostly selling outdoor hiking clothing and tourist souvenirs. There was nothing much to interest me in buying. There was more shops and restaurants here than in other villages in the Jungfrau region but after coming here, I still prefer our little car-less quiet Wengen village. It seemed more touristy and crowded here.

Swiss chocolates were available but we had gotten plenty from Germany which were far cheaper. There were also shops selling Swiss watches and Swiss army knives.

Before long, we were looking for a nice warm dinner place to sit down and get away from the rainy weather.

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Dinner at Grindelwald

We were hungry again for food as the late lunch up in the expensive restaurant on Jungfraujoch was not enough. This time, I opted for a bowl of hot beef goulash soup (Gulaschsuppe) which comes with a basket of bread. We shared it among us. We also ordered Spaghetti Bolognese for us two adults and a smaller kids’ version for Dar.

Frankly, we thought the portions would be small like what we ate in our hotel the first two days. Thus, I did not want to risk sharing with Dar and end up with a hungry stomach.

When the food came however, we were astonished by the huge plate. For Dar, it was also too much and he could not finish more than half of it.(Wasted food, sad -_-)

It was a great meal in our opinion! Our first tasty filling meal in Switzerland so far…The soup was delicious and a customer ordered this after they saw how I enjoyed mine. The  Spaghetti Bolognese was quite different from the taste we are used to. There was less tomato sauce and it tasted more cheesy/sourish with the generous topping of cheese. Interesting flavor. The amount was too large for me however and I could not finish my plate.

We liked the location as it is located next to a sidewalk so we could view the happenings on the street while we ate. The store owner was quite friendly too.

Name: Backerei-Konditorei-Cafe Ringgenberg
Location: Dorfstrasse 123,Grindelwald 3818, Switzerland
Pricing:Gulaschsuppe (CHF 16.50) , Spaghetti Bolognese (CHF16.50), Kids version (CHF11). Total: CHF53.90. (same price as the lunch we ate but compared to dinner at our hotel for CHF60 (two adults and one child), this was much more filling and worth the price)

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Going Back to Wengen

After a full dinner, we headed to the Grindelwald Train Station. It was about 7 plus pm and the time for the next time would be at 20:19. We had to wait for twenty minutes. Dar was happy to look at the trains while waiting.

Our train route was planned by the staff when we bought the ticket in the morning and we were to make a transfer at Zweilütschinen station, to head to Lauterbrunnen and eventually Wengen. It would be a long journey back.

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Sights Along The Way

We arrived about 30 minutes later at Zweilütschinen station and we had to wait 20-30 mins again for the train to Lauterbrunnen. Vin and Dar went exploring while I sat in the station working on my instagram photographs. It was getting dark and the station was just a small station in the countryside. Three other Koreans were waiting with me in the same place so I did not feel too lonely. They were bored with waiting and bought snacks from a vending machine to eat.

When it finally turned dark, the train arrived and we took the long journey (40mins) back  to Wengen.

This was how Wengen Train Station looked like at night.

Back at the hotel, Dar drew this after experiencing railway transport for the day. I believe it was our journey through the mountains to Jungfraujoch. That crisscrossed thing up high on the mountains looked like the Sphinx Observatory Building.

It is our last night here. Tomorrow, we would be going back to Singapore.

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