It's such a proof of the power of prayer when we awoke this morning to a most brilliant blue sky and the majestic snow-covered Swiss Alps in front of us! Why a proof of prayer? Let me tell you: It's rainy and cloudy here a lot! The alps have their own microclimate that can change on a dime and be totally unpredictable. The fact that we made reservations for THIS particular day way back 6 months ago is the definite proof in this equation.
The brilliant blue sky with wispy clouds could only be equaled by our time together at breakfast with Denise at the Chalet Fontana...pronounced FON-ta-na. It's kind of like the Waltons (if you're from MY generation) all gathered around their big wooden picnic table in the kitchen. The only difference is that we're twice as big!
We really pressed Denise this year as we brought the biggest group ever. Nevertheless she managed to get us all well fed and prepared for our day of fun on top of the Jungfrau at the highest train station in all of Europe. I had already been to the train station this morning before breakfast to procure the actual tickets to go with our reservations and after a staggering bill :-) we were off to our adventure of the day...perhaps our adventure of the TRIP! After all, NOTHING is cheap in Switzerland.
Our trip included a rather long train ride down from our alpine hamlet of Murren to the valley floor in Lauterbrunnen and up the other side to Wengen, Kleine Schedegg and finally to the Jungfraujoch! Two and a half hours later we were transported from lush wildflower-blooming meadows and tender gardens to a beautiful winter wonderland...in JUNE, no less.
It's hard to believe we're actually bundled up in layers and winter coats in June! But those layers won't last too long as you'll see...
And many many MANY thanks to our Activity Directors and Fun Creators for their unparalleled leadership in the SNOW for your students!
And Emme and Elise went ZIPLINING from dizzying heights over the glacier without even TELLING US!!!!! Our cameras were mostly aimed at the snow and sleds and snowboards....not the objects flying overhead :-) Congratulations to them for such bravery.
And you know all of those layers of clothes and winter coats and money pouches and purses and shopping bags and camera cases and cell phones and water bottles that only serve as hindrances to a day in the snow??? Well the obvious answer to THAT dilemma was:
Mr. Margene has hundreds of additional photos and video clips that are just too time consuming to upload to the blog. He'll be using some of those to compile a keepsake memory book and DVD for your students sometime after we return from adventure.
Finally the day is over and our reserved train back to Murren is rolling into the station to take us home. We make a stop in Wengen on the way home to shop at the local grocery store for dinner food and snacks. The students have learned after their first fabulous dinner here in Switzerland that restaurant food is HUGELY expensive. However, grocery store food is about the same price as home. Most of your students shopped wisely and cooked their OWN dinners in the Chalet Fontana Kitchen tonight under the supervision of Miss Haley. It really did smell good in there! We also shopped for our beloved Swiss Knives this evening as Eddy opened his souvenir shop especially for us and our late return from a day in the snow. The people here in Murren are really very kind to us. We've brought so many of our own family and your students that they really do know us now. It's nice to have friends...wherever they may be!
After dinner the students had some free time around the village to explore, play and swim as long as they were back for devotions by 9:30 pm. It's now 10:26 pm and Angie and Jere are busy tucking them in and making sure everybody is settled for the night. I'm guessing there are some TIRED students (and leaders) tonight.
What an exhausting and absolutely FUN day. This is probably THE most fun day in every Europe Student Trip. We know from many years ago the immense fun and joy we had with our own 2 children here in Switzerland with Denise and the Knife Shop and the Stager Stublie and the Jungfrau. This is part of the joy that we want to share with your precious students while we can. I hope they remember this day and this trip forever!
Good night from Murren.
The brilliant blue sky with wispy clouds could only be equaled by our time together at breakfast with Denise at the Chalet Fontana...pronounced FON-ta-na. It's kind of like the Waltons (if you're from MY generation) all gathered around their big wooden picnic table in the kitchen. The only difference is that we're twice as big!
We really pressed Denise this year as we brought the biggest group ever. Nevertheless she managed to get us all well fed and prepared for our day of fun on top of the Jungfrau at the highest train station in all of Europe. I had already been to the train station this morning before breakfast to procure the actual tickets to go with our reservations and after a staggering bill :-) we were off to our adventure of the day...perhaps our adventure of the TRIP! After all, NOTHING is cheap in Switzerland.
And many many MANY thanks to our Activity Directors and Fun Creators for their unparalleled leadership in the SNOW for your students!
And Emme and Elise went ZIPLINING from dizzying heights over the glacier without even TELLING US!!!!! Our cameras were mostly aimed at the snow and sleds and snowboards....not the objects flying overhead :-) Congratulations to them for such bravery.
And you know all of those layers of clothes and winter coats and money pouches and purses and shopping bags and camera cases and cell phones and water bottles that only serve as hindrances to a day in the snow??? Well the obvious answer to THAT dilemma was:
Mr. Margene has hundreds of additional photos and video clips that are just too time consuming to upload to the blog. He'll be using some of those to compile a keepsake memory book and DVD for your students sometime after we return from adventure.
Finally the day is over and our reserved train back to Murren is rolling into the station to take us home. We make a stop in Wengen on the way home to shop at the local grocery store for dinner food and snacks. The students have learned after their first fabulous dinner here in Switzerland that restaurant food is HUGELY expensive. However, grocery store food is about the same price as home. Most of your students shopped wisely and cooked their OWN dinners in the Chalet Fontana Kitchen tonight under the supervision of Miss Haley. It really did smell good in there! We also shopped for our beloved Swiss Knives this evening as Eddy opened his souvenir shop especially for us and our late return from a day in the snow. The people here in Murren are really very kind to us. We've brought so many of our own family and your students that they really do know us now. It's nice to have friends...wherever they may be!
After dinner the students had some free time around the village to explore, play and swim as long as they were back for devotions by 9:30 pm. It's now 10:26 pm and Angie and Jere are busy tucking them in and making sure everybody is settled for the night. I'm guessing there are some TIRED students (and leaders) tonight.
What an exhausting and absolutely FUN day. This is probably THE most fun day in every Europe Student Trip. We know from many years ago the immense fun and joy we had with our own 2 children here in Switzerland with Denise and the Knife Shop and the Stager Stublie and the Jungfrau. This is part of the joy that we want to share with your precious students while we can. I hope they remember this day and this trip forever!
Good night from Murren.
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