OMG WE FINALLY HAVE INTERNET IN THE APARTMENT! Yahoo!! The blog is back have no fear and we'll start off our February file with the most perfect weekend of my life in SWITZERLAND! ahhhh!
Switzerland was our first official European trip that wasn't organized (London) or forced (Siena) by our program, AIFS. Instead, we went through a program that arranges transportation and lodging for students studying in Europe. They just made everything easy- check in, check out, rooming- everything. The company is called Bus2Alps but they arrange bus trips to the Almafi Coast to Greece and various other destinations as well, not just the alps. The bus part is no joke. The ride from the train station in Florence to Backpackers Villa Hostel in Interlacken, Switzerland was EIGHT hours. Brutal. Thank god for the movies we watched; Role Models, Road Trip, and Fast Time at Ridgemont High to name a few. Pretty much an eight hour boobie montage. If it weren't for the two Mark Wahlbergs (Four Brothers and the Italian Job) I would have lost my mind. Let's take a moment to silently reflect on all things Mark Wahlberg.
Amen
So yes, while the trip was brutal the whole weekend was so relaxing and tranquil with the snow and the mountains and the quiet town and the heavenly spa that the bus was simply a blemish on an otherwise pictureday perfect weekend.
We arrived at the Backpackers Villa Hostel Friday morning at 3:30 am (we left Florence at about 7:30pm). We got our room assignments and straight up hit the hay. My knowledge of a hostel pre-Interlacken was this: metal bunks beds filling a room with bad carpeting, tall creepy bleach blonde Sweeds and Germans bunking co-ed, shower stalls and toliets at the end of the hallways, creepy lighting and a constant fear that my ipod would go missing. Now, I don't know about all of you who have gone to Interlacken and stayed at Balmer's Hostel, the more famous one with the club in the basement, but this is what our hostel looked like.
Just the four of us in a room, bed linens provided, only one bunk bed, no Sweeds and a shower and toilet in our room. Pretty much the Marriott compared to what I had in mind. So we slept in for a little, me on the top bunk, Dani underneath me and Joey and Corey snuggling in the two single beds so close to each other they might as well have been a full, and then grabbed some breakfast. No scrambled eggs and bacon and breakfast potatoes and assortment of breakfast pastries and fruit like I would have like (there's nothing that makes me happier than hotel breakfast buffet). Instead we grabbed a bowl of corn flakes- FYI if you put sugar in them they're frosted flakes- and a piece of toast with strawberry jam, something that will always remind me of my grandmother, I LOVE YOU! We got energized and decided that there was about five hours until we had to start getting ready for night sledding so what else is there to do but shop!
We collected our cameras and wallets and hit the town. I was prepared for two pairs of leggings three pairs of socks and having to rent gloves everyday. I guess I got Switzerland and Antarctica confused because it was so nice out that Friday that i walked around with out my jacket on and only one pair of leggings at a time. The town was beautiful, dozens of little shops and hotels, nothing built higher than a few stories so that everywhere you turn you see big snow covered mountain tops and blue skies. I've heard a bunch of people say that Interlacken was boring and I can kind of see that if you aren't doing any activities because the town is small and just about all of the shops are either souvenir or X-treme winter sporting good stores. I got a few little gifts of which I cannot reveal (family and friends you will just have to wait!) and then we walked to the Outdoor Interlacken store/office where you can book activities such as skiing, snowboarding, night sledding, canyon jumping, skydiving, etc. It's also the one stop shop for renting any kind of equipment necessary for any of the previously mentioned activities so we did and enjoyed a very Swiss lunch at
Later we had night sledding so we stopped in to pick out snow pants, a waterproof jacket, and ski gloves. We rented our gear and then walked back to the hostel to get glamed up...
NOT!
