Swiss Miss

Another Monday and another post.

After three weekends in Italy, I finally left the country this past weekend for Interlaken, Switzerland. Since this was the first trip that we were going on, we decided to go on a group trip just to get our feet wet (they provided transportation and living arrangements for us). After a 9-hour excursion from Thursday night into Friday morning (including the completion of 4 movies) we finally arrived at the Funny Farm Hotel in Interlaken (just wait to hear why it was so funny). Since neither Marc nor myself ski, we had been looking at other outdoor activities to keep us entertained for the weekend. After walking around Interlaken for an hour and getting a feel for the town (including the Hooters right next to the city’s nicest hotel) we found a store that rented ATV’s jumped on the opportunity (anyone actually think Marc was going to go 4 months without driving?). The ATV’s was definitely one of the best activities that I have partaken in since arriving in Europe. We drove next to this beautiful lake with mountains on both sides and just gawked at the view for a few hours. There was only one hiccup on the journey, and that was getting pulled over by the Swiss Police. The speed limit of the road that we were on was 60 km/hr, which wouldn’t have been a problem aside from the fact that the person leading our caravan (not going to mention any names…) was the only one of us without a speedometer. After a bit of a scare, the police let us drive away without tickets (I was kind of wishing I would have gotten a ticket, it would have made for quite a story). After relaxing for an hour, it was time for the second activity of the trip, night sledding. After a less-than-filling fondue dinner (just bread and cheese) and a little white wine, it was off to the slopes to see what this night sledding was about. If anyone is planning on going to Switzerland this semester or anytime soon, this is an activity I definitely recommend, especially for people who don’t ski. Let’s just say that Willow hill pales in comparison to sledding down the Alps. Saturday was a lot less adventure filled (which was fine because all the falls the night before left my body aching). Five of us who don’t ski decided it would still be fun to head up to one of the mountain towns for lunch and to see what it was life up there. After a bus ride, train ride, gondola ride and two more train rides, we finally reached our destination. The snow took away from part of the view, but it was still an incredible experience being up there. After a pricey lunch (Switzerland is quite an expensive country) we made the long journey back to Funny Farm, and this is where the hostel became a little less funny. When we turned on the shower, the entire bathroom began to flood. Let’s just say that after the eight of us showered, we had our own swimming pool in our bathroom, which became a pain when everyone was ankle deep in shower water when using the bathroom the rest of the trip. After two and a half weeks of pasta, we decided to venture over to Hooters for some “true” American food. We were definitely not the only Americans there; in fact there was definitely an American majority in the restaurant. After a buffalo chicken sandwich (nothing compared to Cubby Bear’s), it was off to the casino. I had never been in a casino before, but this one is definitely not a very standard one. There was a total of 2 blackjack tables, 2 roulette wheels, and about 10 video slot/poker machines. I entered with 15 franks, put 10 on black, won and thought maybe I would be in for a good run. By the time we left the casino an hour later I had increased my total to 95 franks, covering the cost of my ATVing and a few meals from the weekend. After another long bus ride Sunday, we were finally back in Florence. Everyone says that after you start to travel you begin to appreciate Florence so much more, and even though I really enjoyed myself in Interlaken, I was very happy to be back. Well that’s all the time I have for today, off to Amsterdam next weekend. Until Next Time…

A Presto,

JK