Interlaken, Switzerland

Whelp. I have the answer. The answer to what I'm sure will be the question I will get the most when I return home. (I'm trying not to think about how soon that really is) And that question would be, "What was your favorite place you visited?" And the answer..."INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND!" It is the most beautiful place I've been and I did the coolest thing I've ever done. More on that later...

The past week in Verona has been lovely. Just lovely. I didn't fully appreciate Verona until spring time. Katie and I went to Piazza Erbe a couple of times and just sat and enjoyed. Usually accompanied by a sandwich, or a gelato, or a maybe a spritz. Our first test was the first assignment that was like what I'm used to. I am in for a rude awakening this fall.

After class on Thursday we headed off to Switzerland. The trains were easy, on time, and comfortable. When we arrived in Interlaken, we were all in awe of how beautiful this town was. That lake is the bluest water I've ever seen. The rolling hills are greener than anything else. And add in the springtime flowers and colors. It was perfection. I didn't sleep well Thursday night because I kept thinking about what I had to do in the morning. I had to sign up to go skydiving. Ok, I didn't have to, but I had wanted to for a very long time. And I looked at it as training for the Amazing Race. I woke up, signed up, kept my ticket for a free beer afterwards (in a safe place, duh), and got ready. We were supposed to leave at 8:30. At breakfast, I was the only one of the six of us going. We had exchanged phone numbers so I could meet up with them afterwards. Then when the guide got there to take my group to the airfield, two more decided they wanted to do it too. So with half of us skydiving, the other half wanted to come watch. Then on the ride there, one more decided she was going to give it whirl. As we were gearing up, one more decides to take the plunge. Katie Hardaway was the only one not doing it. Well, we convinced her. Just kidding. She took the pictures. As poorly as I had slept the night before, I wasn't nervous at all watching everyone else go. I wasn't even nervous until right before we were to jump. But the whole process of getting out of the plane went so fast, I didn't have time to dwell on what I was about to do. And it was incredible. It was by far the coolest thing I've ever done and may ever do. There is no feeling like it. We all loved it! And we have pictures and videos to prove it!

After our amazing morning, we rented bikes to explore the town. We rode down by the lake and just had a cruising afternoon. That evening we went to a chocolate show at Shuh chocolate. And we tasted some (and by some I mean a ridiculous amount of) divine Swiss chocolate. We hung out at our hostel, which has the best bar in all of Interlaken, for the rest of the night.

Saturday morning we let ourselves sleep in a little. It was cold and rainy and we were worried we wouldn't be able to go canyoning. We grabbed lunch, walked around town, and even saw a bhaliwood (we think) music video being filmed. We were so cold from the rain that we were considering ditching canyoning. But we stuck to the plan and I'm glad we did. For all you folk that don't know what canyoning is, go to YouTube, type in "Canyoning Interlaken" and watch the first video. And for you that aren't YouTube savvy, canyoning here is going through a glacier river (wetsuit, lifejacket, and helmet of course), and traversing through it. It includes rappelling, jumping off cliffs, taking a rope swing, and sliding down rocks. We were the first group of the entire season so we go to open the canyon up for canyoning! I thought it was scarier than skydiving. I wasn't mad about the way our guides looked either.

It was the best way to end my semester abroad and I loved everything about Interlaken. I could spend a week there and will hopefully get the chance to one day. Side Note: For anyone studying abroad in Europe, you must go here! Hint hint, K!