Switzerland

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We arrived in Switzerland after having taken 4 trains (7 hours total) from Munich to Stuttgart, to Zurich, to Bern, to Interlaken - it was an unintentionally fun day as we boarded the two best trains we have been on yet (very luxurious) and, of course, the scenery coming into Interlaken was something like we have never experienced. We stayed at the famous Balmers hostel where we found a ton of Americans and non showering Canadiens. It was very much like summer camp as they had bbq's (12 dollar burgers...ouch!) and a very outdoors enthusiast crowd. Having been exhausted from the "step your game up" nights in Munich, I decided to keep it a little more mellow - only heading to the hostel's "Metro Bar" for a few minutes (very much like a night in TJ - think high school kids and shady people getting drunk) although EJ found the courage to press on without me. In the midst of a deep R.E.M sleep, I was awakened by the rattling "thud" of a fat assed hill-billy Mississipi State student in our room who was so drunk that he started to circle our room - half totally wasted and asleep. I knew what would happen next as he aimlessly circled our room. My fists already clinched, the drunken scumbag propped himself on the bunk next to me (our boy Rich) and began to urinate all over Rich's bed and surrounding floor for about 2 minutes. As we laced the air with obscenities, the guy was totally confused and refused to believe that he was responsible for the puddle of piss in the middle of the floor!! It was actually hillarious!! We woke up early the next morning to go "canyoning" - a very popular pastime of Interlaken visitors. Not sure what I had gotten myself into, I got onto the bus for the one hour excursion to the canyon sight (an hour outside of Interlaken..Lucerne). Our guides were a no non-sense German twenty something named "Otto" and a Kiwi bloke. After putting on our wet suits, helmets, harnesses, and booties on, we headed for the base of the canyon where we were given further instructions and a warning that we could no longer turn back. Our first jump was a 30-40ft cliff jump that involed us "jumping to the right" in order to elude the huge boulders below. Anway, I will continue this shortly as my time has run out...stay tuned!!

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Photos

Switzerland
The views from the hostel...the weather will still be cloudy today