INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND

I just got back last night from my last adventure of the semester. I spent the weekend in Interlaken, Switzerland, a tiny mountain town in between two big, blue lakes and surrounded by the Swiss Alps. As far as scenery goes, this was the most beautiful place I have been so far. The air was cold and crisp, the town was tiny and clean, and the Alps were absolutely breathtaking. Everything was covered in snow, but the whole weekend the sun was shining and the 20 degree weather didn't bother me too much because I had other things on my mind... like CANYON JUMPING!

Interlaken is known for its many extreme sports, differing by the seasons. We were there for the start of the winter season, so a lot of kids went heli-skiing, snowboarding, regular skiing, and sledding. Then there was the scary sports, like paragliding, skydiving, and cliff jumping. I, along with four other friends, chose to cliff jump. I wanted to sky dive but it ended up costing around 450 USD so I didn't think that would fly with my parents, considering that spending that much would put my bank account at a negative number, so I payed much less and went cliff jumping: best decision ever.

We signed up kind spontaneously because, I figured, why come to the extreme sports capital of the world and not partake in any extreme sports? So we had a 3:00 slot on Friday to jump off of a cliff over 300 feet above ground. We signed up mid-morning and had to wait until the afternoon when it was our turn, and all I could think about all day was that in just a few hours I would be flinging myself off a cliff in Switzerland. To say the least, I was freaked out. But 3:00 rolled around and we got in the van and drove 30 minutes through the alps to a pretty remote location where we would be doing the jumping. I expected a big tutorial or demonstration or something, but literally we got harnessed in and hiked 15 minutes up to a giant cliff without really getting any insight about the situation, we just knew we were hiking up to a cliff and then jumping off of it into a canyon. Right when we got out of the van I could see the platform that we would soon be jumping off of, and my stomach dropped. I was totally terrified.

Getting excited to canyon jump!

Getting scared...

Right before I got harnessed in to jump!

We hiked up the cliff and got weighed for the jump, signed a waiver that I was chosen to read out loud (which also freaked me out considering it said things like "I agree to allow these crazy swiss people that I don't even know harness me in and watch me jump off a cliff"), and one by one got in line to jump. My friend Lauren went first and literally got harnessed in and went for it, like there was nothing to it. Such a brave girl! My experience wasn't quite that sudden. When my turn came, after saying a few hail marys in my head I stood on the platform and took quite a few deep breaths while asking myself: "why the hell am I doing this?!?!" But with the help of my friends I managed to muster up the courage and take the leap of faith.... and it was absolutely phenomenal. The free fall lasted for a total of about 5 seconds, and the rest of the way I was swinging through the canyon by the wire, laughing and crying at the same time.  But the free fall was absolutely the best part. I think it was the most extraordinary thing I have felt in my whole life. I can't even begin to explain it except saying that it was pure ecstasy. Right when I got done with the jump I wanted to go again. I absolutely loved it!!!

The rest of the weekend was spent strolling through the Christmas markets, and we also took a day to visit a little ski town called Murren. It had the most amazing view of the alps and was the quietest, most peaceful town I have ever visited. It was right at the base of a chairlift on a ski mountain and it's early in the season so not many people were around, but we found a cute little lodge and ate soup and drank hot cocoa and enjoyed the beautiful view.

The hostel we stayed at was called Funny Farm (I don't know why they named it that) and had a big fire place in the lobby and a giant St. Bernard named Spliff who hung out all day in the lobby. We were supposed to get "free breakfast" with our accommodation but that consisted of bread, jam, and coffee. That's a European youth hostel for ya. But I'm now done with hostels forever, which is so bittersweet! I have a little over a week and a half left in Florence, and I get home on the 18th. Only 2 more days of class, 2 papers, and 2 finals left until I am done with the semester and done studying abroad. Where has the time gone? It's so crazy that I am basically done! I'm really excited to go home though. Mostly cause I really miss Rufus.