Complete with SUNNY Blue skies. No one was affected by altitude sickness, but we could have all used a good slathering of sunscreen!
And who could have known by the weather this morning that the sun would be so absolutely shining brightly on top of the Jungfraujoch. It's pronounced YOONG-frau-yok. And Americans being lazy with their words sometimes refer to it as just the Jungfrau. These are your students walking to the train station this morning in Murren to begin their journey:
But fog or no fog we've traveled across the Atlantic to a completely different continent and we've just got to experience the Jungfrau, and we head into the mist with confidence that God will clear the skies so that we can see this most stunning creation...and that's exactly what happened!
As our little train took us higher and higher the clouds just split and the dramatic vistas opened up before us! Yeahhhhhhhh :-)
We made it to the Top of Europe and immediately ate lunch, visited the Ice Palace, and then had a fantastic group photo on the top.
Aren't they a handsome bunch all bundled up in their winter clothes in the middle of June??? I think so. Needless to say from this point we headed straight out to the Aletsch Glacier to begin our fun in the snowy sun. We have over 300 pictures from today, and even if I "could" stay up all night long uploading them - well, suffice it to say we'll get ALL of these Europe pictures to you after the conclusion of our trip. Mr. Margene also brought the Go-Pro and has some fantastic movie clips of our time on the glacier.
But as everything - our time in the snow came to an end, and we had to round up the troops and head for our reserved train back down the mountain.
An important concept your students have learned throughout the trip and ESPECIALLY today is that a reserved seat doesn't mean you'll be escorted and have a reserved seat at the appropriate spot. It means you have a seat, but you're gonna have to bump and push a bit to get it. This area attracts MANY nationalities and many of those are from countries with gigantic populations and whose residents must be aggressive to get what they need. We've learned that people bumping and pushing and fighting their way through the crowds doesn't mean they dislike us or that they're trying to be mean. It's just their culture and this is what they know. Now WE know it, too!
The train ride home is a great time to relieve some of that exhaustion that's been accumulating today and here we are in all of our sleepiness and leftover excitement :-)
Back in Murren at the end of a long day we clean up and head out for dinner. Miraculously we run into the Wilson family, a former CAK family, who has our itinerary and traveled from their vacation destination of Grindelwald all the way to our tiny hamlet of Murren hoping to run into us. And that's exactly what happened as they joined us for dinner at the Stager Stubli. It was a great time of fellowship as we all shared our experiences of the day.
After dinner we walked them through the tiny town of Murren and to the Schilthornbahn to show them the way home as the day wound to a close and devotion time approached. Tonight we talked about our favorite things we've seen or done during the trip. And Mr. Margene loaded up the Go-Pro videos in the family room and had a GREAT time of reminiscing about the day. It was just a great time of fellowship. I have 3 great pictures of Mr. Margene with the students in the family room watching the videos from the sledding day. The only problem is I can't quite figure out how to get them from my phone to this blog. I'll work on that.
Mr. Margene just interacts with the students in a way that draws them in. He's our "Fun Maker" and makes activities like sledding and hiking even better. I don't know how he does it so well, but the kids ALL have a great time with him. Mrs. Mynatt is our "Mom away from home". She makes everyone feel good and she treats them like her own kids...tucking them in, making sure they're feeling well, reminding them to do whatever needs reminding. Miss Haley helps Mr. Margene in the fun department as well as making sure the Chalet Apartment is kept clean and running smoothly.
My own personal job is seeing to the day to day functions such as reservations, tickets, paying those enormous hotel bills, and these daily blog entries. We all have our jobs and functions, and we seem to function together well as a team.
Here they are, Moms and Dads, wishing you well from Murren and the Chalet Fontana at the end of a very busy day in the snow :-)
Tomorrow we're rolling our bags down to the Murren Train Station and shipping them ahead to Zurich Main Station where we'll pick them up after our travels tomorrow to Rhine Falls. We'll be traveling quite a bit and to do so WITHOUT luggage is a blessing.
Goodnight from Murren. See you tomorrow in Zurich.
