Amazing Switzerland

Everyone makes fun of me because after every weekend, I have a new favorite country. I can't help it, I'm seeing amazing places! But I'm going to say it... Switzerland IS my favorite. It's unlike any other part of Europe I have visited. We flew into Geneva and took a 3 hour train to Interlaken. Switzerland has a real Spring season; the snow melts, temperatures warm up and everything becomes green again. It was in the low to mid 60s the entire time we were there! Everything is green and a little snow can be seen at the very top of the mountains. Gorgeous! The houses are randomly spread out on the mountains and little villages pop up all over the place. Interlaken is situated between two lakes... hence the name Inter-Lake-n. One lake is directly glacier fed and the waters are turquoise blue... which then flows to the other lake on the opposite side of town. The city use to be a glacier bed so the area is completely flat but surrounded by the enormous Alps!

We stayed at Balmer's herberge, one of the most famous hostels in Europe and over 100 years old! It's obvious they've been around a while, it works like a machine! Full restaurant, laundry, game room, kitchen, TVs, movies, souvenir & mini grocery store AND their own water spring so any facet on the property has fresh water. Actually, all of the water in Switzerland is crystal clear. I'm not much of a water connoisseur (nor do I really care) but even I could tell the difference! Speaking of tasting... from my own extensive research (aka obsession with chocolate)
the Swiss really do make the best! In case you're interested.... the Lindt and Toblerone chocolate sold in the US is different than the kind sold in Europe. In Europe, it is made with Swiss milk, in the US it's made with our yummy, processed milk. However, the obnoxiously large Toberlone bars are made with Swiss milk all over the world. There really is a difference.

Well, let's cut to the chase! Interlaken is known for their extreme sports. Skydiving, mountain climbing, river rafting, canyoning, canyon jumping, etc. So of course, when in Switzerland, do as the Swiss! And we did the Canyon Jump! There is no need to panic, I'm writing this after the fact so apparently I'm alive and smiling... smirking actually because I know how thrilled Dad was to hear this. It's like bungee jumping except you are bound at the waist (not feet) and there is no whip-lash. Kaitlin video taped my jump so you can see it in my pictures!!! It was a 220 ft. canyon and I dropped about 180 ft free fall! I screamed at first but then couldn't make a sound. My stomach was literally in my throat and I couldn't make a noise! Chelsea went first so she was at the bottom when I went. You can hear me cheering with her at the end! You can't tell by the video but the canyon is beautiful and as I was swinging, I could see more of the other side. It was amazing! Kaitlin, Chelsea and I did the jump along with 2 other girls we met (they are from Washington but are currently interning at an army base in Germany, working in the school/daycare) and another woman named Sioux (Sue).

Sioux grew up in San Diego but has been living in Switzerland for over 10 years. We talked to her for a long time about traveling, extreme sports, Switzerland, etc. We were asking about all of lakes around Interlaken and how to get there. Coincidentally, Sioux lives in a 100 year old Chatet near the turquoise lake I described earlier. She offered to pick us up at the hostel, show us around and go to her house by the lake and chat more. It was incredible. Her house looked like a postcard picture and was truly right on the water. She made a fresh fruit salad for us and had popular Swiss cheese, crackers, cookies, chocolate.. everything. By far the most active and extreme sports oriented person I have ever met and not to mention genuinely nice. Sioux BASE jumps (Bridge, Antenna, Structure, Earth), skydives, has river rafted in Nigeria, canyon jumped in other parts of Africa, and when we asked her what her most extreme, thrilling or favorite thing was.. she said it was "jumping out of a fighter pilot plane in an inflatable raft then letting the raft go and parachuting onto the coast of Ecuador". umm... excuse me, what?!?! How amazing is that! She is now starting a business, in conjunction with the sports company with whom we canyon jumped, creating total vacation packages for tourists... ranging from sight seeing to extreme sports. It was so awesome to hear about her plans for the company. She gave us her contact information, brochures and said to contact her if we return to Switzerland. Her website is alpin-elite.com if you're interested... and they're pictures of her in action too!

Sioux was the one who told us about the glacier fed lakes and contents of the Lindt and Toblerone chocolate. We had so much fun sharing stories of our "American" moments while traveling and how difficult it is to learn a language. She did not speak a word of German when she moved to Switzerland and is now fluent! She goes back to San Diego for 3 months every year.. December, January and February... when it's freezing in Switzerland, and showed us her enormous supply of peanut butter and Trader Joe's goodies! We knew exactly how she felt!

Everyone we met in Switzerland was upbeat, adventurous, friendly and helpful. For once we didn't feel like people were staring at us for being under dressed. Actually, we felt a little overdressed wearing jeans and a pea coat. We needed rugged backpacks, hiking boots, bandanas and water canteens! The weather was amazing, which always makes traveling better! After our train back to Geneva, we flew to Barcelona and took an overnight train back to San Sebastian. Although we had quite a few difficulties getting there and getting home, the trip was DEFINITELY worth it! We were able to get a real insider's guide to Switzerland from an American perspective!