March 14th, 2014 (Friday)
Bre, Regina, Evan, David, Aaron, Monica, Suzette, Katie, Jessica, and I set out for Interlaken, Switzerland Friday after classes and arrived close to 9:00pm. Once we checked into our hostel and got settled in, we headed to a bar/mini nightclub that was located underneath our hostel called The Metro. Since we were traveling in a group of ten, we got a voucher for 100 CHF worth of drinks, which, needless to say, we used up that very night since we knew we would be too tired to go out the following night. Another group from MUDEC (Jordan, Kate, David, Marisa, and Gabrielle) also were staying in our hostel, so we met up with them at the bar and danced the night away. It was a perfect way to start what turned out to be one of my favorite weekends so far here in Europe.
March 15th, 2014 (Saturday)
After an early rise and a delicious breakfast of cereal and toast, some of our group headed off to the ski slopes and some of us (including myself) got ready to go paragliding! (We were supposed to go bungee jumping off a canyon, but due to an unforeseen rock shift, we had to go paragliding instead -- which was still AMAZING.) Suzette and I had a later time than Evan, Jessica, Bre, and Regina, so we decided to do a little hiking before our flight. We climbed around an Alp (twice!!) and found some cool little log cabins and a spring water trough before we had to head back to Balmer's (our hostel) to catch the bus to take us paragliding. We grabbed a quick lunch and then were on our way up a 2500 foot mountain! Once we got to the top, our paragliding pilots gave us a run-down of how to take off, what the flight would be like, and how we would land. We got a couple pictures, and then we were off! The entire experience was so surreal; it was amazing being as tall as the mountains and looking down at the beautiful city and lakes below us. It was simultaneously exhilarating and breathtaking. My pilot even did some turns so it felt like I was on a roller coaster! It was a little cloudy, which was unfortunate, but I could still see everything, and we caught a really good wind, so we were up for almost 20 minutes, which is about twice as long as paragliding usually lasts. After landing and getting our breath back, we did a little shopping and got some souvenirs before heading out toward Lake Brienz, one of the lakes on the outskirts of the town. The lake was absolutely gorgeous; I've never seen such blue water. It was almost turquoise, and there were a lot of interesting rocks as well. We sat on a bench and took lots of pictures and just admired the scenery...that was, until the swan attack. Yes, Suzette and I can proudly say we are swan attack survivors. Here's how it went down: we saw a swan off in the distance, and were taking pictures of it, since swans are really beautiful creatures. The swan was swimming closer to us, and we weren't thinking too much of it, so we continued laughing and taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. Suddenly, the swan begins flapping its wings extremely quickly, and flying across the water towards us. At first, we thought "Cool! I've never seen a swan do that!" until Suzette (in her big white winter coat) realized that it was charging right at us. She shouted at me to run, but I was so frozen in my fear I couldn't move, I just watched this massive bird get closer...and closer...and closer, until I suddenly heard some rocks and gravel shifting. I turned around and saw Suzette laying on the ground, using her arms to try to scramble up the hill to the street above the lake. I suddenly realized what was happening (that we were about to die) and ran up the hill. Once we got to safety, we were somewhere in between laughing hysterically and crying. Pretty soon, we look back over at the swan, and it's flapping its wings and charging at us again. So we ran up onto the street and booked it out of there, taking it as a sign that we should go back to the hostel and meet up with the rest of the group before we went night sledding.
Night sledding was absolutely incredible. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, it was actually more like tobogganing down a huge mountain. There were no guardrails or anything, so if you got too far off the course, you were headed straight down the mountain. I was absolutely petrified the entire time, but it was so much fun and possibly my favorite part about the trip. I ran into a rock and bruised my knee, fell off my sled a few times, and just kind of slid down the final hill on my back with my sled dragging behind me, but it was so amazing and definitely worth all of the snow in my boots, pants, and gloves. After our sledding was over, we had Swiss fondue at a restaurant at the bottom of the mountain, before going back to the hostel and crashing after taking a nice, warm shower.
Bre, Regina, Evan, David, Aaron, Monica, Suzette, Katie, Jessica, and I set out for Interlaken, Switzerland Friday after classes and arrived close to 9:00pm. Once we checked into our hostel and got settled in, we headed to a bar/mini nightclub that was located underneath our hostel called The Metro. Since we were traveling in a group of ten, we got a voucher for 100 CHF worth of drinks, which, needless to say, we used up that very night since we knew we would be too tired to go out the following night. Another group from MUDEC (Jordan, Kate, David, Marisa, and Gabrielle) also were staying in our hostel, so we met up with them at the bar and danced the night away. It was a perfect way to start what turned out to be one of my favorite weekends so far here in Europe.
