Interlaken

  Interlaken, Switzerland
Sunday, August 31, 2008

Day 12: August 31, 2008

Interlaken Sign

Brandon and Garrett went to go Canyoning and the rest of us slept in and got up in time for our free breakfast.  Brandon figured I would be too scared to go Canyoning so I decided not to go.  Sara, Bobby, Devin, Monica and I ventured out to the lake.  We were surprised because the lake did not have much of a beach area to relax at.  I guess coming from California we are spoiled by the beaches.  We found a little park along the water and laid out in the sun.  The water was too cold to go in.  After spending a while there we went back into town for some lunch.  We ate at a cute little Italian restaurant.  When we got back to the hostel Brandon and Garrett were back from canyoning.  It was an 8 hour excursion where they jumped off of many different rocks.  The scary part is that they jumped into small areas where they had to be careful not to hit the surrounding rocks.

Fondue Night

We took a rest and then went out to fondue with our travel buddies.  We all got cheese fondue for twenty dollars.  We were kind of disappointed that it was just cheese and bread but jumped on the opportunity to have some cheese in Switzerland.  Afterwards we walked around the city and went to bed.  We had four roommates in our hostel every night because they gave us a room of twelve.  Our roommates were from the states and from Australia and were pretty friendly.
 
Day 13: September 1, 2008

River Rafting

For our last day we went river rafting as whole group. It was fun to do an excursion with all eleven of us for our last day.   The guides picked us up from our hostel and took us to their base.  There we got wet suits, life vests, shoes and helmets.  This made me a little nervous because I realized we were going to do some real rafting.  I had only rafted down the Truckee River before so this was quite a bit more intense.  Our guide explained some safety things like what to do if you fall out and we practiced paddling on land in our boat first.  I rode with Brandon, Bobby, Sara, Monica and Devin.  Our guide led us down into the freezing water and we were on our way.

Team Pirates

The trip down the river was not without excitement but fortunately none of us fell out.  We had to get out at one point and drive a little because one of the areas was too dangerous and was actually a nature preserve.  We called our group Team Pirates and our guide told us we did a pretty good job.  It was nice to have a guide because he steered us and told us when to paddle and when to get down, etc.  

Rafting in Glacial Water

I was surprised because I thought we had to avoid all of the rocks but our boat actually bounced off of some of them if needed.  The end was the roughest part and we drove back and did it again.  We got pretty wet but our wet suits kept us warm.  It was definitely an exciting journey and I was glad that we did it.  Afterwards we went back to the hostel and took a rest.  Then we went into town and did some souvenir shopping.  We had dinner at restaurant that was actually from a best western hotel.  For dessert we got chocolate fondue to top of the dinner we had the night before. We ate dinner by the train station and Bobby left part way through for his train.  We were sad to see him go and said our goodbyes to the first member of our group to leave.  That night we hung out in our hostel and I gave Brandon his good bye present.  I gave him a photo album with pictures of friends and family.

Balmers Hostel

 
Reflection of Interlaken:
I had heard a lot about Interlaken so I was not surprised that it was beautiful and very naturey.  However, after being at Lucerne it could not compare.  Our hostel was a fun place to be because it had a game room, night club, and lots of young people staying there.  The city in Interlaken was cute but the excursions were more what it was about.  The river rafting was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.  It was a good last place to stay because it was very relaxing and we were able to recuperate a little.
 
Day 14: September 2, 2008
We got up early, packed our stuff and headed for the train station. We went to the train station with the Spain group because our train left a half an hour after theirs.  We said our goodbyes and they left for a twelve hour journey to Spain.  Sara and I took a 30 minute train to Speigel and of course ran into our travel buddies.  We took the same train to Milan and then they went to Venice and we took a three hour train to Florence.  We stayed in a hostel that night and checked into our apartment the next day.
 
Reflection of the trip:
We learned a lot every day when we were on the trip.  The eurail passes were not as easy as we expected and we found that it was best to make reservations the day before.  We had a fun time with the group that we had and bonded over all of our experiences.  Traveling with seven people was difficult at times but it was nice to have our own rooms at most of the hostels. It was nice to travel before we started because were able to adjust and learn a lot of things before arriving at our schools.  It is amazing to be able to see so many countries and places so quickly and I loved learning the history of all of the cities that we were in.  It was a memorable experience that I will never forget.