On our first day in Interlaken we walked through the town and went to the top of Interlaken on the Harderbahn, a tram. The way up to the top of the mountain was so steep I kept worrying we would fall or the tram would stop working! At the top of the mountain we could see so many mountains and the whole valley of Interlaken. The air was so crisp, I don't think I could breathe air more fresh than in Interlaken. There was also a restaurant at the top of the mountain but we didnt have time to eat there because of our canyoning trip, so we took lots of pictures with the Swiss Alps in the background. Looking back at the pictures now, it is so gorgeous it seems as though we are posing in front of a screen in a studio.
Canyoning in Interlaken was one of the scariest/ most exhilarating experiences of my life. We had to wear wetsuits, helmets, jackets, weird shoes and life-vests... we were so bulky! My helmet name was Slider, haha, which was ironic because we did lots of sliding off of massive rocks into the water. We drove about an hour away further into the Swiss Alps with our instructor, Sebastian, and changed into all of our gear. We decided to go on the 6 hour trip and the first thing we did was rappel down a 50 meter ( 165 foot) rock into the canyon! I was the first girl to go so that made me even more scary! The scariest part for me was when I had to let go of the rail and lean back into the air, trusting that the rope and harness would hold me up as I walked down the rock. It was the most nerve-racking/crazy thing I have ever done and it gave me such an adrenaline rush! The rest of the canyoning trip we jumped off of huge rocks into the water ( which was a scary because you had to land in the right spot so you wouldnt hit the rocks in the water), we slid down huge rocks into the water, and zip lined with a rope and our harnesses. Zip lining was so much fun but the drop was so high and I landed in the water too far on my back and got the wind knocked out of me which was so frightening because it was already hard to breathe in the freezing water. After an adventure full of canyoning, our instructors had planned a picnic of beer, cheese and bread in the Swiss Alps. Eating in the Swiss Alps, exhausted from our trip, was the perfect way to wrap-up that experience.
We stayed at a hostel called Balmers while in Interlaken, which was the perfect place to be. It not only had fantastic views from the rooms, but it had the bar/club right underneath the hostel. After a dinner of delicious Thai curry and seeing Man United lose to Barcelona (haha), we got ready and went down to the bar/club for the evening. It was so convenient having the bar right beneath the hostel for a number of reasons:
1. in Interlaken they have "quiet hours" for the small town after 10 pm so the club being underground was the perfect solution
2. we didnt have to walk far in heels
3. we could run up to our room to get more money or cameras, ect
4. there was no sketchy walk home late at night... and many more reasons
After an amazing weekend in Interlaken we went to Stechelberg on the way home. At first I really did not want to see it because it was a small village in the middle of no where, but at the same time I also did not want to go straight back to Dijon. To my surprise the village actually turned out to be really cute and had many hiking trails and walking paths. We also saw cows and got to pet them, they were so cute! We saw so many men/women who wore these flying outfits that made them look like flying squirrels and would jump off of the mountains and glide through the mountains to the valley, it was incredible to watch... I don't think I could ever do that myself though!!
Writing this blog entry makes me depressed while I sit here in my small dorm in Dijon supposed to be studying for my finance final... what I would do to be back in Interlaken at this moment! I definitely have to go back at some-point in my life... my pictures are not comparable to actually standing in the middle of the Swiss Alps breathing in the fresh air and loving every moment of your life. One day I will find my way back to Interlaken.
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