Interlaken Overview


joyful: jumping from the complete overflow of joy.

joyful: jumping from the complete overflow of joy.

Random Observation/Comment #166: Just thinking about Interlaken makes my mouth dry and my heart flutter like a school-girl with a crush on a dreamy teacher (this, of course, includes the soft colors and blurred corners in the camera filter).  Interlaken and I have an awkward relationship filled with the essentials for a beautiful life of holding hands during long walks along the beach or finishing the daily crossword puzzles on the back porch overlooking a well-maintained backyard.  We have so much potential, yet we realize that it’s really a fantasy that only exists in bad Hollywood films.  The scenery, although quite breathtaking in itself, does not capture the full experience of Interlaken.  This new paradise has exceeded my expectations and set new maximums for my fun gauge.  I love nature and especially mountains, so you should understand that this is one of the reasons why cold weather is slowly tipping the scale as my favorite.  Don’t get me wrong, the beach still rocks my socks, but the things I saw across the distance left me exhausted with excitement, yet yearning for so much more.  Interlaken is a must-see.

Interlaken has captured my heart, left a single teardrop inside, and returned it to keep me alive.  The week was gauged perfectly to include the optimal balance of nature, relaxation, alcohol, and sporting.  I don’t even regret one second for not going skiing on those beautiful days because everything went so well (okay, maybe a few minutes while riding the gondola).  Although the clear skies went gray for the giant snowflakes of doom, the absence of blue was blissfully replaced by white.   The toxic slush, I’ve grown accustom to in Manhattan, were nonexistent in Interlaken.  Entire streets were left unplowed and blanketed with freshly fallen snow.  The crunching sounds from my slow pace in the inches were a symphony to my ears.  My camera, as well as my memory, ate up every moment and always asked for seconds, thirds, and fourths.  It was an all-you-can-eat-buffet extravaganza, and I was a national champion food competitor (metaphorically speaking).

As with my previous entries about London, I will give an initial overview of my itinerary and then dive into detail with subsequent entries for each topic.

Sat, Mar 7 – 11 hour train ride to Interlaken with unnecessarily long and poorly planned transfers, checked into Balmer’s hostel*, met Jordan and went to Interlaken’s Hooters, met his group of 40 friends taking a weekend vacation from study abroad

Sun, Mar 8 – walk around Ringweg*, walk from Neushaus down the nature reserve area along the Eastern lake, walk through a frozen farm with mountains on all sides, met Danny

Mon, Mar 9 – walk north to Goldswil and hiked up with Danny and Jordan, met Keegan, started snowing, chocolate shop, watched MTV weirdness, cooked dinner, played beer pong, met Jordan (#2) James and Andy

Tues, Mar 10 – went sledging with Keegan and Andy, drank a bottle of jager on the mountain*, snowed the entire time like a winter wonderland, met Olly

Wed, Mar 11 – went sledging again with Olly, Jordan, and James, weather cleared up and snow was packed beautifully, went camping at night on the side of the mountain

Thur, Mar 12 – rented bikes and rode along the East lake through a few cities with Olly, stopped to take pictures everywhere, cooked dinner, watched a movie

Fr, Mar 13 – went up to Schilthorn – a photographer’s paradise – with Olly, unbelievable 360 degree restaurant, nice hike around, met Sydney from South Africa, met Kim

Sat, Mar 14 – train ride back to Hamburg, met Diddy’s mom, random Chinese connection, had dinner and went karaoke-ing

That week has been my favorite since this entire trip, but I have high expectations from this beautiful continent, country, city, and c-c-cozy dorm (?).  I hope everyone gets a chance to see Switzerland.  I will definitely visit again to tackle the Swiss Alps with my skis.

 

~See Lemons Love Interlaken

 

soooooo cool

soooooo cool