11/27/14 – 11/30/14
(excerpts taken straight from my journal I kept during my 2014 study abroad experience)
12-4-14
Last weekend I went to Switzerland and so far it has been my favorite trip. I loved the cold weather, the openness, the quietness, and the nature. Everything there was picture perfect. We go there around 3AM on Friday morning so we only had a few hours to sleep. Friday morning I woke up and signed up for paragliding, but because of the weather conditions, they cancelled it. Instead, I went on a walk to a nearby lake. I have never been able to see a lake not frozen with snow-covered mountains in the background.
After our walk through the woods and open fields, we stopped at an Irish pub for beers and burgers.
We headed back to the hostel and that’s when I found out that they were planning a ski trip for the next day. I ran to the ski store to sign up and rent equipment (their rentals were the newest, nicest rentals I have ever seen).
After all of that, I went back to the hostel and sat by the fire before going to bed.
The next morning, we had to be at the ski store ready to go by 7:15AM. We took a 2 ½ hour bus ride to the mountain, “Saas-Fee Glacier”. Part of the ride, we had to put the bus onto a train to ride through the mountains. Once we got to the mountain, they said it was considered a glacier and we would be glacier skiing. The bottom of the mountain wasn’t open, so we had to take 2 gondolas to the top, and then you could only ski down half way. At first I was really nervous because it was the first run of the season, but after the first slope, I was fine and I realized I was skiing in the Swiss Alps. The views of the mountains all around us were amazing. We were supposed to stay in groups of people so we wouldn’t get lost, but a lot of people weren’t the greatest skiers, so I went off with one other guy so we didn’t have to wait for everyone. We got a lot of runs in because it was jus the two of us, but it was a lot of work because you had to take a gondola up, and then walk through a tunnel and take a tram up the rest of the way. There was a t-lift that I struggled on because the last time I rode one was when I was little. Also, the chairlift was made for 6 people and it had a shield that pulled down in front in order to block the wind. I skied until around 1, and then went in for lunch (which cost me $30). After lunch, I went back out by myself for about an hour and just enjoyed the mountains. We had to meet the group at 3:15 to start heading down the mountain. On our drive home, we missed the train by 2 minutes, so we had to wait an hour for the next one. There was a store right there though so we bought beers and just relaxed on the bus.
Back at the hostel “Funny Farm”, the bartender made me a Swiss drink, which was almost like a hot apple cider, and a guy that I met in the lobby let me try his cheese fondue. I passed out at 10 because I was so tired from skiing.
The next morning I woke up to go paragliding (this was one of the most fun things I have ever done). We had to drive about half an hour away, take 2 gondolas, and then hike up the rest of the way. Once we got to the top of the hill, my instructor set up the parachute and strapped us in. To take off, you take a few running steps and the parachute catches the wind and goes up instantly. We started to lift off the ground and then we were flying. The ride was incredible. We flew over hills, trees, and eventually a cliff with a waterfall, all while looking at snow-covered mountaintops. He let me steer for a while and then he started doing turns. We landed (very smoothly) and he gave me a flash drive with all of the pictures and videos of the ride.
When we got back to the town, I stopped to have lunch and then had just enough time to walk around and get souvenirs. I also stopped at a café and had the best brownie I’ve ever tasted in my life.
I headed back to the hostel just in time to catch the bus to go home. I am so glad I went to Switzerland (even if it was by myself) and it was definitely one of my favorite trips.