March 15th, 2014 (Saturday)
After an early rise and a delicious breakfast of cereal and toast, some of our group headed off to the ski slopes and some of us (including myself) got ready to go paragliding! (We were supposed to go bungee jumping off a canyon, but due to an unforeseen rock shift, we had to go paragliding instead -- which was still AMAZING.) Suzette and I had a later time than Evan, Jessica, Bre, and Regina, so we decided to do a little hiking before our flight. We climbed around an Alp (twice!!) and found some cool little log cabins and a spring water trough before we had to head back to Balmer's (our hostel) to catch the bus to take us paragliding. We grabbed a quick lunch and then were on our way up a 2500 foot mountain! Once we got to the top, our paragliding pilots gave us a run-down of how to take off, what the flight would be like, and how we would land. We got a couple pictures, and then we were off! The entire experience was so surreal; it was amazing being as tall as the mountains and looking down at the beautiful city and lakes below us. It was simultaneously exhilarating and breathtaking. My pilot even did some turns so it felt like I was on a roller coaster! It was a little cloudy, which was unfortunate, but I could still see everything, and we caught a really good wind, so we were up for almost 20 minutes, which is about twice as long as paragliding usually lasts. After landing and getting our breath back, we did a little shopping and got some souvenirs before heading out toward Lake Brienz, one of the lakes on the outskirts of the town. The lake was absolutely gorgeous; I've never seen such blue water. It was almost turquoise, and there were a lot of interesting rocks as well. We sat on a bench and took lots of pictures and just admired the scenery...that was, until the swan attack. Yes, Suzette and I can proudly say we are swan attack survivors. Here's how it went down: we saw a swan off in the distance, and were taking pictures of it, since swans are really beautiful creatures. The swan was swimming closer to us, and we weren't thinking too much of it, so we continued laughing and taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. Suddenly, the swan begins flapping its wings extremely quickly, and flying across the water towards us. At first, we thought "Cool! I've never seen a swan do that!" until Suzette (in her big white winter coat) realized that it was charging right at us. She shouted at me to run, but I was so frozen in my fear I couldn't move, I just watched this massive bird get closer...and closer...and closer, until I suddenly heard some rocks and gravel shifting. I turned around and saw Suzette laying on the ground, using her arms to try to scramble up the hill to the street above the lake. I suddenly realized what was happening (that we were about to die) and ran up the hill. Once we got to safety, we were somewhere in between laughing hysterically and crying. Pretty soon, we look back over at the swan, and it's flapping its wings and charging at us again. So we ran up onto the street and booked it out of there, taking it as a sign that we should go back to the hostel and meet up with the rest of the group before we went night sledding.
Night sledding was absolutely incredible. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, it was actually more like tobogganing down a huge mountain. There were no guardrails or anything, so if you got too far off the course, you were headed straight down the mountain. I was absolutely petrified the entire time, but it was so much fun and possibly my favorite part about the trip. I ran into a rock and bruised my knee, fell off my sled a few times, and just kind of slid down the final hill on my back with my sled dragging behind me, but it was so amazing and definitely worth all of the snow in my boots, pants, and gloves. After our sledding was over, we had Swiss fondue at a restaurant at the bottom of the mountain, before going back to the hostel and crashing after taking a nice, warm shower.
March 16th, 2014 (Sunday)
Before heading back to Luxembourg on the 2pm train, we got up early again and headed out for Lauterbrunnen, a town about half an hour away from Interlaken that has a bunch of waterfalls. After almost getting on the wrong car of the train, we made it to Lauterbrunnen and spent about two hours walking around and looking at all the beautiful waterfalls and mountains. It was an easy walk, nothing too strenuous, so it was the perfect way to end a weekend that left us all sore and exhausted. I slept pretty much the entire way home on the train, which explains why I'm still up this late writing my blog post! Overall, it was great to experience Switzerland, a country I hadn't ever planned on coming to while I was here. I strongly recommend going, as there is something there for anyone, whether you're looking for adventure or a relaxing weekend.
Before heading back to Luxembourg on the 2pm train, we got up early again and headed out for Lauterbrunnen, a town about half an hour away from Interlaken that has a bunch of waterfalls. After almost getting on the wrong car of the train, we made it to Lauterbrunnen and spent about two hours walking around and looking at all the beautiful waterfalls and mountains. It was an easy walk, nothing too strenuous, so it was the perfect way to end a weekend that left us all sore and exhausted. I slept pretty much the entire way home on the train, which explains why I'm still up this late writing my blog post! Overall, it was great to experience Switzerland, a country I hadn't ever planned on coming to while I was here. I strongly recommend going, as there is something there for anyone, whether you're looking for adventure or a relaxing weekend.