Switzerland, what a dream. For a first trip abroad, this one is going to be tough to beat!
It all started with a eight hour bus ride on a Thursday night. Bus2Alps was a great choice for Interlaken, and I highly suggest for any abroad students out there. They booked our hostel for us at Youth Hostel which definitely exceeded all expectations when it came to our first hostel stay. The Bus2Alps staff also had a member in the lobby at all times to help facilitate activities and answer any questions.
We arrived in Interlaken at 4am on Friday and didn’t get to sleep until 5am. We got a solid four hours of sleep, but it didn’t matter because we were running off such adrenaline from being in the most beautiful place on earth!
It was a bit foggy on that Friday morning but it didn’t stop us from paragliding. Once we took a shuttle up the mountain, we were basically inside a cloud on the side of the mountain that we were preparing to jump off of. My paragliding instructor stalled for about 30 minutes which made the nerves settle in, but we ended up jumping into a cloud and then soaring out of the other side to see a perfectly clear view of Interlaken from 100,00 feet up. Surrounded by glaciers topped with snow and two ice blue lakes on either side of me, it looked completely fake. (fun fact: Interlaken is named Interlaken because it means between two lakes)
After landing in the middle of town, we rewarded ourselves with some swiss hot chocolate. Although everything is absurdly expensive and I probably paid way too much, it was worth every penny! Not only did we decide to get hot chocolate, but also plenty of swiss chocolate treats and chocolate covered strawberries. Highly suggest Funky Chocolate if you ever find yourself there. They also put on amazing chocolate making classes that people did throughout the weekend.
After an amazing first day, we started day two bright and early in the Jugfrau ski region to get a full day of skiing in. It took a bus and two trains to get all the way up to the top. Once we got up there it truly looked like we were inside a painting. But, after an hour in, there was a complete white out. I had never experienced anything like it. Because we were so high up, there is the risk of being inside a cloud and that is exactly what happened.
We couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us which added a little bit of anxiety to our day, but it cleared out after lunch and we got to finish the day with perfect views of the Swiss Alps and plenty of powder to ski through.
The last run of the day was my favorite because we got to ski down the entire mountain which took about 30 minutes as it winded down for miles. Once we got down, we finished the day at Avocado Bar with a cider beer and lots of laughs.
After a jam packed weekend, we took a walk to the lake before departing on the bus back to Florence. The lake was so beautiful and quiet. It reminded me to just be still in the midst of this crazy busy adventure and remind myself how lucky I am to be living this life. Sometimes we get so caught up in being busy all the time and filling every second with something new, that we forget what were actually doing! God’s beauty is so evident and surrounds me everyday and it is easy to forget. But sitting next to the most beautiful clear blue lake, and being surrounded by mountains that I could not even comprehend how big they are, just made me feel so small and God felt so big.
I cannot say enough about this place. Switzerland, I’ll be back
-Nicolette
EUR Invited 