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Well I titled the last entry “free fallin” but never got to the “free fallin” part of the entry!
May 29th… we booked our Switzerland trip through a company called bus2alps. We all received an email that told us to meet at the train station at 730 pm at international departures. We were told that our guide, Sam, would be there to meet us. Well 730 turned in 8 and 8 into 830 and there was still no sign of
our 6”6’ guide…we got a hold of him and apparently our bus got a flat in Rome. We all used the time to get more snacks for the ride ahead and hung tight until he finally got there! It ended up that we were the only group that booked for this weekend through bus2alps so we had the bus to ourselves. There were also two Australian sisters who were on the bus but using it really only for a ride. They sat up front and HATED us all by the end of the ride…which was a LONG one. The bus ride was supposed to be 6 hours, which gave us plenty of time to drink wine and eat food… of
course everyone was excited about this…until we were told that the bus’s bathroom didn’t work and that we would need to make pit stops along the way…great. Well that ended up being the least of our worries. As we all dozed in and out and had a few glasses of wine in between, the engine of the bus was overheating. This meant that we had to go at a speed of about 15km for 3 hours…which made our trip turn into a 11 hour one instead of a 6 hour one. Not only was the engine breaking down,
but our driver was too. He was about 3 feet tall and falling asleep as he tried to navigate the damn land yacht. It got so bad that at one point the whole windshield was fogged up and Sam had to use his sweatshirt to wipe it down because the driver was indifferent to it!!!
May 30th -FINALLY we got to the hostel and basically took a 3 hour nap (630 to 930 am) we woke up and were all zombies but were not about to waste our first day there. We used our free breakfast vouchers (muesli, fruit , and orange
juice) and booked the activities we wanted to do. It ended up that Pepe and Matt wanted to sky dive (I really wanted to too but it was $400!!) and the rest of the girls and guys wanted to white water raft. Deana, Hilary, and I really had no interest in rafting so we decided to take the whole day and walk around Interlaken…it was awesome. We ended up in the main town and had wine and pasta for lunch…then we hiked to the top of one of the ALPS!!! It was a 3 hour path but we did it in 2 15…it was 1350 meters high!!! At the top there is a restaurant (you can take a train to and from it if you need to) so we sat up there for a while and took awesome pictures. We climbed down still with time to spare before everyone got back from their day, so we stopped in a small mom and pop souvenir shop and bought swiss cross t-shirts. We got back and order Thai food with everyone, ate at the hostel, and crashed hard.
May 31st- Today was the most memorable day of my entire life. You would
not believe for one second what I did… I still feel adventurous!! We had to wake up and be ready by 8am for canyon jumping. There were 10 of us (pepe and matt didn’t sign up). We squished into the van provided to us and got taken to the equipment shop down the street. We were sized up for our body suits, helmets, vests, and shoes and then we piled into the van again. We drove about 40 minutes up a mountain until we reached a small little bakery and grocery store. The guides told us that they would supply us with bread, cheese, and beer at the end of the day and that we should buy anything else we all want. It worked out perfectly because we all wanted the same type of things so we just got a bunch of stuff to split. After our little food pit stop, we drove for another 15 minutes…vertical. We were going up such a steep mountain that I felt like I was going to fall out of the trunk of the van (kinda like when you go up a roller coaster before the 1st drop.) Once we reached our site, we
had to change into our wetsuits and gear…quite the interesting, wet, and smelly task!!! To get to our first jump, we had to hike in our “superhero” get ups for 25 minutes, we were walking across trunk bridges over 50 ft drops, bending under trees, jumping gaps…etc…it was at this point that I literally feared for my life!! What the hell did I do to get myself here? And why? When we got to the first jump we heard a little safety speech that basically sent the message that if you do this wrong you will become one with the rocks. Then they told us to jump. Once you made that first jump, it was technically impossible to turn around…you had to keep going. The day lasted from 8-4 and all of those hours in-between, I was literally chucking my body off canyon boulders or sliding into rapids from 60 ft high. My favorite part (and probably the least adventurous) was when we got belayed behind a waterfall. You just kind of hung out as you watched over everything and everyone under you through water that was in front of you. It was awesome. I wish it was easy to
put into words what the day was like, but it is so hard to describe! We had such a fun time, I would spend the quadruple the 200 dollars plus more to do it again. When we got back to the base, we had to clean out our suits and then the photographer set up a slide show of all the pictures he took throughout the day. They were hilarious.
Back at the hostel, we showered up and happy hour began! Balmer’s had 2 happy hours, one from 6-7 and one from 10-11…so you know we utilized both. The deal was 2 for 1 and they were HUGE!!! I tried this “cider” beer…and fell in love! I have to get it in the states!! It’s made from apples (hence “cider”) and is a little bit sweeter than regular beer…it was awesome. A bunch of us got food from the hostel grill, but Amy and I wanted the Thai again, so we went to the restaurant to order out and ended up sitting with one of the canyoning guides and Sam (our Bus2Alps man) they were both so much fun to talk to. Afterwards we all sat in the “mirror room”
of the hostel and played card games until we decided to go downstairs to the hostel’s club. It was PACKED! Because Balmer’s has the only bar in Interlaken, locals, other hostels, and Balmer’s people are all there. It’s not just college kids either which was cool. We drank and talked and danced for hours! I ended up talking to some cute guy from Minnesota, but he was kinda dry (you win some, you lose some). We played cards again when we were done with the club and then crashed. Dolan was snoring SO loud that pepe had to come sleep in our room (Hilary had met a guy and disappeared!) so when she came back she kicked him out…it was not a pretty scene!
