Our first trip was definitely a success! Interlaken was high on my list of places to see, & it absolutely lived up to my expectations. The Swiss Alps & surrounding town of Interlaken provided us with breathtaking sights & the perfect atmosphere for our first travel experience. I hope I can make it back someday!
While the bus ride ended up being around 9 hours total, it probably could have been worse. They played 3 movies (Blades of Glory, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, & Austin Powers) & we stopped at an Italian version of an oasis for panini & chocolate. The ride was a little uncomfortable come midnight, with 3-4 hours to go, but the sights more than made up for it once we entered Switzerland. There were millions upon millions of stars, making a dome on top of mountains & castles & lakes. I swear I even saw a handful of shooting stars. & this was what I could make out in the dark, trying my hardest to stare past the reflection of the other side of the bus in the window (explains the lack of pictures, sorry). This probably contributed to the fact that I didn't get one minute of sleep, but I could not wait to be there.
We arrived to The Funny Farm Hostel around 4am, exhausted but intrigued at our first hostel experience. As soon as the resident St. Bernard, Spliff, walked into the room, I had a feeling it was going to work out just fine.
the most massive dog i've ever seen
the view from our room!
it was like we were inside of the Madeline computer game, mads!
We took what could only qualify as a nap before waking up at 8am Friday morning to sign up for activities for the weekend. We went there with one main goal in mind: canyon jumping! We signed up for about 6 hours later that day, leading to some interesting breakfast conversations. The hostel provided free breakfast, which only meant bread, butter, jelly, & coffee, but after 3-4 slices, it didn't make a difference. We went back upstairs & of course I still couldn't sleep, so I went & walked around the town.
love any place we can find american coffee
inside of utopia
catching up on american celebrities
the greatest homemade veggie cream cheese
missed these guys
someone was nervous
alexis (utopia owner) convinced us we'd need some liquid courage..
A bus picked us up from the hostel to take us about half an hour into the Alps. Followingthe bus ride was a semi-miserable, twenty minute, vertical hike even further. (At least our rain boots finally served a purpose..?) Making our way up & along the edge of the canyon may have proved to be the scariest part of the day. It was slippery & we were inches away, only guarded by two bungee cords at knee-height. We realized they may just do that on purpose, as reaching the platform was a lot more relieving than one would have originally expected.
{I wish I could take credit for the following pictures but they came on the picture CDs we got after jumping. They are from the hike though!}
okay so the hike wasn't that bad
We signed a complete joke of a contract (telling ourselves nothing must ever go wrong), & were put into large harnesses.
okay..
nervously listening to caroline nervously read the contract out loud
minutes before!
I'm not sure I thought much about what the whole experience would feel like. The canyon was 300 feet high, & we free-fell for 250 feet of that. We were told we were going to be falling at about 70 mph. I wish I could explain what it was like, but at probably max speed, I only had time for one thought: WHOA.
& then the rope caught & I was swinging through the canyon, out of breath & amazed at what I had just done.
At the bottom, I watched everyone else go, still ecstatic & reliving the experience over & over. (Although Alyssa & Caroline tried to run through the air back to the platform post-jump, Smags shrieked like she had been murdered, Steven swung like Indiana Jones, Julie looked like she got pushed off of the Sears Tower, Julia screamed profanities, & Mullen let out a shrill scream that started small avalanches [who knew her voice could go that high?].) We were given glasses of hot wine (yum), could not stop smiling, & talked about every second of the experience until we got down to the bottom.
At the bottom, I watched everyone else go, still ecstatic & reliving the experience over & over. (Although Alyssa & Caroline tried to run through the air back to the platform post-jump, Smags shrieked like she had been murdered, Steven swung like Indiana Jones, Julie looked like she got pushed off of the Sears Tower, Julia screamed profanities, & Mullen let out a shrill scream that started small avalanches [who knew her voice could go that high?].) We were given glasses of hot wine (yum), could not stop smiling, & talked about every second of the experience until we got down to the bottom.
the canyon! you can see the platform, really tiny at the top left of the canyon; we swung away from where this picture was taken!