And who could have known by the weather this morning that the sun would be so absolutely shining brightly on top of the Jungfraujoch. It's pronounced YOONG-frau-yok. And Americans being lazy with their words sometimes refer to it as just the Jungfrau. These are your students walking to the train station this morning in Murren to begin their journey:
But fog or no fog we've traveled across the Atlantic to a completely different continent and we've just got to experience the Jungfrau, and we head into the mist with confidence that God will clear the skies so that we can see this most stunning creation...and that's exactly what happened!
As our little train took us higher and higher the clouds just split and the dramatic vistas opened up before us! Yeahhhhhhhh :-)
We made it to the Top of Europe and immediately ate lunch, visited the Ice Palace, and then had a fantastic group photo on the top.
Aren't they a handsome bunch all bundled up in their winter clothes in the middle of June??? I think so. Needless to say from this point we headed straight out to the Aletsch Glacier to begin our fun in the snowy sun. We have over 300 pictures from today, and even if I "could" stay up all night long uploading them - well, suffice it to say we'll get ALL of these Europe pictures to you after the conclusion of our trip. Mr. Margene also brought the Go-Pro and has some fantastic movie clips of our time on the glacier.
But as everything - our time in the snow came to an end, and we had to round up the troops and head for our reserved train back down the mountain.
An important concept your students have learned throughout the trip and ESPECIALLY today is that a reserved seat doesn't mean you'll be escorted and have a reserved seat at the appropriate spot. It means you have a seat, but you're gonna have to bump and push a bit to get it. This area attracts MANY nationalities and many of those are from countries with gigantic populations and whose residents must be aggressive to get what they need. We've learned that people bumping and pushing and fighting their way through the crowds doesn't mean they dislike us or that they're trying to be mean. It's just their culture and this is what they know. Now WE know it, too!
The train ride home is a great time to relieve some of that exhaustion that's been accumulating today and here we are in all of our sleepiness and leftover excitement :-)
Back in Murren at the end of a long day we clean up and head out for dinner. Miraculously we run into the Wilson family, a former CAK family, who has our itinerary and traveled from their vacation destination of Grindelwald all the way to our tiny hamlet of Murren hoping to run into us. And that's exactly what happened as they joined us for dinner at the Stager Stubli. It was a great time of fellowship as we all shared our experiences of the day.
After dinner we walked them through the tiny town of Murren and to the Schilthornbahn to show them the way home as the day wound to a close and devotion time approached. Tonight we talked about our favorite things we've seen or done during the trip. And Mr. Margene loaded up the Go-Pro videos in the family room and had a GREAT time of reminiscing about the day. It was just a great time of fellowship. I have 3 great pictures of Mr. Margene with the students in the family room watching the videos from the sledding day. The only problem is I can't quite figure out how to get them from my phone to this blog. I'll work on that.
Mr. Margene just interacts with the students in a way that draws them in. He's our "Fun Maker" and makes activities like sledding and hiking even better. I don't know how he does it so well, but the kids ALL have a great time with him. Mrs. Mynatt is our "Mom away from home". She makes everyone feel good and she treats them like her own kids...tucking them in, making sure they're feeling well, reminding them to do whatever needs reminding. Miss Haley helps Mr. Margene in the fun department as well as making sure the Chalet Apartment is kept clean and running smoothly.
My own personal job is seeing to the day to day functions such as reservations, tickets, paying those enormous hotel bills, and these daily blog entries. We all have our jobs and functions, and we seem to function together well as a team.
Here they are, Moms and Dads, wishing you well from Murren and the Chalet Fontana at the end of a very busy day in the snow :-)
Tomorrow we're rolling our bags down to the Murren Train Station and shipping them ahead to Zurich Main Station where we'll pick them up after our travels tomorrow to Rhine Falls. We'll be traveling quite a bit and to do so WITHOUT luggage is a blessing.
Goodnight from Murren. See you tomorrow in Zurich.
Memories to last a lifetime were made today! Thank you Lord and thank you Mynatt's and Margene!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun day these kids had today! Playing in snow when it is in the 90's in the South! I look forward to the blogs and pics each day!
ReplyDeleteThank you for each day's ventures! Thank you for keeping us so eager to read each day's blog!