Tiffany – Switzerland – From Lost in Translation to the Beauty of the ALPS!

View from Jungfraujoch (11,333 ft. above sea level)

Waiting for the train

After almost four hours, we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland by train. Now…I knew before I left Italy that I was traveling to the German speaking part of Switzerland and knew only 1 word of German so I mapped the route from the main metro station to our hotel out in advance. Despite my planning, I found  exchanging my money to Swiss Francs, purchasing a ticket and navigating the metro to be the most difficult yet. I’ve gotten by in Italy and France by looking at words and sometimes being able to tie them to Spanish (which is the language I am most proficient in outside of English). Here, I was lost.  At one point, my roommate Erica actually used a compass on her cell phone to help us navigate to our night out on the town. MBA students can be quite resourceful. 

During our first day, we traveled about 4 miles outside of the city of Zurich by train and took a cable car  to Felsenegg to get a view of Lake Zurich, the city and surrounding areas.

View from Felsenegg (2625 ft. above sea level)

Our second day was truly an adventure. We took an 11 hour tour through Zurich, past Lucerne and Interlaken and up to Jungfraujoch, also known as the top of Europe at over 11,000 ft above sea level. Our journey to the top started with a ride on two different cogwheel trains through the mountainous landscape that took about 50 minutes each. Halfway up, the snow started to fall and once we reached the top, which was absolutely beautiful, it seemed as if we were in the middle of a blizzard. At Jungfraujoch, we were able to see amazing views of the surrounding glaciers and mountains, walk through a tunnel completely made of ice (Ice Palace) and venture outside into the 8.6 degree F weather. I nearly froze but genuinely enjoyed this once in a lifetime adventure.