That was the least prettiest I ever felt! I was literally a lumberjack, but I was a warm and dry lumberjack. Two of our adorable friends from Towson who are in Joey's sorority were staying at our Hostel as well so we all waited for the night sledding van together. Shout out to Dani Bejar and Caroline Nacchio! You guys are freakin adorable I want to put you two on top of a cake! We had so much fun with you guys this weekend and cannot wait to come visit Rome ahhhh! We got on the night sledding van and headed twenty minutes up a mountain near by in the pitch black. Key phrases: "up a mountain" and "pitch black". We were informed that in order to get to the restaurunt, where we would be getting our sleds and returning to once the festivities were over, we had to take a Gondola up the mountain. Here's what I pictured a Gondola to be in my head
... so naturally I had no idea how this was getting me up a mountain in the snow. This is what it actually was...
A tiny bit more settling being that my biggest concern, never having skied or been on a snowy mountain before, was how the hell am I going to manage to get off the lift thingy so I don't die. Luckily this little box comes to a complete stop, fully equipped with a Swiss man to help me off once we got there. When we arrived outside the destination we got our sleighs and continued 20 more minutes up the mountain. It was so dark the only thing you could see was the snow. Well aware of this, the counselors gave us glow sticks that hang on a rope for us to wear as a back necklace. A back necklace means wearing it the most fashionable way for your back so that the people behind you can see if there was someone in front of them, in case you get lost or are about to crash. They started us off at the same point like the Grand Prix which was very nerve wracking because I knew there was a good chance I would be run over.
My original thought was that we would be going down the face of a mountain (big hill) like the ones at Grant Park, you know, like the ones you see people skiing on in movies. No No, this was a full fledge sled drive down the icy winding Swiss Alps. Terrifying! And what made it even worse was that to one side of the winding path was the mountain wall covered in snow, perhaps a few trees, but if your sled were to slide a bit to the left, you were over a cliff and dead before you even hit the first tree. It was like being in live version of MarioKart on the icy board, but it was pitch black and there was no little turtle on a cloud to fish you back up to the track after you fall down. And there are two ways to break; putting a soft foot in the snow steers you in the direction of the foot you put down (ie: left foot in the snow, sled moves left), putting both feet in the snow slows your sled to a stop, and for emergancy stops, you just roll off. I took advantage of the emergancy stop. There were times that I thought for sure I was going over the side of the mountain so i catupulted my body into the snow to save my own life. But seriously it was that dramatic, and a work out too! the insides of my knees were sore for at least two days because if the path came to too much of a plateu, you had to shimmy to the next slope or get up and walk over grassy patches. The whole "racetrack" (not really, but seriously) was about a 5K in marathon terms, overall taking about 45 minutes, for me an hour. As scary as it was it was beyond exhilirating and at times where I was behind most of the group but way ahead of a few, it was really pretty and peaceful being with just the stars and the snow (it was the only two things I could make out in the dark). The end of the trail led us back to the restaurant where we would be served fondue, dinner and a complimentary pitcher of beer. The fondue was yummy but the smell of cheese was overwhelming, I enjoyed it nonetheless. The dinner was my favorite part. We were made aware that we were being served a traditional Swiss dinner called a Roasty. It’s not actually called “Roasty” but that’s what it sounded like they were saying and when I tried to Google it, only articles on “roasty and toasty lodge…blah blah blah dinner” so I am still unaware of what it is called in the ugly Dutch German French mishagosh language they use there BUT, a roasty is a pile of hash browns with a sunny side up egg on the top. In essence, what I get every time I go to the diner. It was delicious and I enjoyed it very much.
So after a sweaty night of powersledding we went back to the hostel, bought a few bottles of wine and showered and pregamed. The other hostel I was telling you about, Balmers, with the club in the basement is supposidly the best Interlacken has to offer, even the locals go there. Unfortunately it was not a bar in the basement, it was a basement with a bar in it. Not a blast but with a little house music we can have fun anywhere- for fourty five minutes.
Look out for Switzerland part due (that two in italian-pronounced doo-ay)
