A Weekend in the Swiss Alps

        The second weekend of November (11-14) my roommates Caitlin and Emma, my friend Emily, and I went to Interlaken, Switzerland for a weekend in the Swiss Alps. We booked our trip though a popular travel agency for study abroad student in Florence (Florence for Fun), so we were in a group of other American students our age. We left Thursday night at 7 and didn’t get into Interlaken until 4 in the morning! It was a long drive, but the bar of Tolberone chocolate I purchased on our way there helped make it so much more enjoyable. lol

     After our 9 hour drive we climbed into our beds in our cute little hotel room and slept until 10 in the morning. When we woke up, I opened the curtains and saw this fabulous view. I walked outside onto our balcony, breathed in some fresh, crisp air and enjoyed my first view of Switzerland in the day light.

View from our hotel room.

     After getting dressed, eating a small but delicious breakfast (bread with amazing strawberry jelly) the four of us took a walk to explore the city center of Interlaken. It was a very quiet city center (perhaps because it was raining) surrounded by green hills and snow covered mountains. The buildings were very similar to those I had seen in Germany and Austria  and the store fronts were filled with coo coo clocks and Swiss army knives: two products that Switzerland is famous for. We stopped at a random restaurant for lunch and were served a great four course meal which left us very satisfied and full. After lunch we made our way back to the hotel and had a few minutes to relax before we headed off to Bern with the Florence for Fun group for the remainder of the day.

     Bern is the capital of Switzerland and is the 4th most populous city in Switzerland. It is known for its clock tower and for the bears that are kept within the city and serve as Bern's mascots. The first thing we saw when we got off the bus were the bears. They were kept in a spacious (but enclosed!) area near the main bridge and they were just wandering around. It was pretty cool to see. Apparently bears have been kept in this same area since 1513!

Bear!

View of Bern on the bridge right above the bears!

    

     For the few hours that we were in Bern we walked along the major street in the city center, browsed through the covered shopping promenade (one of the longest in Europe) that lined the street, visited the outside of Albert Einstein's old apartment, admired the famous clock tower, and ended our day with some delicious and much needed hot chocolate.

The clock tower in the background, and the shopping promenade
is along the inside of the archways on both sides of the street

Emily and I with some much needed hot chocolate after a cold and rainy day!

    

     The next day was one of the most adventurous days of my life. The first item on our itinerary for the day was paragliding in the Swiss Alps. Interlaken, Switzerland is very popular for the plethora of extreme sports it has to offer and ever since we booked our trip we knew that we were definitely going to participate in at least one extreme sport. After doing some research we decided that paragliding would be perfect: it would give us a beautiful view of the Alps and Interlaken, it wasn’t quite as intense or expensive as skydiving, but it was still thrilling and a lot of fun. So, after a few weeks of waiting, the day had finally come. By 10:10 in the morning the four of us were in a van with our instructors weaving back and forth, higher and higher through the hills of Interlaken in order to reach the destination where we would take off. The view was absolutely gorgeous. The hills were a beautiful green, the Alps not so far in the distance were covered in snow, you could see the glacier blue lakes down below us, and unlike the day before, the sun was out and shining. There was only a small layer of fog hovering over the city at the base of the hills, which the instructors said would clear up by the time we got to the top. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to go paragliding. 

     Once we reached our destination (the higher of the two take off points) we each paired off with an instructor, strapped into our harnesses, spread out the parachute and prepared for takeoff. Of course this all took place after we had take a few minutes to enjoy the magnificent view and take a view pictures!



     Now we were ready for takeoff. With my instructor and I strapped into the parachute lying on the ground behind us we began running down the hill. The wind filled the parachute and I could feel the resistance increase the further we ran. After a few moments it began pulling us up into the air, and eventually my feet were no longer pushing against the firm ground, but were pushing through thin air… we were flying! I sat down into my seat, the crisp wind was rushing against my face, and I had a bird’s eye view (literally!) of everything in front of me. It was spectacular. We were hundreds of feet in the air, the snowy Alps were directly in front of us, the green hills covered with trees were right next to us and the city and its two beautiful lakes were directly below our dangling feet.

     At one point during our flight my instructor asked me a question: “Do you like roller coaster’s?” Now, if you know me at all you know that I am not a huge fan of roller coaster’s, but knowing that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and not wanting to miss out on anything I said something along the lines of “Ummmmm, ya they’re ok” Haha I’m sure I wasn’t too convincing, but he knew what I meant and he immediately started yanking back and forth on the two steering handles. It definitely felt like a roller coaster ride. We were twisting and turning, my stomach was dropping, and I was screaming, but it was actually a lot of fun.

     Once we were all back safely on the ground we were so excited and couldn’t stop laughing and smiling. We all agreed that it was one of the coolest, if not THE coolest thing we had ever done.

Back safely on the ground

I carried the equipment back after we landed.  It was HEAVY! lol

     The second and last thing on our agenda for the day was taking a train to Mt. Jungfraujoch: the highest point in all of Europe. The train ride was about 3 hours, but the view on our way was spectacular. There were waterfalls, lakes, streams, trees everywhere, and cute little houses that dotted the green hills. As we started getting higher snow covered the ground and for the last half hour we were actually inside the mountain. It was really cool.

     On top of Jungfraujoch is a large complex that has an "ice palace" and an observatory deck. The first thing we did was visit the ice palace. It was an entire cavern filled with ice tunnels, sculptures and cool blue lighting lol. It was really cold inside and my shoes did not protect my feet from the icy, wet floor, so my feet were wet and cold, but it was all worth it. It was a pretty cool place.  

     After the ice palace we went to the top of the complex and went outside onto the observatory deck so we could see the view from the top of Europe. It was beautiful. We took tons of pictures and were there for about 20 minutes. By that time the freezing cold and the blowing wind had gotten to us and we had to go back to the warm inside.  

View from the South side

Emily, Emma, Caitlin and I at the top of Europe!

     Once we were back inside it was time to leave. We climbed back into the train and began our journey down the mountain. We were exhausted from our long day, but instantly woke up when we emerged from the inside of the mountain. Through the window of the train was one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen. Everyone in the train gasped and then grabbed their cameras and started taking pictures. Thank God I was sitting right next to the window because if I wasn't I probably (definitely) would have knocked everyone out of my way in the process of trying to get to the window where the best view was! Thankfully that didn't have to happen. Caitlin and I stood up, slid down the window and just started clicking away. I must have taken at least 50 pictures. Honestly, it was that breathtaking, and I think my camera did a pretty good job at capturing it... but of course it's always better in person. 

     On our last day in Interlaken the four of us split up. Caitlin and Emma went canyon jumping (Youtube this- it's INSANE) and Emily and I went to explore one of the lakes in Interlaken. We walked through the town, grabbed some food on the way, and when we reached the beginning of the lake we sat down, had a little picnic and enjoyed the beautiful scenery while we ate. Once we were finished we continued our walk along the lake. The water was glacier blue, and the most precious houses lined the lake and the surrounding hills. I would love to own one of them!

     After a few hours of being out it was time to return to our hotel. At 4:00 we all boarded the bus and began our long drive home. As we were driving through the hills of Interlaken there was a beautiful sunset in the distance... just one more reason Switzerland became my favorite country I had visited thus far.