Interla-canIlivehere ??

This weekend we visited Interlaken, Switzerland. The whole gang went and by some grace of god all 44 of us arrived home in one piece!  Some weekend highlights:

•         Night sledding more appropriately referred to as a DEATH SENTENCE.
•         Paragliding over the Swiss Alps.
•         Whitney Unis buying an “I (cheeseburger) America” shirt off a random European man’s back.

We took a charter bus to and from Interlaken and stayed at Balmer's Hostel. HUGE wake up call packing wise. For a two day trip I looked like I was ready to go backpacking through Europe for 6 months. Packing for week long trips will not be an easy feat. Our first stay in a hostel was also an enlightening experience... Balmer’s was by no means dirty but you sure don’t get towels, mini shampoo or a complimentary chocolate on your pillow each morning...

Night sledding, or should I say icy-slope-colliding was an experience to remember. We took a gondola up the mountain and enjoyed cheese fondue. All smiles as I ate 3 bagels worth of bread and cheese having no idea what I was in for…

THE AFTERMATH

• Red flag #1: All of the regulars on the slope pointed and laughed at us in our yoga pants and ugg boots.
• Red flag #2: Everyone else on the mountain was well equipped with giant helmets and head lights.
• Red flag #3: I tried to sit on the sled backwards….

Imagine heading down an icy mountain, full speed, not being able to see two feet in front of you, dodging 43 other high speed sledders.. Our entire group ended up in a pile at the bottom of the first slope and shared a brief moment of panic. Naturally, I lost my sled within the first 5 minutes and we ended up cramming three of us to a sled and inching down the entire mountain. 

Icing on the cake: Once we got back to the hostel we realized we had forgotten to turn the heat on and had to try to warm up/recover in a complete icebox.

Sprinkles on the icing on the cake: My camera broke… Shouldn't be too many photo-worthy moments in the next four months, right?

On a brighter note! Paragliding was the experience of a lifetime. The most incredible views I’ve ever seen. To be completely honest it felt JUST like the ride “Soarin'” at Disney, which kinda makes me think… why do anything real if Disney can just simulate it for us? I could be studying abroad at Epcot and saving quite a bit of money…… just kidding. J

We went to Balmer’s club Saturday night conveniently located right under our hostel. The night was such a blast and quite eventful. Whit spotted some Italian guy wearing a shirt that said “I (picture of a cheeseburger) America” and somehow convinced him to sell it to her. We headed back this morning to home sweet Lugano with lots of stories and miraculously my camera started working! It just needed a break... conveniently during my once in a lifetime paragliding experience...

All in all the weekend was a success. I can NOT believe how lucky I am to be able to travel like this every weekend for the next four months. 

Something learned: The Swiss Alps are cold.