The one word I would use to describe Interlaken, Switzerland would definitely be awesome! I had a great group (Micayla, Allison, Adrienne, Andrew, Claire, Savannah, Caitlin, and Kaushik, I'm talking about you) to explore this beautiful country with. Just to let you know, none of those listed, other than Micayla, are featured in the picture above. I actually don't know any of those people (again) other than Micayla and myself of course, but it is an awesome picture of my canyoning group.
The thing that made this trip unique was the amount of chocolate I ate, and the amount of physical activity I made my body go through. Climbing mountains, walking through rapids, and jumping off waterfalls will really make your out-of-shape body not happy. You will read about these adventures in this blog, so sit back, relax, eat a Toblerone, and enjoy.
Friday, October 10
As our usual Fridays go, after class we made our way to the Luxembourg train station. I've been looking forward to this trip ever since I saw my friends Gracie and Kate's canyoning picture from when they visited Interlaken during their semester abroad. I've heard from numerous people how beautiful this city is, so I couldn't wait to get there!
The train ride wasn't bad. This was the biggest group I've traveled with (other than my Paris study tour group) so I had plenty of people to talk to to pass the time.
We made it to Interlaken after dark, but we were able to stop at the grocery store and pick up some food for the weekend (aka Swiss chocolate) and head over to our hostel.
Our hostel was called the Happy Inn Lodge. It had a bar and restaurant below it that was complete with Happy workers who checked us in. I shared a room with Allison, Adrienne, Micayla, Andrew and Kaushik while the others had the room next door. It was a small room with three bunk beds, six lockers, and a sink. It was a cozy room although rather small.
It was still a bit early to go right to bed, so we all decided to walk around and check out the town. There weren't many people around, which was strange to us since it was a Friday night. But we were able to check out the casino down the road (we didn't go in... I don't think my hiking boots and Class of 2012 sweatshirt would have passed the dress code). It was a great walk although rather uneventful.
Saturday, October 11 (Happy Birthday Hallie Parker and Annie James)
Today was a day of great adventure! Micayla and I signed up to go canyoning and the others were going to do a ropes course (zip lining, giant swing, base jumping).
But what is canyoning you ask? Well, that is an excellent question.
Canyoning is "traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), and swimming" (thanks wikipedia). Basically, it's climbing through a canyon while sliding down rocks and jumping from waterfalls. Pretty exciting stuff.
Micayla and I woke up early to be picked up by the company we were canyoning with. We arrived at their "base", got into our bathing suits, and they gave us wetsuits, shoes, helmets, and life jackets. After we got all of our gear on, I felt like an extreme adventurer!
We were loaded into a couple of vans and driven up a mountain towards the canyon we would be exploring. On our way up, our driver/instructor told us that there was a canyon that could only be used in the perfect conditions. It is a very rare day that these perfect conditions are met and today was one of those days.
We arrived at this super special canyon and began walking through the freezing cold water. I tripped over slippery rocks and stumbled more times than I would like to admit, and then we reached a waterfall.
The instructors prepared us by saying, "You're going to jump off of this. Jump in the bubbles or you're going to hit a rock and get hurt. Don't get hurt. Go!"
And we jumped one at a time, each of us making it into the bubbles the waterfall created. Once I jumped, my head was completely submerged in this cold water. I thought that brain freeze was what happened after you eat ice-cream too fast... but let me tell you, this was a whole different level.
I recovered quickly and dog paddled towards shallow water to continue through the canyon. We slid down more rocks and we were even flung around a waterfall by our instructors (I can't even explain). For one of our jumps, they told us "Make sure you go right. If you go left, you're going to have to go around the waterfall and we don't want that". Want to take a guess at what I did? Went left.
I landed in the water and felt myself go left. Believe me when I say I tried so hard to go right, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I raised my head above the water and saw one of the instructors motion for me to go around. So there I was, doggie paddling away, went behind the waterfall, and eventually made it to where I was supposed to be.
We continued on and encountered our last waterfall jump (we've been out for about an hour and a half at this point). It was about 30 feet high and we had to make sure we jumped far out (and into the bubbles) so we could clear a rock wall. I don't know if you can imagine this, but it was actually pretty scary. I jumped. I cleared the wall. And I my entire nasal passage, mouth and throat was filled with water. I submerged from the water and because of all the water in my body, I couldn't breath. The cold water caused me, basically, to forget how to breath. It took me a second, but I managed to cough out the water, inhale sweet, sweet air and get out of the water safely.
