Interlaken, Switzerland

Interlaken was probably my most favorite weekend trip so far! It was absolutely beautiful. It's very different from the beach scenes that I've been doing a lot here in Italy, Croatia, and Barcelona. I saw the  tallest mountains. The lakes and rivers were an aqua color - like something you'd see in the Caribbean! Unfortunately, it was very cold. It wasn't even cool. It was cold! And rainy! I didn't bring any closed toed shoes which was a mistake. I only brought a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt which was not enough! I had to go out and buy a fleece jacket. I couldn't believe that in just a 7 hour drive, I left a sweltering Florence for a shivering Interlaken.

We arrived in Interlaken at 6 am on Friday. I got an hour of sleep before I had to wake up, eat breakfast, and go Canyoning. It was horrible waking the boys up for that. Vince is definitely not a morning person haha. We had to take a van about an hour to the top of the Canyoning site. We changed into our wet suits and other gear. I had to wear a wet suit, jacket, harness, helmet, life jacket, and boots. I was covered head to toe. I felt like I was wearing an extra 50 pounds on me. Wearing that for four hours in the freezing water definitely gave me a workout. I was in pain the next couple of days!

Canyoning was amazing. It's definitely out of my comfort zone which made it so much more exciting! My friends should be so proud. Especially Spence. Darcy, Joanna, and I were the only girls in the group. We didn't want to annoy the guys, so we kept all complaining to a minimum. I think we did very well considering we chose the hardest canyoning site. I'm so glad I did it! It was really fun! I bought the video, but it's kind of hard to upload.

Friday night we went to a chocolate show which is basically just a chocolate tasting. The chocolatier showed us how he makes chocolate molds.

We went to dinner in town. I guess Interlaken is known for fondu. I wouldn't have guessed that. We had swiss fondu with tomatoes and then Darcy and I shared a plate of veal sausage with caramelized onions. Yum! Later, we went down to the club metro. It was connected to our hostel so I literally walked out of my bedroom door, down a flight of stairs, and I was there. It had a different atmosphere than others we had been to. We met some local folk who were pretty neat. I met a guy named Scott who is a Phi Delt at Ole Miss who was traveling with a bunch of people. They were all interning in London. Scott was really cool. (And pretty attractive, I might add). We sat down at a table and talked for about three hours straight while we watched all of our friends make complete fools out of themselves. Vince was the best that night. I learned a lot about him that night. Apparently, he loves to rap and has videos up on youtube. His rapper name is Vini-Cent. How embarrassing, right? We'd be dancing, and some lame song would come on, and he'd start rapping to it and show us all of his moves. It was hysterical. He makes me laugh all the time. Just when I think I've got him figured out, he surprises me. I love it! We had a pretty indepth conversation about religion the other day. He's reading Angels and Demons and is also taking a class in Florence called History of Christianity. So, I guess this stuff is on his mind. It was a very interesting discussion. He's definitely a smart guy. He has to be I guess. He's going to Law School next Spring.

Saturday we attempted a hike to the top of one of the mountains. I was still in so much pain that I only made it about 30 minutes in until Livia and I turned out.We took the tram to the top instead. When we got to the top, we couldn't see anything. It was all rainy and foggy. What a bummer, I know! We ate at this cute restaurant at the top, though. We had creamy tomato soup and shared apple strudel. Very delicious. While we were eating, we watched our friends emerge out of the woods after a 2.5 hour hike. They were soaking wet and shivering. All of them were so upset that there wasn't any view. You should have seen the look on Emily's face. It was priceless.

We hung out at the hostel for the rest of the afternoon. It was so dreary we couldn't even walk around in town. This was when I bought the fleece jacket. We hung out in the hammock room at the hostel and played cards. For dinner, we ate at the restaurant connected to the hostel. I ordered the Mexican Burger which was huge and had guacamole on top! Delicious! I had been craving a burger for the longest time.

Sunday we walked around town. It was still cold, but at least it had cleared up a bit. The town was rather small, but the shops were pretty fascinating. There was a lot of chocolate! I didn't buy much at all because I figured it would all melt when I got back to Florence or on the return flight home. We left the hostel at 1 and drove back yesterday.

Today it is actually kind of chilly in Florence. What is going on here? Monday is the day when a lot of things are closed so I've been catching up on my blogging and homework. I have a project due tomorrow so my roommates and I need to work on that.

Tonight, Darcy and I (and perhaps some others) are going to dinner with Cosimo (my professor from the Tuscany week). He's going to take us to his favorite restaurant for aperitivo. I don't know if I have mentioned aperitivo before. It's basically Italy's version of cocktail hour, but you buy one drink and get a buffet a food for free! Of course there has to be food, duh. So, anyway, that is the plan for dinner tonight. Afterward, a bunch of us may go to Piazza Michelangelo which is on top of a hill on my side of the river. Great views. Vince's birthday is tomorrow, but we are going to start celebrating tonight apparently. We take birthdays here very seriously :)