Switzerland

I took my first trip last weekend: Interlaken, Switzerland. I feel like many trip descriptions begin with long introductory paragraphs where I should tell you that I took a bus to get there, that the bus left at 7PM and arrived in Interlaken around 4AM, that I spent thirty euro on snacks at the pit stop, that the bathroom on the bus didn't have working lights or a working lock (so using the bathroom required some intense concentration: cell phone light in one hand, holding the door shut with the other and full body and mind concentration for aiming), that we watched like six movies on the bus, that some stupid kids kept blocking the TV screen. But don't worry, I don't think you want a long introductory paragraph, so I'll spare you and I'll tell you the good stuff.

Switzerland is beautiful. It was really cool when we first arrived in the country because it was evident that the landscape had immediately changed from flatter lands to valleys and hills and mountains and houses on hills surrounding bodies of water. However, what was really cool is that we really couldn't see any of this change. We could only see the lights from the houses, and we could only tell from the shapes of the lights and the occasional reflections from water what we were looking at, what we couldn't see but could imagine, what we would be able to see if it was lighter out.



We checked out the ski town Grindlewald, the first day. Walked around, ate a lot of chocolate, you know. Had a hamburger. Also, a jelly filled donut. Also went in to a place called "Espresso Bar," ordered a coffee and was laughed at, told that it was an alcohol bar, no coffee. Yes, Espresso Bar, I should've known.

The second day was really great. We took a train and then a bus to get to this town called Istlewald. It was probably the most beautiful place I've ever been to. I just spent like five minutes trying to describe it -typing out sentences and erasing them, trying to think of adjectives and stuff-, but realized my words really couldn't do the town any justice, so I figured out how to upload pictures, so check that out. It really was an amazing place. We spent most of our time there on the dock. Great weather day, so just enjoyed the breeze and the scenery. It was funny because we barely saw anyone there. It seemed like we were in some sort of deserted town; as great and relaxing as it was, I remember thinking that I wouldn't be surprised to find out, after getting home and doing some research, that some sort of plague had recently cleaned out the city. The lights were even off in the town's hotel. My roommate did a Wikipedia search when we got home and found out that the town has a population of 300 (and that something like .7% speak french...what is that? like three people?). No plague, by the way.



That night we went night sledding. The sledding itself was very fun, but the whole experience was something totally new and truly incredible to me. We boarded a gondola once it got dark. The gondola took us to the top of this mountain. Once on top of the mountain we had to hike about ten minutes to get to where we could begin sledding. The hike was really amazing. What was so amazing exactly was that we could barely see anything. Looking down all I could see were the clouds, about 200 or so feet below me. Looking in front of me all I could see were the blinking dots on the backs the other sledders (so we could find our way on the sled track), and looking up all I could see were only about a million stars. It also felt very strange because, with the clouds being way below us, it felt like we were on top of the alps. However, if we looked up only a little bit we could see the lights of houses that were even higher than us. However, we couldn't see the mountains on which they stood: just the lights. It was really a crazy feeling. I felt like I was in space or something. Or, more seriously: on the Rainbow Road level of Mario Kart.

Sledding was very fun. Probably very dangerous, but it didn't really feel that way. There'd be portions of the track where I could see to my side, and I'd see that I was about three feet away from the edge of the mountain. No barrier or anything, it's a wonder there were no injuries or deaths or anything.

The bus-ride home was beautiful. We probably saw every sort of weather you could imagine. In fact, we were in an intense fog for a good two hours; we couldn't see anything more than five feet in every direction.

Our bus was pulled over at the Swiss/Italy border. The cops (I guess Swiss) wanted to do a drug test/search of our bus. I thought it was going to stink having to get everyone to pee in cups and wait a few hours for the results... but the Swiss are much smarter than I. The drug test consisted of everyone walking one by one in front a drug dog. I guess, if anyone had drugs, the dog would attack. What an efficient way to drug test!

Trip one was a great success. I'll probably remember more blogworthy material in a couple days and post more, so if you want to reread this post every day for the next week or so, you'll be set and won't miss out on a single detail for sure.