One we all managed to conquer the 30 foot jump, we had a quick rest and then our instructors told us that we had to climb up a mountain to get back to the vans. By now, I was already exhausted from the swimming and jumping and sliding and breathing... climbing a mountain wasn't at the top of my list of "Fun Things To Do". This mountain was incredibly steep - we had to use trees and rope to pull ourselves up. My unfit self made it up... eventually... and we made it back to base. They gave us a free drink and warm showers to recover from our adventure time.
If you get anything from this blog post, it is that canyoning is tiring, straining, and kind of insane, but it will be the most fun adventure you'll have!! I had an absolute blast and encourage others to seek it out especially if they find themselves in Switzerland.
Micayla and I went back to our hostel and took a rest as we waited for the others to get back from their ropes course.
They all got back raving about their time, and we all recollected ourselves and headed out to shop and see the city in the daylight. I found a Swiss Army knife that was perfect for me, so I got that as my one souvenir.
After some time, we found a fondu place that we decided to get dinner from. This being my first fondu experience, it went fairly well! I'm not the biggest cheese fan, but I'm definitely happy that I tried Swiss fondu in Switzerland.
After dinner, half of the group went back to the hostel, while the other half and myself went to look around a little more. I really enjoyed this time with Claire, Kaushik, Caitlin, and Savannah - we had good conversations and found a cow to take pictures with. What more can you ask for?
The thing that made this trip unique was the amount of chocolate I ate, and the amount of physical activity I made my body go through. Climbing mountains, walking through rapids, and jumping off waterfalls will really make your out-of-shape body not happy. You will read about these adventures in this blog, so sit back, relax, eat a Toblerone, and enjoy.
Friday, October 10
As our usual Fridays go, after class we made our way to the Luxembourg train station. I've been looking forward to this trip ever since I saw my friends Gracie and Kate's canyoning picture from when they visited Interlaken during their semester abroad. I've heard from numerous people how beautiful this city is, so I couldn't wait to get there!
The train ride wasn't bad. This was the biggest group I've traveled with (other than my Paris study tour group) so I had plenty of people to talk to to pass the time.
We made it to Interlaken after dark, but we were able to stop at the grocery store and pick up some food for the weekend (aka Swiss chocolate) and head over to our hostel.
Our hostel was called the Happy Inn Lodge. It had a bar and restaurant below it that was complete with Happy workers who checked us in. I shared a room with Allison, Adrienne, Micayla, Andrew and Kaushik while the others had the room next door. It was a small room with three bunk beds, six lockers, and a sink. It was a cozy room although rather small.
It was still a bit early to go right to bed, so we all decided to walk around and check out the town. There weren't many people around, which was strange to us since it was a Friday night. But we were able to check out the casino down the road (we didn't go in... I don't think my hiking boots and Class of 2012 sweatshirt would have passed the dress code). It was a great walk although rather uneventful.
Saturday, October 11 (Happy Birthday Hallie Parker and Annie James)
Today was a day of great adventure! Micayla and I signed up to go canyoning and the others were going to do a ropes course (zip lining, giant swing, base jumping).
But what is canyoning you ask? Well, that is an excellent question.
Canyoning is "traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), and swimming" (thanks wikipedia). Basically, it's climbing through a canyon while sliding down rocks and jumping from waterfalls. Pretty exciting stuff.
Micayla and I woke up early to be picked up by the company we were canyoning with. We arrived at their "base", got into our bathing suits, and they gave us wetsuits, shoes, helmets, and life jackets. After we got all of our gear on, I felt like an extreme adventurer!
We were loaded into a couple of vans and driven up a mountain towards the canyon we would be exploring. On our way up, our driver/instructor told us that there was a canyon that could only be used in the perfect conditions. It is a very rare day that these perfect conditions are met and today was one of those days.
We arrived at this super special canyon and began walking through the freezing cold water. I tripped over slippery rocks and stumbled more times than I would like to admit, and then we reached a waterfall.
The instructors prepared us by saying, "You're going to jump off of this. Jump in the bubbles or you're going to hit a rock and get hurt. Don't get hurt. Go!"
And we jumped one at a time, each of us making it into the bubbles the waterfall created. Once I jumped, my head was completely submerged in this cold water. I thought that brain freeze was what happened after you eat ice-cream too fast... but let me tell you, this was a whole different level.