June 1st-Today was really low key because our bus had to leave at 2 and we were all kind of feeling last night. The girls decided to just walk around Interlaken and lay on the grass, and the boys did their own thing. We ended up going to a famous chocolate place to have a taste of the famous swiss chocolate and then we went to hooters (of all places) for lunch. Food in Interlaken
was unbelievably expensive, so it was nice to have a bit of a break. The bus arrived and we were off….until the bus basically fell apart. The engine was overheating, there was a waterfall inside the bus from the AC breaking, and we had to go about 15 km for a good chunk of time (just like on the way there). This ride was a bit mellower because of the time of day and the weekend we just had…but we were all so antsy by the end of the 9 hour trip. When we got back to the apartment it was so nice to see my room and bed. I fell asleep instantly!
June 2nd-I really needed a day today to get things done. I left my apartment and went to walk around. I ended up putting my bartering skills to work and got purses for Lys and me…they are awesome! One costs 125 and instead I got the man down to 125 for 2…it was great…now we just need matching wallets!! After that I grabbed lunch to go on the Ponte Vecchio and sat on the bridge and just watched all of the tourists. I went to the
internet café after that and spent 2 full hours’ updated pictures, researching for my paper and checking/sending emails. I really wanted to go to the gym but it was a national holiday in Italy today so a lot of things (including the gym) were closed. Instead I went on my favorite run up to the Piazzale de Michelangelo. ..it is so gorgeous. When I got home, I showered, made myself some food and all of us girls went to the boys apartment to play beer die and hang out. It was a really fun night but low key at the same time because we all needed to study for Wednesday’s exams. When we got back to the apartment we made a community pasta bowl and all dug in…we stuffed our faces (as usual) and went to bed.
June 3, 2008-Today I went to school to check my email and get some more things finished. I felt really, really sick today and tried so hard to push through. I thought that maybe the gym would help me, but it turns out I just didn’t have the energy…so I applied myself to shopping I went to a bunch of boutiques, to a department store called Zara, and to the open market…I ended up getting next to nothing (a dress for 12 euros and 3 for 10 euro scarves), but it was so nice to get up and walk around. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and made myself a delish supper when I got back (pesto chicken and cheese wrap with a bean & sundried tomato pasta salad. Too bad my stomach didn’t like it as much as my taste buds did. I studied for a bit and went to bed hoping to feel better in the morning….
June 4, 2008- I couldn’t sleep for the life of me. I woke up at 5 and tossed and turned until 5:30 when I decided to go for a run….I know I’m crazy, but I couldn’t just lay there. After my butt-crack-of-dawn run, I thought I was definitely better…bad judgment once again. I rallied my way through my exams (1 of which I did horrible on) and then we had a field trip to Grom, one of the most famous gelato places in the world…we had a tasting and then all got free cones (or cups). The tasting was pistachio and then I got a combo of “crem di grom” which is vanilla, chocolate chunks and biscotti, and torroncino funny how crème and sugar makes you feel a little better every time!! We actually learned that gelato is only 10% fat (ice cream is more than 40) and that there is ONLY natural ingredients….pistachio is actual pistachios, not flavoring. There is a lot fewer calories in it too…and it’s so much better!! I cannot wait to bring mom and dad there!! After class a few girls went to shot café for a celebratory happy hour (which turned into a few hours) but I wanted to make sure my stomach was okay for the night. I went back and hung out with Kami and Amy until the other girls got back to the apartment. Then we all went to a place called Kitsch which is like a 10 minute walk from us. A really popular thing for Italian bars to do is this thing called Aperativo…I looked up info about the place, because its tough to describe…
“This quirky “sophist-artistic” tribute to the finer details which make for an intriguing evening retreat is a gem of a bar offering a kaleidoscopic plethora of delicious cocktails and a famed aperitivo to match the variety of its’ drinks menu.
Situated just inside the centro storico on the angle of Piazza Beccaria, there is no doubt that this already over-patronised bar would be even more rammed if it was positioned more centrally. Aperitivo here is unmatchable in Florence for quality and quantity with a range of cold and hot dishes (served by the in-house chef!), and for the few remaining smokers in Florence, there is a covered (and in winter, heated) seating area located directly outside where you can sit to enjoy your food.”
….so basically, you pay 7.5 euros for a super strong drink and then get all you can eat food…that is delish and there is so much variety!! We will definitely be going back there!
We all came back to the apartment (the girls who went to shot café went to bed…I guess they started a bit too early!) and we ordered wine from “Happy”, a little Asian guy that delivers wine. We ordered 8 bottles for 20 euro…what a deal I didn’t drink to spare my tummy, but we played cards literally all night…it was an awesome time.
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