An Adventurer's Dream- Chp. 2

Wednesday, June 2nd

So three days later I am finally writing to you. I am sorry for the delay but I have been busy studying and all you know.. So here it is chapter 2 of my Switzerland adventure!

Chapter 2: Get Busy Living

I am not going to lie one of the reasons it has taken so long to write is because I can not think of how I can possibly describe Switzerland. I have drafted many emails trying to describe the scenery and atmosphere but none of my words seem to do it justice. So here is my attempt at describing one of the neatest places I have ever been.

I am constantly in awe of the greenery all around Europe. The lush green trees and plains is just not something you see in Dallas where every where you look you see a new building popping up. Instead of saying wow that is a huge building, I am saying wow look how pretty that mountain is! Pretty different huh? So the view of Switzerland and the Alps surrounding me all weekend was a treat. It was just not a scoop of peanut butter cup from Braum's but a banana split with extra whip cream. Riding by train to Switzerland you begin to see mountains and mountains and then more mountains. Scattered all around the mountains you would see houses and little villages. All of this was overlooking this massive body of water that also had towns along the shore looking up at the mountains. We rode their in the late evening so all the lights in the villages and houses were lit which made it even better!

We stayed in the town of Interlaken, which is right outside of Zurich. Interlaken was best of both worlds. They had a little downtown area that had shops including Chanel and of course great chocolate and then they had a little area which I would say was more for the "college kids". I hate to use college kids but you know it was more for the travelers and the hip area i would say, which included many hostels and even a backpackers villa (ooo la la). While we were there we stayed at Balhmer's which I would recommend for anyone that goes there. It was not your average hostel. It was rather the local hot spot ha. (All the local young workers that worked at all the outdoorsy places would come over in the evenings and hang out). All around there were fun little restaurants and literally every other store rented out mopeds and four wheelers.

So on Saturday morning we set out to do what I had been waiting for for what felt like a lifetime! (Okay really since I knew about it which was like a month ago). But I could not be any more excited about going canyoning! We woke up ate breakfast, which they served at our hostel, and Interlaken Outdoors, which was right next door came to pick us up at 8. Now if you do not know what canyoning is you can youtube Interlaken canyoning and watch the video! Canyoning is where you hike up the mountain and then go back down by means of the canyon of water carved from glacier runoff at the top of the mountain. So yes the water was chilly, okay freezing but they prepared us well because we had full wetsuits, water shoes, helmets, and harnesses. The only thing that really got cold were our hands and I think mine were close to frost bite. But it was an adventure of a lifetime and we repelled down cliffs, jumped off waterfalls, and slid down naturally formed slides until reaching the bottom. Do no worry I was leading the way the whole time and already ready to go again, but of course a more difficult one!

After we finished we put clothes on and were off to our next adventure. Well of course though we had to eat and had lunch first at this cute little Thai place right next to our hostel and Outdoor Interlaken. (Thai in Switzerland, who knew?) But we were glad that it was not bread and cheese which we felt like we were eating at every meal. Once our stomachs were happy we were ready to explore the mountains, on mopeds of course! Now everywhere you looked there were places that rented out bikes, mopeds, four wheelers, and even these cute little race car type cars. But we all had our hearts on mopeds. The first place that we went to check these things out they one, did not have enough for the 8 of us that wanted to go and two, you needed to have a motorcycle licensee to drive one, which none of us had of course. So we went to this other shop and what do you know they had enough, we did not need a motorcycle licensee, and they were cheaper! (For 3 hours it would only be $30, what a deal.) We thought we were set! Now when the first shop required a motorcycle license and the second shop did not, I think we should have gotten the hint that maybe these things would be harder to drive than we thought. But the guy of the shop seemed nice and told us that since none of us had ever driven one before we were going to go to a parking lot and test them out. So off we went pushing our mopeds down the road. When we got to the lot he showed us how and it seemed easy enough, right? Hmmm I would not say it is quite like riding a bike. Now do not get the impression something bad happened, because only one person wrecked into a parked van and had to pay around $300 dollars for the damages. Okay maybe two people wrecked, but the other girl's was not serious and the tail light just popped back on. But, we rode around that parking lot for I swear more than an hour and decided that maybe driving these mopeds up a mountain would not be the smartest decision. I am guessing half way through the moped training the owner got out his cigarettes and started to chain smoke he was so nervous about us. Now this man was short, probably my height, had a little chub, and spoke english with an accent so he was a funny character. We would just do small circles around the parking lot taking turns and hanging out. He would be like,"Oh I am just not quite sure about you," and point to someone or, "yeah I think that maybe for you guys it would just be smarter if you took some four wheelers." (Now mom, no, I was not clowning around. I was driving it, but we just did not have enough confidence after the two girls crashed to drive them on the roads none the less up the Alps.) So needless to say our mopeding adventure ended quickly and we pushed those bad boys back to the shop. I guess we should have listened about needing a motorcycle license, huh?

By the time we were done we just settled on walking around the town. Funny story though, while we were doing our walking we met the U.S. Ambassador of Switzerland and his family! We talked to them a bit and as we were fixing to leave the mom leaned over and goes here is my card, my husband is the Ambassador for Switzerland and we know the France Ambassador. Their daughter, who was 15 and was going to go paragliding, was like MOM, and the mom goes what, their mothers would want me to do this. (Just thought that was funny and thought mom that you would appreciate it). Anyway I have decided I want to be an ambassador!

So after walking around we grabbed dinner and just kind of hung out around our hostel. There was even a club underneath it called "Club Metro". See I told you it was a happening place. But we were tired after such a long day and went to bed early. The next morning we got up and once again explored the town looking for souvenirs. The only down part about the whole weekend was that it was a little rainy and muggy, but do not get me wrong it was still beautiful! Our train was at 1 to come back to Vichy and do not worry this time we all made it safely and together back home. (:


I have been lucky to have been able to go to so many great places growing up (thanks mom and dad) but I have to say Switzerland is definitely a place that stands out among the rest. I mean yes I know it is in Europe and yes I know that Europe is nothing like the United States but The Swiss Alps is a land of its own. Outdoor Interlaken's slogan's (the place where we went canyoning) is "Get Busy Living" and that is exactly what the people who live here do. They live. Needless to say I am already planning my next trip back where I WILL BE going sky diving. Oh and do not worry of course I bought some chocolate to bring home.

Au Revoir!