I recovered quickly and dog paddled towards shallow water to continue through the canyon. We slid down more rocks and we were even flung around a waterfall by our instructors (I can't even explain). For one of our jumps, they told us "Make sure you go right. If you go left, you're going to have to go around the waterfall and we don't want that". Want to take a guess at what I did? Went left.
I landed in the water and felt myself go left. Believe me when I say I tried so hard to go right, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I raised my head above the water and saw one of the instructors motion for me to go around. So there I was, doggie paddling away, went behind the waterfall, and eventually made it to where I was supposed to be.
We continued on and encountered our last waterfall jump (we've been out for about an hour and a half at this point). It was about 30 feet high and we had to make sure we jumped far out (and into the bubbles) so we could clear a rock wall. I don't know if you can imagine this, but it was actually pretty scary. I jumped. I cleared the wall. And I my entire nasal passage, mouth and throat was filled with water. I submerged from the water and because of all the water in my body, I couldn't breath. The cold water caused me, basically, to forget how to breath. It took me a second, but I managed to cough out the water, inhale sweet, sweet air and get out of the water safely.
One we all managed to conquer the 30 foot jump, we had a quick rest and then our instructors told us that we had to climb up a mountain to get back to the vans. By now, I was already exhausted from the swimming and jumping and sliding and breathing... climbing a mountain wasn't at the top of my list of "Fun Things To Do". This mountain was incredibly steep - we had to use trees and rope to pull ourselves up. My unfit self made it up... eventually... and we made it back to base. They gave us a free drink and warm showers to recover from our adventure time.
If you get anything from this blog post, it is that canyoning is tiring, straining, and kind of insane, but it will be the most fun adventure you'll have!! I had an absolute blast and encourage others to seek it out especially if they find themselves in Switzerland.
Micayla and I went back to our hostel and took a rest as we waited for the others to get back from their ropes course.
They all got back raving about their time, and we all recollected ourselves and headed out to shop and see the city in the daylight. I found a Swiss Army knife that was perfect for me, so I got that as my one souvenir.
After some time, we found a fondu place that we decided to get dinner from. This being my first fondu experience, it went fairly well! I'm not the biggest cheese fan, but I'm definitely happy that I tried Swiss fondu in Switzerland.
After dinner, half of the group went back to the hostel, while the other half and myself went to look around a little more. I really enjoyed this time with Claire, Kaushik, Caitlin, and Savannah - we had good conversations and found a cow to take pictures with. What more can you ask for?
Sunday, October 12
This was our last day in beautiful Switzerland, and Allison and Adrienne had an excellent plan for us to truly see how breathtaking Interlaken could be.
We woke up and planned on climbing a mountain. We made our way up, some of us faster than others, and once we reached about half way, we encountered a cow farm. It was the most random thing - climbing through a forest and then running into some cows.
At this point, I was already tired and sore from the day before, so me, Kaushik and Savannah decided to just sit and take in the beauty around us. Oh, and the cows. We got some great pictures and I was much happier sitting there and spending time looking out at the other mountains and the small city below. Here's a few of them. I can't begin to describe how gorgeous this view was, even though it was only half way up.
This was our last day in beautiful Switzerland, and Allison and Adrienne had an excellent plan for us to truly see how breathtaking Interlaken could be.
We woke up and planned on climbing a mountain. We made our way up, some of us faster than others, and once we reached about half way, we encountered a cow farm. It was the most random thing - climbing through a forest and then running into some cows.
At this point, I was already tired and sore from the day before, so me, Kaushik and Savannah decided to just sit and take in the beauty around us. Oh, and the cows. We got some great pictures and I was much happier sitting there and spending time looking out at the other mountains and the small city below. Here's a few of them. I can't begin to describe how gorgeous this view was, even though it was only half way up.
We made our way down even though we were thoroughly enjoyed sitting on a mountain. We went back to the Happy Inn Lodge, met up with everyone else, and made our way back to Luxembourg.
Interlaken truly is the definition of beauty. It's not a well knows area, but I enjoyed everything about this amazing place. The people were nice, the atmosphere was friendly, and the scenery was perfect. Oh, and there is a lot of really fun things to do (next time skydiving and paragliding is on my list). I really enjoyed this trip because of both the actual place I was in as well as the people I went with.
Interlaken truly is the definition of beauty. It's not a well knows area, but I enjoyed everything about this amazing place. The people were nice, the atmosphere was friendly, and the scenery was perfect. Oh, and there is a lot of really fun things to do (next time skydiving and paragliding is on my list). I really enjoyed this trip because of both the actual place I was in as well as the people I went with.