Interlaken, Switzerland: A Tale of Ups and Downs

So, on Friday morning Sarah, Olenka, Will, and I headed off to the Swiss Alps! We flew into Geneva and then jumped on a three hour train into Interlaken. Nestled at the base of the alps near the lakes, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth and the extreme sports capital of the world! When we arrived however it was a little cloudy and rainy. We were very worried that we wouldn’t get a good view of the mountains and that we wouldn’t be able to pursue our grand plan: skydiving!!! We arrived at our hostel: B&B Rugenpark, and were amazed! A cute little b&b owned by Chris an American and his Swiss wife Ursula; it was super cute, with an amazing view, and Swiss chocolates on the pillow. Plus, they had a dog: Monty- sooooo cute. He was also amazing; he could open the doors all on his own. We had quite a good time with him. Anyways, Chris and Ursula were super nice and gave us tons of advice.

We explored the town of Interlaken, and then as the day was ending things began to clear up. We headed up to this tiny village in the mountains to check out the view. The sheer size and beauty of the Alps was unlike anything I could have possibly imagined. Note, though it was very warm at the base in Interlaken, up in the mountains it was pretty frickin cold. So to warm ourselves up we headed to a traditional Swiss fondue dinner. We had potato soup and cheese fondue. Now, I’ve had fondue in the states, but this was completely different. The cheese was super thick and sharp, plus Chris warned us that the Swiss eat in the winter because then you get this huge ball of cheese in your stomach and it takes a lot of work to get rid of it so it keeps you really warm. I didn’t really believe it, but yes, that night- huge ball of cheese in my stomach! I know, it’s very attractive. We also got Kirsch, Swiss cherry liquor, which is supposed to help digest the cheese, but I didn’t really feel it working.

So the next day was d-day: yes, we were going to go skydiving!!!!!! After a delicious coffee, nutella, cheese, and fruit breakfast we chilled in our room staring at the amazing (and super clear/sunny!) view of the mountains and played a little phase ten. We were very much freaking out. Will and Olenka made bets about when Sarah was going to cry, and we discussed the idea of wills and goodbye letters. Then we got the call: it was time to go! Alexis picked us up from the b&b, she’s a school teacher from New Jersey who married Steph the owner of the skydiving company and moved to Switzerland. They as well were so sweet to us. We met their daughter Skyler, and talked with them for a while. We decided to do skydiving from a helicopter! Apparently this is not usually available, especially in the states, and is supposed to be a lot cooler. For one thing the helicopter can hover so you don’t have to jump out of a moving object. We went to the hanger in the bottom of a valley, surrounded by mountains, and got trained for our mission. We were going up 12,000 ft, two of us at a time, tandem with Steph and Andy. Olenka and I went up first, I went with Andy. He was very sweet which was good since you know he was completely in control of my life. They were super funny though, talking and laughing with us the whole time. After getting suited up we got strapped to the guys and got in the helicopter. The door to the helicopter, oh yeah, not there! The scariest part was going up, there were these enormous mountains and glaciers right out in front of us! Olenka went first with Steph, they stood on the ledge and then just you know tipped over and fell out! Then it was my turn, ironically it seemed so incredibly unfathomable that those mountains were right there and that I was so high up on the edge of a helicopter that I couldn’t be scared anymore. It was just too unbelievable. Andy asked me if I was ready and all the sudden we were falling! It was the craziest most awesome thing ever. You know that feeling when you do drop zone at PKI and start falling and your stomach just drops? That feeling was completely absent! It didn’t feel scary, it just felt natural and of course pretty damn cold. The view was incredible and you feel like you’re flying not falling! It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done in my life!

After such an incredible experience we decided to have a little victory celebration at… Hooters. Yes Hooters, hey I have been without American food for three months! Plus I am very very broke, and Hooters in Interlaken is super cheap. So yeah, amaretto sours wings and burgers for all! Okay so fish for me, but still! We hung out for a while, grabbed some Swiss chocolate and stopped a crazy festival that was going on. Then it was time for sleeping!

So Sunday turned out to be an unexpectedly eventful day for me. We were heading back to Geneva on a 10am train, so we decided to pay for our lodging before breakfast. So I go to pull out my credit card, and oh yeah, I don’t have my wallet! Shit. Shit. Shit. This was not good. We searched the room, but it was clearly not there. And don’t mistake the severity of the situation. Brilliant person that I am not only does my wallet contain my credit card, it contains my cash, my debit card, my drivers liscense, my student id, and oh yeah my passport. Very very bad. Okay, I thought, so it had to be at Hooters. So it’s like 8am, but I run to Hooters, and apparently Hooters in Interlaken serves quite a hopin breakfast. Nonetheless, the manager wasn’t there and he was the only one that could open the safe, and guess what? He wasn’t showing up until 2. I told the girl I was supposed to leave at 10 but I had lost my wallet with my passport and she said: shit. Helpful. So I run back and check the train schedule, the train that leaves at 2:10 arrives in Geneva at 5:30 and our flight is at 6:10. Not good. So we reconvene and I send the others on to Geneva. Being the amazing friends that they are they offered to stay, but I wasn’t going to make them miss the flight they paid for, and oh by the way we all had exams Monday morning at 9:30. Sooo, Sarah paid for my room, gave me an unsigned credit card and her phone card, and Will gave me 50 bucks, and I headed back to Hooters to hope the manager showed up early. I went in and the same girl saw me, I ordered a hot chocolate and she let me have a table for a couple hours and brought me a free croissant. Seriously, I can understand that the Swiss are neutral; they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Well, the manager showed at 12:30, but sadly enough he hadn’t found a wallet the night before. I felt really sorry for that girl when she had to tell me. So, I was contemplating how I was going to get to the embassy and call my parents to stop all my credit cards and then pay for a new flight and a hotel, when I passed by the chocolate shop. Hey, I thought, it’s worth a shot at this point- guess what? Did someone find a wallet here? Yeah, is this yours? I have never been so ecstatic in my life, except for maybe the skydiving. I jumped on a train asap and made the flight. It was really an intense trip!!! So, no more of me loosing stuff would be good, but thanks to my awesome friends who got my back. And that is a really long entry so I’m impressed if you made it this far. Buona sera!