Thursday, July 26, 2007

Interlaken - Heaven in the Swiss Alps

Interlaken, Switzerland was our perfect break from the city sightseeing of Europe. Nestled in the Alps in between 2 lakes and a river, it is incredibly beautiful, we could have stayed here the whole summer.

That said, the hostel we stayed at was probably our worst. We were informed when we got there that whole backpacks had been going missing, there were no locks on the doors, and it was almost in the middle of the forest - beautiful, but slightly creepy. Neither of us have seen the movie hostel, but if we had, this probably would have been a scene right out of it. In the end, it turned out being little more than a hassle, but every back packing trip has to invlove one of these hostels, right?

One of my favourite Swiss experiences was the Jungfrao railway, the highest in Europe, up to the top of the glacier field. It was sooo beautiful- 360 degree views of mountains and glaciers, the pictures don´t really do it justice. We were also able to do an icredibly tiring hike over the glacier to a little rock climbing hut.

One morning we also tried canyoning. It was super fun, basically they show you how to get down the canyon any way possible with very little equipment. Now this is glacier water, and although they give you a wet suit, just the shock of the cold water is enough for a thrill, then they have you sliding down waterfalls, repelling down cliffs, and basically just getting rocked by the power of the rapids. A lot of fun!

The rest of our time was spent wandering around the cute little villiage and doing nearby hikes. The weather was perfect, sunny and crisp, and we even happened to be in town for an air show so the town was full of energy.

It's kind of funny how much we loved Interlaken considering it reminds me so much of the Canadian rockies but maybe home is where the heart is, or maybe we were just happy to go to a place that didn't involve the usual palaces, churches and museums!


Gina conquers Switzerland!


Kim stops before entering avalanche land


It's cheesy but every tourist had to do it


The hike






On the way home


Stopping for a COLD shower


Interlaken's river


Dinner with a view


The train

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