Interlaken

Thursday night we left for Interlaken, and I had the craziest weekend! I apologiye for the long post, but this weekend was really insance! 

After a nice Italien lunch, we got our luggage and caught a train. Mas, Prissy, and Chrissy took a more direct route, while I went with Derek, Becca, and Erin. After our first train, our second train was delayed by 20 minutes, and our layovers were so short we were sure we were going to miss our second train! Since they had non-refundable tickets and because we were planning to catch the last train to Interlaken that night anyway, we were pretty much screwed. So, we got out the wine and had a nice wine and cheese party with pasteurized cheese and wine in paper cups. Before too long, we were surrounded by a bunch of Swiss Army guys and had made quite a few new friends. Apparently, they were heading back from the Netherlands, and were quite entertaining. When we finally made it to Basel, we figured we had missed our train, but one guy pointed out one of his colleagues headed to Bern also, so we dashed after him, and suprisingly, our next train was late, and still there! On that train, we met Fabian, another Swiss soldier, whom Erin and Becca convinced to come meet us in Interlaken. He lived two hours away, so we were pretty sure we wouldn't be seeing him. Our last train was also late, so we made it too, and ran in to Chrissy, Mas, and Prissy. Apparently they had missed their train, so we all arrived in Interlaken together and found our way to our hostel: the Funny Farm.

We checked in, and realized this was like nothing we'd ever stayed in before. I roomed with Mas and Derek, and our room had bunk beds pushed together, so the first night, I slept like a foot away from some random guy. The next morning, we got a better feel for the Funny Farm. The hostel was behind a hotel, and was a large wooden building with bunk beds. The place was obviously in disrepair, and the toilet was called the Thunderbox. Downstairs were showers and more toilets, but the whole thing was like summer camp. There was weed growing all over the place, with several large plants along the walkway between the showers and the main building. I think we all agreed it was a like a cross between summer camp and a frat house. There was a pool, volleyball court, and tennis court, and a large garden. There were two outdoor bars just 10 yards from the main building, and another nightclub and bar up front by the hotel. All I can say is, wow...

Friday we got up and walked into town, then came back and decided to go for a hike. We signed up for river rafting on Saturday, and Prissy and Derek decided to go bungy jumping, and Erin, Becca, Chrissy, Mas, and I and the girls' three male roommates came too. As we were heading out, Derek said he saw Fabian up front. We went up front, and he was there waiting for us! Although he didn't want to hike, we said we'd meet him at 6. We walked over to the next town and caught a train up the mountain. We got out at a small village and hiked 2.5 hours to the next village along a lovely raging river. The view was incredible, and we could see the glaciers on the mountains. At that point, Becca and I took a bus and a train back just in case Fabian was there. We arrived late, and didn't see him, so we assumed he had gone home. After a shower we met their two new roommates: girls from Canada. We were heading out for a burger, when we passed Fabian's motorcycle outside the hotel. There he was, waiting for us at 8! We invited him to come with us, and we all went and grabbed burgers at Baulmer's. After that, Becca, Fabian, and I walked downtown and grabbed a soda. He turned out to be a history buff, so we learned a lot about Switzerland's history and some American history too! It was interesting to talk to someone from Switzerland to give us some perspective on the country. After that we headed back to our hostel and met up with the rest of the group. Fabian left, but not before inviting Becca to Bern on Sunday. I was exhausted, so I went to bed. The guy next to me had left, so besides the party going on right outside my window, I was able to get some sleep.

Saturday morning we woke up and Chrissy, Becca, and I headed into town to do some shopping before our river rafting. The town was so cute, and we were able to get some nice souvenirs. It was incredible to look up and be surrounded by mountains all the time! After grabbing lunch at a local CO-OP, we headed back to the hostel for our river rafting. While we were waiting, we were all getting a bit nervous, and even more so after our "safety" discussion. We suited up in wetsuit coveralls, a jacket, booties, a helmet, and a life jacket, and then boarded a bus to the river. At the river, we divided into boats and had another safety discussion, which really started to freak me out! We learned the different commands and what to do if we fell out. Then we grabbed our boat and jumped in the river. River rafting was insane, much more difficult than I imagined. We were trying to paddle, being thrown left and right, while icy water was pouring into the boat! After we managed to get through the first set of rapids, we got out of the river to skip the closed off portion and bussed to the next rapid: something called Double F÷÷÷÷r. We had another safety talk, basically he said that if you tried to swim this rapid, you would never make it down another river again. I really did not want to get back in the boat. We set off, and it was crazy! Most of the commands were hold on, get down, where we jumped in the middle of the boat and grabbed the rope attached to the side of it. One rapid threw me mostly out of the boat, I was hanging on backwards with just my foot in the pocket on the floor of the boat. But we survived, and no one swam the rapid. When we got to calmer water, the guides started paddling up to other boats and either grabbing people and pulling them out or into their boat. Chrissy got grabbed, but our guide pulled her back in. Another boat grabbed me, and the next thing I knew, I was in a boat full of German Swiss speaking people. I made a few new friends, and a few minutes later, we pulled back up to my boat and I stood up to jump over. Next thing I know, the German guide is yelling, watch your head! I look up and my face is like three feet from a bridge, so I face planted into their boat. I did make it back to our boat, and we all got out to float in the glacier water...sooooo cold! We finished in a scenic lake, and swam our boat back to shore. It was so much fun! I wish that I had pictures, but I couldnt take my camera, and their pictures were too expensive. It was definetely something I wont forget! 

When we got back, we headed into town for some more shopping, then grabbed burgers at Balmers again. We got back, showered, and spent the evening celebrating our last night in Interlaken. Everyone made it back to their rooms, and Sunday morning we woke up, cleaned up, and Mas, Prissy, Chrissy, and I caught the twelve o clock train out of Interlaken. After some delays, we made it to Dusseldorf by 8 pm and I found an internet cafe to update the blog. After dinner with my host family, I crashed. 

Switzerland was so beautiful! To be able to see the Alps from everywhere, it reminded me a lot of Breckenridge or Park City, but much prettier. They are famous for their spring water, and fresh water flows from fountains that you can drink out of all over the city. Although the hostel wasn't the nicest, it was definetely an experience. I had such a wonderful time, and I really want to come back. It was nice to get out of the large European cities where we have been spending most of our time.