$witzerland

We arrived in Switzerland on Sunday around 3 pm. It was one of our prettiest rides yet, through lakes and mountains. And we played a lot of cards. 

When we got off the train we were tired and went through our usual stress of not knowing where we were or where we were going. It was also rainy and gross. Still, we fell in love at first sight with this place. 

Interlaken is surrounded completely by mountains. In every direction we looked, pine and stone cliffs rose up to meet the clouds. We couldn't tell how high up the   mountains went because the clouds covered their peaks. The town in the middle is small- only 5,000 people actually live here. It is clean as a whistle and expensive as hell. We figured all of that out pretty fast. 

We got to the hostel and decided to take the rest of the afternoon to regroup. We finally had good wifi after Munich, where I only really got it at the bookstore. So we could figure out our money situation, call parents, book future hostels, etc. I also did my laundry because it smelled worse after doing it in Munich and its free here. We ventured into the rain to walk 2 blocks to a tiny Thai food place for dinner and paid about $20 a plate (one of the cheapest places here. Everything is about twice as much as the US. $$$$$). We were a little too worn out to go find a grocery store and everything after 8 hours of travel and being in the rain. After dinner we went to bed. 

Monday morning we got up and had hostel breakfast- the usual combo of cereal and toast. Over breakfast Jeremy told me something that surprised me a little- he wanted to go bungee jumping. Well, I told him to go for it- we would be more frugal the rest of the trip. When else would he be back here, and where else can you jump with such amazing views? So we booked it in the morning and they said they would pick us up at 4. So in the morning we went for a walk around the town and got some groceries. Here are some pictures from the area. 

The park/landing field for paragliders. 

There's a little restaurant at the top of the hill. Hope you can make it out. More on that restaurant later...

Me!

Casino gardens under the mountain. 

The alps, no big deal. 

One of many rivers. 

One of the paths along the river. 

Old town square. Nothing going on but it's cute. 

Simply gorgeous. 

After our walk, the store, and lunch, I took a shower and we got ready to go. We had some mocrowave meals for lunch, which were easy and cheap. The van came and got us and I asked if I could come along. The guy said sure and we set out for Jeremy to go bungee jumping. 

We went and picked up other jumpers and hit a small snag- the van wasn't big enough for everyone. So the driver, trying to find a solution, told me that he would have to let me out somewhere. I was baffled by this- we had driven about 40 minutes from Interlaken, I had no clue where I was, and no clue how to get back. He drove me to the nearest train station and dropped me off. I bought a ticket for around $9, waited for 30 minutes, and took the train for 40 minutes back to Interlaken. 

It kinda sucked. 

I did get to see a beautiful waterfall on the drive. 

But I was still a little upset. 

So Jeremy went and I came back. I was feeling pretty crappy when I got off the train, so I went for a walk. I walked about 20 minutes down to Lake Brienz- one of 2 lakes surrounding the town that gives it it's name. It was a gorgeous walk and a beautiful view at the end. 

A piece of the river with a beautiful old building at the top. 

The path I took

The view at the end

And then I walked back through town to the  hostel. 

Paragliders. I wanna do that!

The water here is SO blue. It has something to do with how pure it is and the glaciers melting... I don't know. It's bright turquoise. Here's a duck to prove it. 

Shortly after I got back, Jeremy got dropped off. He had a HUGE smile on his face. He claimed it was exhilarating. He actually ended up doing a canyon swing- like a bungee but instead of just going up and down you swing out over a river canyon. He has some awesome pictures. I'm so glad he loved it!

That night we made some easy pasta and did something amazing- we watched a movie!!! And right after I had just posted about how we hadn't been watching any tv. Crazy! Anyway we made some friends- David, 21, and his sister Anna, 17, from Oregon. They are pretty cool, and we talked with them a while and watched "The Kid". It was cute!

Tuesday, yesterday, was rainy and gross. We got hostel breakfast and then headed out to play mini golf with David and Anna before the rain really hit. Our hostel (the best we've stayed at so far, only beating Prague because it has a clothes dryer) gives you a pass to the recreation center that had a pool, sauna, mini golf, etc. 

It was the hardest mini golf I have ever seen. Here is David attempting an actual mini golf DRIVE across a FIELD! What?!?!

It started to rain on us on our walk back. We stayed in the rest of the day, watching movies and drinking hot cocoa. I also booked the rest of our hostels for our WHOLE TRIP! It feels so good. Dinner was grilled cheese and tomato soup... 

... Just like mom makes it on cold rainy/snowy days. 

And that brings me to today! David and Anna left this morning after breakfast, and we decided to go for a hike. It was threatening to rain but was supposed to hold off until later. 

Remember that restaurant at the top of the hill? Straight up from my head in this picture?

We hiked to that! There is a tram but we are too intense for that :) as David says, if you're not living on the edge, you're  taking up too much space. 

Let's just go with that. 

2 hours up, 1.5 hours back. It was rainy at the top inside the cloud but not too bad, and it didn't start raining otherwise until we got all the way back down which was perfect. Here are many pics of the trail and the views along the way. 

The trail

View from part-way up 

A little higher...

Jeremy...

And then finally....!

It. Was. Awesome!!!! The clouds were pretty heavy so we couldn't see mountain tops, but the view was spectacular. 

When we got back down, we got groceries for dinner tonight and our train reservation for tomorrow. Did you know all Italian trains require reservations, and they're like $15 a person? Yea, neither did we. Ugh. 

But we made an amazing dinner that made us feel all better....

That's right people. Breakfast for dinner. Fried turkey, eggs, potatoes, and pancakes. We even splurged on syrup. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! Love hostel kitchens. 

So basically we never want to leave, so all of you will just have to move here!

But really, this has been one of our favorite places. The hostel is amazing, the activities and scenery beat everywhere else. And we even had a rainy day to relax, and new friends to relax with. 

Sadly, we leave tomorrow. Might try to squeeze in one more walk out to the lake if its nice. We have loved it here, but I'm so excited to go...

(Huge inhale)

To...

(Huger inhale)

ITALY!!!!!!!

Talk to you there!

<3