swiss cheeze

So I flew into Zurich real early, because I wanted as many days as possible to do activities. From Zurich I hopped on a train to Bern and switched there to grab the train the Interlaken. All in all the journey took just under 2 hours. So arrived around 11am in Interlaken and the train ride was simply awesome. You thread through the mountains and end up encircling one of the lakes which has the most amazing hue of blue due to the glacier runoffs that fill it. After hopping off the train I set off to find my hostel, which is listed as one of “Europe’s most famous hostels”. I got a little side tracked on the way there and ended up signing up to do some bungee jumping later in the day, my weekend had begun. I had a little time to explore the hostel before my excursion and I was completely blown away. This hostel is the oldest hostel in Switzerland, over 60 years old, and is built like a traditional swiss chalet. It had a full general store in it, a grocery store, a couple tv movie rooms, a beer garden and restaurant, along with a full nightclub underneath in the basement. By and far this place was the best hostel ive had the pleasure of staying it yet in Europe, its called Balmers Herberge by the way. So after eating some swiss sausages, the van for the bungee jump came and picked me up. On the way there I found out that there was two options, both the same price. You could either do the canyon swing or the bungee jump. Both involved free falling for 270 feet but the canyon swing swung you through the canyon going something like 40mph. I asked the driver what he thought the better activity was and he told me that in all honesty, the kids that had done both had all told him that they liked the canyon swing better, so I heeded his advice. Upon arriving I was greeted with some gorgeous scenery. We were high up in the swiss alps, surrounded by snow capped peaks and rolling green meadows with littered with houses that looked like something out of a fairy tale. The jump was hands down without a doubt, probably one of the most memorable experiences ill ever have in my life. Nothing could ever explain how I felt when I jumped off that platform and fell straight down 270 feet, the only thing I cold compare it to would be when you have a nightmare and you feel like your falling off a building. I swung through the canyon going what felt like 100mph with my feet only about 30 feet above the water. Upon finally reaching solid ground, I once again took in the raw scenery that is the swiss alps and remised on how i wanted to kick it up a notch and go skydiving, unfortunately that would have to wait as it cost nearly $400 to go skydiving in the alps, I’d rather pay 150 in the states and get the same experience minus the mountain scenery. After heading back to the hostel I showered up and headed out to the beer garden to meet some people as I was all by my lonesome. After mingling a bit in the beer garden I headed down below into the night club. The hostel really had a great set up with a nightclub like that, full dj set up deep underground so it could stay open later than most bars in the area, after drinking what seemed like a swimming pools worth of beer, I retired to bed.

I woke up at around 11am, and was surrounded by people in red and white clothes. It was swiss day, Switzerland’s independence day. Because it was swiss day I decided not to do any major activities as I did not want to miss the days festivities. I decided to go for a hike and got some information from the hostel on some good trails to hike. The weather was great and my goal was to get lost in the woods, and I succeeded. After hiking for a few hours I stumbled upon a high ropes park. I haven’t done one of these things since about 5^th grade in summer camp, and this place had five different courses. I came into this thing deathly afraid of heights, and left with a whole new level of confidence. I did all five courses and even the beginner one was pretty challenging. The most advanced courses took a high level of strength and coordination and after about 3 hours of being 70 feet up in the air I was ready to head back. When I arrived back there was pandemonium. It was about 4:30 and people were everywhere drinking beer. They had a GIANT pan set up making traditional swiss rosti (hashbrowns), sausages, and ribs. I went up and changed and came back down and met a group of about 15 kids from the University of Florida, and we organized a giant game of flip cup. This was probably one of the largest games of flip cup I had ever played with nearly 40 people competing. After playing for what seemed to be an eternity, everyone ran down the road about 400 yards to the site where they launched the fireworks, and what a show it was. the swiss really know how to do a proper fireworks show. They lasted for about 45 minutes and then the after party had begun back at the hostel. The scene was crazy in the club and I ended up staying out till about 3am.

That next morning I had to wake up bright and early to go canyoning. Now I had never even heard of canyoning before I went to Interlaken and once I saw what it was I had to do it. You start out by rappelling down a 200 foot wall into this canyon wearing full wetsuits, helmets, and protective life vests. Upon entering the canyon you are met with a fast flowing river with multiple obstacles. The first course of action was about a 15 foot jump into a shallow pool below and you had to be very accurate otherwise you’d either hit the side of the rocks or hit the bottom. The water was FREEZING as it was glacier runoff but the wetsuits did an amazing job of keeping us warm. The canyon presents various elements including a 30 foot jump, FAST naturally formed water slides from the smooth rock, zip lining, and climbing. Once again the scenery of the Jungfrau region was breathtaking, and it was an experience in itself just being there. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures because there was no way to bring my camera into the canyon. After the hour long trek back through the switchback mountain passes I was exhausted and took a little nap before doing the usual routine of the beer garden then metro bar. I had planned on going to bed early but that plan changed quickly when I met a kid from Ireland who ended up buying me beers for the rest of the night.

My last and final day in Switzerland. I had booked a tour to go ice climbing on the nearby Stein glacier and had to wake up at around 7:30am. The weather was looking to be gorgeous as I marched towards the climbing shop to get fitted with my ice axes, crampons, and some warm gear. The drive was just over an hour and like all drives in switerzland, the journey was a treat in itself. When we reached the base of the mountain we then headed on a 30 minute hike to the glacier base where we proceeded to put on our spiked crampons and rope up to each other in the even that one of us fell into a crevasse hopefully the other 4 wouldn’t fall in as well. The heat was intense but the higher up we got the better the cold air felt. This was the first activity that I honestly felt like I could die or be seriously injured. There were some points where we were walking on ice that was no wider than my feet with 150 foot crevasses on either side of me, and the only thing that was keeping me from falling in was 4 other people who probably would have fallen in with me had I taken a plunge. We reached the climb point and set up shop and ate a light lunch. The ice climbing was a surreal experience. You drop down into these 100 foot crevasses and are surrounded by nothing but sheer blue ice. The mountain guide we were with set up 5 or 6 routes for us to do and the harder ones were HARD. Some of them included overhangs that you were literally almost upside down while you were climbing up. After about 4 hours of climbing we made the dangerous trek back to the mountain base and headed for home. I was wiped out and ready to go to bed and it was only 6:00. I decided to read for a little bit and ended up getting to bed early as I had to wake up at the crack of down to catch a train back to Zurich for my flight.

Switzerland as a whole ended up being one of my favorite places in Europe. If I had to live anywhere in the united states it would be Colorado, and the picturesque backdrops provided by the swiss alps really reminded me of the rockies. Interlaken would without a doubt be my favorite place in Europe but there is a bit of a bias, the amount of money I spent on activities was astonishing and I feel that had I not of done these activities, Interlaken would have not nearly be as much fun. Switzerland is definitely a place that I will be returning to as I fell in love with the alps. Ok now im in my last week in London, so a few tidbits then off to meet the fam in Prague…..