Bonn-Salzburg

Between visiting Bonn and Vienna, we decided to go Salzburg for a weekend. There were no host families or supervisors, just us kids. How we managed to get to Salzburg was a feat in itself, and navigating Salzburg once arriving is a whole different topic. Nevertheless, we survived, and we had an extraordinary amount of fun.

              Like most students on the trip, when it comes to figuring out transportation, I have established myself as a follower. I could probably figure out the transportation myself, but it is way easier when other people figure it out for you. On the way to Salzburg from Bonn, Nicole, Kacy, and Annie led us from darkness into the light. But seriously, it would have taken longer to get to Salzburg without them. They led us to the proper platforms, and told us which bus was ours. So far, I have learned from this trip that when the transportation instructions are not in English, it is important to plan beforehand, and they have figured that out.

              The first object on the list in Salzburg was paragliding. Up until about a week before paragliding, I thought paragliding was hang gliding. Honestly I was relieved that paragliding involved a parachute instead of just an oversized kite. I was the third and final group of 4 to go paragliding, so I witnessed people go before me. After each of them landed, they only said good things, so I had high expectations. When it was finally my turn, Wolfgang, our guide, drove us up to the mountain we would be jumping off of. That’s right. Jump off of a mountain. We signed some papers basically giving up our lives before we went, and then it was time. The guide said “take one step forward, then two steps backwards!” Stumbling, I managed to follow his orders and we ascended into the air at a crazy pace. Before I knew it, we were gliding over the mountains doing all sorts of g-force flips and turns. Scared at first, I eventually relaxed and the rest was amazing. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

              The second object on the list was canyoning on Sunday. I also had no clue what this was about. I don’t plan many things as one could probably tell from reading my blog. Anyways, it exceeded my expectations. There was so much cliff jumping and sliding down slippery waterfalls. Our guide, while repelling us down waterfalls with a rope he was controlling, would often stop repelling us in the roughest part of the waterfalls. Keep in mind, this water is freezing cold. I’m just glad we were able to get some great gopro footage from the excursion.