“Look past the silk-smooth chocolate, cuckoo clocks and yodelling – contemporary Switzerland, land of four languages, is all about epic journeys and sublime experiences.” -Unknown
One of the many reasons why my roommate and I decided to travel to Switzerland is because we wanted a break from the city life. So far every place that we have traveled, including London, has been a fast paced city that didn’t provide much room for relaxation. Our goal was to take a few days to explore, relax and of course do out favorite thing, eat.
The trip started off a bit rough with my roommate and I being put on standby for our flight, a railway ticket machine eating one of our credit cards, and almost not making it to our hostel. But after all that we made it! Let me start by saying that Switzerland has been one of my favorite places I visited so far. I’m not sure if it’s because of the surreal scenery or calm and laid back lifestyle or just how tourist friendly the country was. Switzerland was gorgeous…and fyi my pictures don’t give it justice.
Being that Switzerland is the home to various mountains, unique villages, and the Alps, I didn’t have much choice but to explore my adventurous side (my roommate had to do her fair share of peer pressuring me as well). We started off easy by taking a tram to Harderkulm, also known as the top of Interlaken. It is a viewpoint situated 1,322 meters above sea level. From the top of the mountain you could see the entire city and the view was breathtaking. On our second day there, we visited Lauterbrunnen, a village surrounded by the Swiss Alps. Lautebrunnen is well known for its 72 waterfalls and luckily we got to see a few of them.
And on our last day, we went to Grindelwald, a village in the Bernese Alps that known for its accessibility to Jungfrau (a.k.a. the top of Europe) and tourists activities, such as cliff walking, hiking, paragliding, skiing, riding a scooter down the mountain, bike tours, mountain carting and more. It was here that we took a cable car up to the top of Grindelwald First, a minor summit of Schwarzhorn. Minor was an understatement since we were about 7,100 ft away from solid ground. Knowing this fun fact did not help me too much as I was walking on the side of a cliff, but the view from that cliff was unforgettable.
Never in a thousand years would I have seen myself going to Switzerland, much less cliff walking in the Swiss Alps, but this is one of the many reasons why I’m appreciative for this study abroad experience. You find yourself going to new places, trying new things, and interacting with new people, so your bound to come out of your comfort zone at some point.
You must be logged in to post a comment.