& then our photographer, steven, took pictures of us
we made it!
As soon as we got back, we met up with the rest of the group & went to a free chocolate tasting at the Swiss Chocolate Chalet. A group of 30 girls (+ Steven) stood around & listened to a nervous woman talk about how they make the chocolate, just waiting for her to pass the small plates around. It was delicious & I can definitely see why Swiss people consume the most chocolate in the world.
we tried champagne truffles, vodka red bull chocolate (it was like Red Bull sponsored Switzerland or something), white chocolate with honey/nougat, milk chocolate with rum, white chocolate with thyme, & other kinds.. great appetizer!
After chocolate tasting, we walked next door for dinner...at Hooters. (Side note: Switzerland is EXPENSIVE. We were told minimum wage is 22 francs, which made sense after seeing 17 franc burgers, 15 franc drinks, etc. Keep in mind a franc = a little more than 1 US dollar.) We were told Hooters was one of the cheaper options, but the nachos, chicken strips, & curly fries were worth it in themselves.
still wondering what the point of a Hooters is in a place that doesn't tip..
but the money was rainbow!
We hung out at the hostel that night, in our room & then at the downstairs lobby bar (after failed trips to the club in the basement, the Irish pub & the local club - you have to check your coat?). Margaret & her friends were on the same trip as us & it was so fun to hang out with them! Steven's friends from Rome were also there.
hostel life
caroline stole a hanger from the lobby, broke the metal part off, & muscle man steven used it to shove the cork into the bottle
lobby of the Funny Farm by day
complete with a cozy fireplace by night
On Saturday morning, Steven & Julia woke up early to go skiing/snowboarding. The rest of us went & got breakfast at the Irish pub, so happy to finally find pancakes, bacon, & fried eggs! We decided to take a bus to Wilderswil, the local train station, & then a train to Grindelwald, an awesome ski town up in the Alps. Sledding was planned, but failed due to confusing train times & deciding to err on the side of caution. We ended up at a local bar called the Avocado Bar, listening to some live music, awesome American music, & surrounded by locals who spent their day on the slopes. The day was definitely still a success, concluded with the beautiful train ride back to Interlaken.
is that a to go container?
grindelwald + train!
tall boys for the train lol
On Saturday night, the lady from Utopia had recommended we make reservations for authentic Swiss fondue at Hotel Sonne. While it was absolutely delicious - Swiss cheese + white wine with bread - it was a stretch to call it dinner. Good thing for the chips & chocolate beforehand..
literally scraped ours clean
We ended up hanging out at the hostel Saturday night, as well, in both the Romans' room (talking about movies & other cultured things) & the bar downstairs that we unfortunately didn't know about the night before. It was a Swiss Kams & a great way to end the weekend.
kind of
Sunday morning, after more loaves of bread (pretty much on a diet of bread & cheese all weekend), we decided to walk into downtown Interlaken. We decided Disney's Epcot does a great job replicating places. We ended up getting lunch at a pizza place & I found a gorgonzola pizza! It was delicious & appropriately filling for the long bus ride ahead of us (after stopping for more chocolate on the way home).
downtown interlaken
mountains at the end of every street!
While the bus ride through the night was a little more ideal for passing time, the views on the way home were a great sendoff from Switzerland. We watched more movies (Eurotrip, Anchorman, Wayne's World, & The Hangover), & stopped for more panini & fast food. We arrived back to Florence around 11pm &, while it's good to be home, unanimously decided it was a perfect trip (minus not one Bernese Mountain Dog sighting - what?!).
Continental Congress update: I woke up in the middle of the night, assumedly from a bad dream, exhausted, disoriented in the pitch black, & honestly could not figure out which way was up. I heard myself scream, "Where am I?!" Alyssa claims to get really freaked out by people sleep-talking & helpfully screamed at me, "Italy!!!" I'm just hoping that doesn't become a regular thing..
