Interlaken, Switzerland

I arrived in Interlaken on a very late train. It was the last train in I believe. From Munich I had to travel through Zurich, through Bern and finally to Interlaken. When I got there the streets were pitch black. If I didn't have my iPhone, I would have been screwed trying to find my hostel. I stayed at Balmers the first night. It took me about 15 minutes to walk to it from the Interlaken Ost station. It was not a scary walk, it was just black and eerily quiet. You have to remember that I noticed I was in the mountains coming in but when you arrive in Interlaken you are surrounded by them. Since it was pitch black I could not see any of them! The air smelled clean and refreshing. The people at Balmers were at the desk when I arrived and helped me to my room. It was probably the most awkward arrival because I had to go in when everyone was sleeping. I tried to be quiet though.


I woke up in the morning and looked out of my window. The mountains were amazing. I walked around Interlaken and I was on a mission to go skydiving later that afternoon. I scheduled it up with Skydive Interlaken and was ready to go. I had a few hours to kill so I got some lunch and jammed out to some adrenaline pumping music on my iPod while I waited. It was my birthday and I really wanted to jump out over the Swiss Alps. It cost around $400 and was one of the most expensive things of my trip but it was totally worth it. I began to get nervous because it was a 15,000ft skydive. I kept telling myself that it was going to be a scenic view and I turned on some adrenaline pumping music. I suited up and "Beat" and crew took off. The trip up was amazing. The views were incredible and words cannot do it justice. I'd recommend it. Check out my video!

After I got done I walked into town and ate some lunch and checked out all of the stores in town. I called home and then told them what I did so they were enver worried about me. Ha.

The next day, I walked down with some friends I met from Canada who were also staying at Balmers. We all went to the Lauterbrunnen Valley to do some hiking. Balmers gave us some discounted Interlaken transit passes which got us to the region. We then started walking! We had no idea what was down the trail but we knew we wanted to see the Trummelbach Falls. After about 30 minutes we got there. The falls were very scenic. I have posted some of my own pictures of the falls on my pictures page.

We got to an area of the valley called Stechelburg and there was a small home and a local lady who had opened a restaurant there. She was making apple pie. We ordered some from her. She gave us apple pie with ice cream and it was delicious! This is where my Canadian friends split off from me. They were hiking back to go back to the hostel but I did not want to. I was really enjoying it out there and decided to go on another adventure all by myself. I went on the cable car system known as: Luftseilbahn Stechelberg-Mürren-Schilthorn (LSMS). This car takes you up to the Piz Gloria which is where the 007 movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service' was filmed! I took this up to the small mountain town called Mürren. There were several stops on the cable car. I then walked around and since it was getting late decided to abandon my hostel I had back in Interlaken and stay here for the night. (This is one of the perks of having a single backpack. I had all of my possessions and could do whatever I wanted!) I stopped at a local grocery store and bought food to make a sandwich. No stores were open because Mürren is not a very touristy place. It's something to see, but they do not have a massive tourist industry. I found a hotel at the edge of the cliff called the Eiger Guesthouse. I booked a room, my only request to them was that it have a good view. They did not disappoint. My room had a very good view! I was on a corner of the building with nothing else around but mountains. My balcony was wide open and the bathroom had a shower with a full window that you could open while you were taking a shower in it!! I washed some of my clothes in the sink and hung them up to dry overnight. I went down to the bar and chatted with some of the locals over a nice cold beer. I quickly fell asleep from a long day of hiking.

I got up and took advantage of the view in the shower. It felt a little odd taking a shower like that, but when in Rome right? :) There was nothing but me and the mountains pretty much. I packed my bag and set off for the top of the mountain. It was another cable car ride away. When I got up there the view was breath taking. It was fairly cold and I stayed up there for about an hour. There was no time limit so take your time!

I ventured back down via cable car and hiked back to Interlaken later that day. It was a nice walk by myself. Gave me a lot of time to think and be grateful that I was on such a trip. I had to catch a night train to Barcelona, Spain that night so I tried to relax for a bit and just enjoy the surroundings. I figured that in 24 hours I would be kicked back on the Mediterranean Sea! I had to make sure I enjoyed the Alps because you never know when you'll be back.