Weekend 2

Interlaken Switzerland

Balmers Hostel

Interlaken was one of the most thrilling trips I have ever taken. Aside from the breathe taking views, I was able to do extreme sports … something I would never normally do.   We were lucky to stay in the most famous hostel of all Europe called Balmers-  this hostel catered to young travellers like our tech group… amenities included an underground night club and bar, a beer garden, clean rooms and showers, a dinning facility, Internet lounges and central location to nearby attractions all for a  low price of 30 euros per night.  After settling into our rooms, Some of the students, one of our professors and I went to a nearby lake.  We played beach volleyball alongside the lake then jumped into the freezing cold lake afterwards. Call us crazy… but when would we ever be swimming in fresh  Alp mountain water again? It had to be done. After drying off  from the nearly freezing mountain water we went back to the bus stop where wed been dropped off. Come to find out that the bus stopped running after 5 pm and since it was 6 we needed to walk back. The walk wasn’t bad because we got to see beautiful mountain and river views. It was all pure nature- absolutely breathe taking. We finally made it back to town and stopped by an Italian restaurant.  The food was very impressive and I got a pizza with vegetables on it. Yummy!  :) We then walked back to Balmers and retired for the night.

Me Paragliding Mid-air

My Canyoning Group

The next day I was up bright and early for canyoning.  I didn’t know much about canyoning but I was in for a surprise. With the help of two guides, me and a few of my classmates hiked a huge mountain and came back down the mountain by jumping into waterfalls, swimming down white water rapids and  rock climbing down cliffs.  Although it was terrifying It was the most fun Ive had in a long time. At the end of our trip the instructors  brought us back to the gear shop, gave us free beers and showed us some of the photo and video footage from the excursion which was quite funny. After canyoning we shopped around Interlaken. I found a really nice chocolate shop and purchased chocolate for my family. We then went back to Balmers, ate at a nearby pizza shop and took a shower.  The beer garden attached to the hostel had a by one get one free happy hour on all beer. My friends and I were there and then continued happy hour at the “Metro’  which is Balmer’s underground bar and nightclub.   We ended the night dancing to techno and mostly American music, which was a fun reminder of back home.

View From Top of Hill with Free roaming Cows

My friend Kathryn at the Beer Garden

The next morning I was up early to go paragliding. Again my friends and I went as a group with different instructors up a really high hill  to set up and paraglide.  My instructor  was a guy named Drew and he showed me all the features of the parachute and how we would take off.  We got into the air by running off the edge of a hill until the wind picked up our parachute. Once in the air, I got to see the most amazing views of Switzerland.  Drew then started to do tricks, like spins and instant drops  which were really scary and fun. We finally landed safely and I have to say that was  easily one of the coolest things Ive ever done in my life. After paragliding the group went into town in search of some authentic Swiss food before we headed back to Dijon.  Luckily we found a small whole in the wall place that served this amazing dish called Rousti, which is similar to a harshbrown dish.  It is baked with cheese, egg and greasy goodness. Worth every bite :)  After our brunch  I picked up some Swiss army knives for my brothers,. We then had to pack and board the bus back to Dijon.  Interlaken was by far my favourite weekend trip. Its one I’ll never forget!