A Swiss piece of Heaven…

“If marriages are made in heaven, then romances are definitely made in Switzerland”…The affair of the snow and clouds, the lush green valleys in the lap of mountains, the cool crisp silence broken by the gurgling sound of a waterfalls – all these and more have made it an ideal honeymoon destination for ages. Though my marriage survived without a honeymoon in Switzerland, the desire to visit the country has always been strong.

With only a few days holiday in hand, the difficult choice was to decide where to go and what to leave behind. A few advice from friends came handy – if you are in Switzerland for the beauty and time is of essence, then leave the big cities and head straight to the mountains.So there we were, landed in Zurich and a quick lunch (by the Limmat river) later headed straight towards the Alps.

Switzerland proves the adage “The journey is more beautiful than the destination” cent percent. We took a train from Zurich, changed in Bern and headed towards Interlaken. The train meandered through lush green fields and picturesque villages with its traditional wooden chalets and flowers on balconies. The passing scenery basked in the glow of the late afternoon sun was like a picture postcard come alive! Finally when we arrived at Lake Thun, it was as if the Alps were getting ready to embrace the fiery sun in their bossom for the night. The last glowing embers of the sunset produced a fiery and dramatic sky with a mirror image reflection on the Lake.You know for sure you have arrived in a Swiss piece of heaven!

Though the most common destination in Bernese Oberland is Interlaken, ours was Unterseen. A mere 5 minute walk from the Interlaken West station, Unterseen is a tiny village where our home for the two nights was a family owned chalet hotel.

The next day dawned cloudy and cooler. Our destination for the day was Jungfraujoch Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and is considered one of the most iconic sights of the Swiss Alps.We started our journey with some trepidation as rain and mist can be a real spoiler. However, the weather God must have been extraordinarily pleased with us that day! Around twenty minutes into our journey and suddenly the clouds parted giving way to the bright morning sun.And outside our window was the magnificent view of the Lauterbrunnen valley tucked between dramatic vertical rock walls and snow-capped mountains with the Staubbach waterfall plunging from a vertical cliff wall.

Past the beautiful car free villages of Murren and Wengen, through the tunnels dug deep through the Alps we were finally at 11,332 Jungfraujoch, highest railway station in Europe. Standing at the Sphinx observatory we were mesmerized by the beauty of the Aletsch glacier (the largest in Alps). As the bright sun rays pierced the frozen beauty of the Aletsch glacier, it almost made it glow.The complex has various tunnels that lead to viewpoints,outside on the glacier, restaurants etc and  is ideal for a day’s visit.

For the descent, we chose the Grindelwald route.The village of Grindelwald lies embedded in a comforting green hollow surrounded by the mighty Eiger and Wetterhorn. It was finally time to catch up on the missed lunch in Grindelwald. And the weather God continued to be generous on us. With a evening sun shining brightly on us and the Eiger peak clearly visible in all its glory it was time to chill and reflect on the day.

The next day we had a few hours before we head for Basel to catch our flight back home.It was time to explore the touristy part of Interlaken. A few photostops and loads of memories later, we bade farewell to this beautiful part of the world. But our farewell also had a wish..to return again someday to this Swiss piece of heaven!