 |
| View from the top of the Swiss Alps |
Alright, so it's been just a little too long since I last updated my blog. Unfortunately my immune system is not adjusting to Italy quite as well as I am- I've been sick on and off for the past three weeks! But that certainly did not stop my traveling! I'll start catching up by going back to the weekend of February 24th.
At 8 PM on Friday night, I boarded a charter bus along with about 60 other college students--can you imagine the chaos?? We spent the next 12 hours driving north...north to the Swiss Alps! By the time I awoke after a very uncomfortable night's sleep, I was surrounded by snow covered mountains. A few hours later and our bus pulled up to Balmer's Lodge, the cozy little hostel where we would be staying for the weekend. The temptation to go back to sleep was outweighed by my curiosity to explore the
 |
| Spinning restaurant at the very top! |
mountainous region and the knowledge that I would only have the next two and a half days here. Along with a couple of friends, I decided to break off from the majority of the students who were going skiiing and snow-boarding, and make the long journey up to the top of the mountain to the town of Grindlewald...and I'm not kidding when I say long journey! It must have been 2 buses, a train, and 5 different gondolas. All the while we were snapping photos on the way up, mesmerized by the spectacular view each mode of transportation provided us with- each more incredible than the last. When we finally made it to the top of the mountain, the view was well worth the almost 2 and a half hours it took us to get there. <Trivia fact: this part of the mountain is where parts of the first James Bond movie were filmed!> After admiring the mountains' beauty, we headed into the one restaurant at the tip of the peak which to our surprise was spinning, providing its diners with an aerial view of the peaks. After a wonderful Swiss-German lunch of a traditional stew, we began the just as long trek back down the mountain.
 |
| disclaimer: this is not a fake backdrop! |
Upon reaching the base of the mountain, the adventures of the day were far from over. Next comes one of my favorite parts...the Swiss chocolate. They sure don't exaggerate about how delicious that is. Nestled inside of a hotel cafe was a chocolate factory where I attended a lesson on how chocolate is made. I saw every ingredient from the cacao bean to the milk powder, and then was allowed to "sample" the different types of chocolate produced. Mind you, I was allowed to "sample" as much chocolate as I wanted so by the
 |
| Chocolate men! |
end of the presentation, I had quite the full belly! After seeing how chocolate was made, we next learned how the shop made different types and shapes of chocolate candies. We saw molds of different animals and learned how they were used and even got to try it out ourselves! At the end of the demonstration, I was given a voucher for ten swiss francs worth of chocolate and was able to pick out whatever I wanted-- right, because all I needed at this point was more chocolate! But twist my arm and you can always get me to pick out more chocolate. With my little assortment of goodies to save for later, I headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner.
After a brief nap, my friend Meghan and I headed to the restaurant of our hostel where we discovered we could have a Swiss fondue for dinner. We enjoyed a beautiful fondue meal with swiss cheese, bread, and potatoes. Within less than 24 hours of being in the country, I had already experienced the alps, the chocolate, and the cheese-- in my opinion, it's three most important aspects.
 |
| View from bell tower in Zurich |
The next day, Meghan, Carly and I took a day-trip to Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, which was only about 2 hours away. Feeling a little bit under the weather, I wasn't quite up to my normal standards of adventuring but somehow succeeded in climbing to the top of the bell tower to get the incredible view of the city down below. From the tower I could see the lovely pond, buildings down below, all with beautiful steeples, and the rest of the city. I spent the next few hours wandering around the streets of Switzerland where Carly and I found its oldest church and a lovely little park, among other things. Our intentions of shopping were reconsidered when we found out just how expensive the city could be... 5 Swiss francs just for a cup of tea... that's more than 5 American dollars! But just exploring the streets turned out to be entertaining enough on its own.
The name "Interlaken" means between (inter) lakes (laken) in German. The city is literally situated between two lakes. So on Sunday morning, our last day, we decided to catch a glimpse of one of these famous lakes before heading out of town. It only took us about 30-45 minutes to walk to the lake. The
town is so small that after the first 10-15, we seemed to be walking down a trail through the wilderness. All the while we had a view of the majestic mountains which only got more incredible by the step. We
followed a river to where it opened up to the lake which was surrounded by mountains, one of the
most beautiful sites I have ever seen. The clear blue of the water contrasting with the green of the
 |
| The lake |
trees around it and the backdrop of snow-covered mountains was incredible. We didn't have long to take in the view before the freezing rain started and we were forced to start the walk back to town in the cold and wet weather...a not so ideal ending to such a wonderful trip. But by the time we reached the town, the rain had just about stopped and we decided it was time for a little souvenir shopping. We headed into a little shop where Carly and I purchased our first Swiss Army knives...better watch out! Before long, it was time to get back on the bus and come "home" to Rome. Another 12 hour bus ride later I found myself back in my apartment at 1AM, getting in my bed only to wake up for a day of school the next morning...I can't believe this is my life.
 |
| Beautiful sunset in Interlaken |
No comments:
Post a Comment