Description:
Spindle: I have a multilingual joke about Switzerland. Zürich is a haven for the super-rich and—
Fluttershy: Umm... you passed through it on your way to Luzern, right? Sure, there's UBS and Credit Suisse over there and it's one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in (both expatriates and locals alike) and you're a windigo and... [shivers] ooh, it's getting chilly here!
Spindle: That, Fluttershy – the cost – was really one of the reasons we chose Luzern over Zürich as our Swiss "base". The two cities are only one InterRegio (IR) apart and the former is also closer to the Alps, and we had another mountain to climb today. Three, technically.
Parcly Taxel: The Stern Luzern provided us with a typical European hotel breakfast of croissants and other breads with toppings of cheeses, butter, jam and salami, accompanied by orange juice. I tried all the toppings, knowing that this same breakfast would be served twice more on my trip, and by chance witnessed a cyclist colliding with a taxi driver within sight of a police station; nopony was hurt at that quiet junction.
Spindle: Parcly ended up liking the cheeses best, so off we went to the Alps, taking another IR further south to Interlaken Ost. Even in this European summer we bumped into (and in my case phased through) crowds of tourists of every species known to ponykind, some sporting seasonally inappropriate winter clothing, others seeking the truth behind these fabled mountains.
As for us, we were on a journey to the Top of Europe.
Princess Celestia: From the town between two lakes and sitting on the Aare connection, as its name gives away, the curious alicorn and her windigo rode the Berner-Oberland-Bahn (BOB) to sleepy Lauterbrunnen, consisting of a main street, tourist services, cemetery and little else. One closed shop did ski rental, another closed shop sold Belgian waffles and was more of a tourist trap, but a waterfall was in full display draped over an adjacent cliff.
Parcly: Staring at the Staubbachfall induced us to get some drinks at an open shop before continuing on the Wengernalpbahn to Kleine Schiedegg. The railways from this point are racked for the steeper slopes, though they still run on conventional rails.
At Kleine Schiedegg we essentially bought our lunch amidst disembarking passengers and a scattering of hikers walking up well-trodden paths in the green Alpine lowlands, for it was past 1pm. Trembling with excitement, we rushed up the steps of the next train on the Jungfraubahn, which paused in the middle of a tunnel to let us see the high mountains outside before finally stopping at the actual Top of Europe, the highest rail station in the continent: Jungfraujoch at a saddle point beneath the Eiger–Mönch–Jungfrau triple peaks.
Spindle: Once out over the grilles protecting earth ponies and unicorns from falling onto the rocks, I was puzzled by a snow patch on an adjacent face of the Jungfrau. I blew my cold breath over Parcly's back, and we flew there, where there was a large Swiss flag and yet more tourists. Why was there snow in the middle of summer, albeit on a mountain plateau? And indeed, beyond the plateau we could see very little snow.
Thus I saw climate change and its effects firsthand. Before flying to Europe I saw a news report on an Italian glacier collapsing, and there was a heatwave going on during the trip – the Alps are one of the more susceptible places to climate change. There was a mini-exhibit documenting its effects on the Jungfrau region, how temperatures have gone above freezing for more of the summer as the years went on, and how the Sphinx observatory at the true Jungfrau summit is documenting all of this.
The air is thin enough that cigarette smoke from the Jungfrau's outside areas can disrupt the climate researchers' measurements, explaining a prohibition posted at the doors. Dire as the situation is, the action was plain to see and feel on the streets below, with carbon-neutral goods and services abounding and the renewable energy industry booming. More so in Germany, where B'90/Grüne was at the time of my trip in the coalition government.
In Europe there is action. In Europe there is innovation. In Europe there there is hope.
Parcly: Then we visited the Eispalast, a gathering of ice sculptures that would be ruined by visitors' body heat if not for continuous cooling. Later on we took a break at the Lindt chocolate shop, eating the rest of our lunch from Kleine Scheidegg and picking Lindor truffles as a kind of souvenir (Luna and I are more fond of chocolates than candies).
Spindle: Like the Pilatus there is a newer gondola route – Eiger Express – linking Jungfraujoch to the valley towns. Unlike the Pilatus we had to reverse course to Eigergletscher to use it, and we ended up in the third terminus of the BOB at Grindelwald.
Princess Luna: The location, definitely, not the wizard. (chuckles) Back at Interlaken Ost the snow-crossed lovers could just about perceive shadows lengthening, but decided to ride another mountain rail before returning.
That was the Harderbahn funicular, a shorter ride to Harder Kulm offering a splendid view of the lakes, houses and mountains in one glamce. Parcly wanted to have cheese fondue for dinner; upon comprehending the size of that she balked and simply had bacon and other toppings on an omelette.
Parcly: We were also constrained by the last IR bound for Luzern, leaving around 8pm. Strolling through the latter's quiet night streets for a bit, we finally teleported into our hotel room at 10pm, where I lulled myself to sleep watching TF1's Le Bêtisier de l'Éte, a compilation of fails far beyond the antics of anyone like Derpy Hooves.
