A weekend in Switzerland

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to spend 3 days in beautiful, snowy Switzerland. A group of 12 of us from my program at AEF, plus other American students from Florence, were part of a group trip to Interlaken, Switzerland; organized by Florence For Fun. 

We left Florence Thursday evening around 7 p.m. and boarded a coach bus for the approximately 8 hour ride. We stopped for dinner around 9, and finally arrived in Interlaken at about 3 a.m. Friday morning. We got our room assignments (all the girls in our group from my program were in one room together) and headed to bed.

The Funny Farm Hostel where we stayed.

Friday we all woke up around 7:30 (after only about 4 hours of sleep) to sign up for the activities we wished to do over the weekend. I didn't sign up for any because they were all out of my price range, but about half of our group went night sledding, some went skiing/snowboarding, and others went canyon jumping, sky diving, paragliding, or hang-gliding. While I would have done any of those things (I would say I'm some-what of an adrenaline junkie) they were all quite pricey.

Because we were already up, a small group of us (Lexi, Tyler, Sam D, Sam S, and myself) went off to explore the tourist town of Interlaken. Part of our "deal" with the hostel got us free bus passes, so we "bus hopped" around the town to see what we could see.

Enjoying the snow and sights in Interlaken!

After meeting up with the rest of the group and stopping in to get some lunch at a sandwich shop some of us headed back to take a nap and rest for a bit of the afternoon.

That evening we went to a free Swiss Chocolate Tasting in a small chocolate shop in town. They closed the store for us and we got to try 4-5 different kinds of chocolate: champagne truffles, dark chocolate, white chocolate with nougat, chili chocolate, and alcohol-filled chocolate. Of those, my favorite by far was the champagne truffles.

Swiss Chocolate Tasting!

That night Sam D, Sam S, Max, Lexi, Danielle, Lindsey, and I got Thai food (my first time ever having Thai) and it was delicious! After that I relaxed in the lounge of the hostel reading then headed to bed early to make up for only getting a few hours of sleep the night before.

Saturday Lexi, Sam D, Sam S, Max and I ventured into the mountains to explore the small towns, see the views, and do some hiking. The weather was perfect: beautiful blue, clear skies, and it wasn't too cold either.

We took a bus to the train, a train to the gondola, the gondola to another train, and that train to Murren. Once there we walked around, took loads of pictures, and simply soaked up the magnificent beauty.

Murren, Switzerland

Enjoying lunch with a panoramic view of the Swiss Alps.

After our lunch in Murren, we hiked for about 2 hours down to where the gondola left us, got the gondola back down the mountain, the train back to Interlaken, and the bus back to The Funny Farm. We then relaxed for a bit before heading out for a "traditional" Swiss dinner: FONDUE!

We then stopped in a cafe/bar owned and run by an American-born, Swiss-married woman. We got some drinks - I finally got the real hot chocolate I'd been craving - and we pre-ordered bagels to pick up before the bus left Sunday.

Sunday Max, Sam S, Sam D, Leix, Danielle, Lindsey, and I headed with our tour guides (and some of the others there with Florence For Fun) to explore one of the lakes (Interlaken means "between two lakes").

I was only there for about 3 days but it was a life-changing adventure. Saturday was by far one of the best days of my life. The views literally took my breath away. The only other time I can honestly say that has happened was when I got to go the the Grand Canyon Freshman year of high school.

I am so blessed to have the opportunity not only to study here in Florence, but also to be able to travel while I'm here. There is so much beauty in this world and I am truly grateful to be able to enjoy just a small part of it.

“Travel makes one modest.

You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

Gustave Flaubert