A weekend of canyons, chocolate, and cheese - Switzerland

Switzerland was amazing!  Definitely my favorite weekend trip so far.  We departed for Interlaken, Switzerland on Thursday evening and arrived around 7 am Friday.  There were seven of us (Bre, Kristi, Sara, CJ, Ellen, Peyton and myself) and we traveled through the company Bus2Alps with 40 other students.  We stayed at Balmers Herberge, which was adorable and the staff were so friendly.  It was on Europe's Top Ten Hostels last year so you know it's good!  We stayed in a room stuffed full of 10 bunk beds which reminded me of good old Hoofbeat Ridge Camps circa 1999.  




The weather was ironically too good: canyon jumping (which our entire group had been stoked about for weeks) was cancelled because the melting ice was falling into the canyon, which would be dangerous to swing through.  We still wanted to have our parents freak out about some sort of crazy activity on our trip, so we decided to paraglide.  I'm so glad we did!  Being 2,500 feet up in the air above beautiful Interlaken is a site I will never forget.  My "pilot" Nick was hilarious and made the 15 minute flight to the ground fun and enjoyable.  Near the last few minutes of the flight he asked if I liked roller coasters and proceeded to do crazy turns which felt like complete upside-down flips.  This was very fun/scary but my head paid the price once we landed - I had a headache for an hour.  (Side note: Why do I still get motion sickness? I thought I would have outgrown that by now).

Setting up the parachutes

Me paragliding! Photo taken by Kristi above me

Disclaimer: Photo not enhanced

One of my favorite parts of the trip besides paragliding was walking to one of the lakes surrounding Interlaken, Lake Brienz.  The water was a beautiful turquoise blue, I still can't believe it was real.  My photos all look like they could be postcards.

Me, Kristi, Sara, and Bre at the Brienz

That same day we took a bus and train up to Grindelwald, which had even better views of the alps.  It was a cute mountain town and we walked around for a while. I got excited when I saw a sign for "The Avocado Bar" but unfortunately it did not have anything avocado related.  (While most American students miss burgers, fries, or peanut butter from back home, I am seriously missing avocados.)

Grindelwald

On Saturday we took a day-trip to Zurich which is about two hours north of Interlaken.  Zurich was cool but SO expensive, especially the food.  For example: my favorite drink at Starbucks (which was our first stop off the bus) was almost $8...I'm not going to say it wasn't worth it though.  After we walked around and climbed to the top of a church for some beautiful views, we played in the Franz Carl Weber toy store where we had way too much fun.  

The whole group in Zurich

Me and Bre at the Franz Carl Weber toy store - we each found our sorority's mascot in the Steiff section

Inside Teuscher Chocolate

I guided the group to Teuscher Chocolate, which is headquartered in Zurich and which also happens to be my mother's favorite store.  (I may have gotten her favorite champagne truffles, but shh!)  


Hopefully the truffles will last until tomorrow when my parents come to Florence.  I am so excited to see them and show them my new home.  I love that I am at an age where I can admit that I'm stoked to chill with my parents for a week.  Not sure what is on the exact schedule while they are here but I'm sure there are some exciting activities planned.  That's all for now!