Interlaken: Extreme Sport Capital of the World!

That's what they claim at least! Interlaken, Svizzera boasts a variety of "extreme outdoor sports," which change depending on the season. The winter season (which begins in a few weeks) is known as a time for skiing, snowboarding, skydiving (from airplanes or helicopters), paragliding, hang-gliding, night sledding, and canyon jumping.

I enrolled in this weekend adventure with every intention of going skydiving. Ignoring the fact that I'm terrified of heights, I had convinced myself that I would have a fantastic time, and just absolutely love the experience. Bearing that in mind, I promised myself that I would face my fears, and make a memory of a lifetime.

We left Florence around 7pm on Thursday and arrived in Interlaken around 4am. It was a very long bus ride. I was rooming with five other girls from my program in Elon. We stayed at a hostel called Funny Farm. In actuality, the hostel shared its space with a hotel, so our accomodations were fairly nice. I got the bottom bunk; yay!

On Friday, I slept in, and went with our group to the capital of Switzerland, Bern. While in Bern, we went to a little restaurant that smelled absolutely rank, but had delicious rosti. Rosti, in my experience, is basically hash browns/sliced potatoes, covered in your toppings of choice. I may or may not have had a macaroni & cheese rosti for lunch that day. Don't judge.

We arrived back at the hostel and immediately sat down to a traditional Swiss dinner. We had selected our dinner earlier that day; we all picked the obviously delicious choice of cheese fondue. Guess what? That cheese fondue was absolutely, without a doubt, the most vile sort of cheese fondue ever to grace the world. Switzerland is known for its cheese fondue, so we assumed that we would love it. I'm realizing that I love cheddar cheese fondue from the Melting Pot and NOT mountain cheese fondue from the Funny Farm. It was quite the experience. I should mention that the tomato soup we were served before the fondue was the bomb.com. The meal wasn't a complete wash, but it defintely wasn't what I had been expecting!


We tried to go ice skating at the rink next door, but there was a hockey game going on! We went with the flow of things, and decided to attend the hockey game. I.love.hockey. Going out that night was fun, and I met many of the instructors for the "extreme sports" options of Interlaken. Interlaken is a very small town, and the vast majority of the individuals (at the Funny Farm's bar/club as well as those of the other hostel Balmers) were locals! I was sound asleep by 3am, but was woken up at 5am when two of my roommates came home. Some people don't seem to have volume control :)

We slept in a little later on Saturday, before heading to Grindenwald! Doesn't that name just make you think of Harry Potter? It was a quaint little town, and the train ride to get there was certainly worth its price. I absolutely loved that no matter which direction I was looking, I could see mountains. Beautiful. We walked around the town, stopped for some more rosti, and headed back to the hostel. I'm a loser, and spent a few hours working on my Italian language study guide, since I have that exam on Wednesday. (Wish me luck!)

As a group, we went into the "downtown" Interlaken area to see a chocolate demonstration. I was really excited to see them make chocolate, so I was slightly disappointed when I learned that we weren't going to see the process of making chocolate. The multitude of free samples certainly eased my pain. We tried a dark chocolate of 80% cocao, one of 65% cocao, learned how to tell the quality of chocolate (a snap in the chocolate means it is high quality!), sampled some milk chocolate, "white chocoalte" with nougat, Vodka Red Bull chocolate, and a few others. I stocked up on Swiss chocolate for my family, and as I was heading out the door, asked the man what this curious looking package contained. He picked it up, handed it to me, and told me that I could have one, but only if I ate it right away. How was I to argue with that!? I tried the delicious marshmallow coated in chocolate and was in heaven. Who cares that I didn't get to see the chocolatee-making process. Learning how to taste and sample chocolate... infinitely better. We decided to split up for dinner, and I somehow ended up at Hooters, dining on chicken strips (aka, the only food I would eat until I was 12 years old). Hooters in Switzerland was basically the same concept as it is in the U.S.

Sunday was another busy day. We went to the ice rink and were able to ice skate for a few hours. I haven't been ice skating in years, so that was interesting.

Then, it was time for my "extreme activity" of canyon jumping. Two of my friends went with me: Elsa and Jessica. We were all pretty excited, and surprisingly not nervous for the activity! I was pretty stoked that I was able to pay for the activity with my credit card AND use up all the CHF that I had left.

We got all "suited up" in the harness and were led to the platform. Jessica jumped first, then Elsa jumped, and before I knew it, it was my turn. My two friends had already gone, but the group of people waiting to go after me were very supportive, cheering for me, and chanting my name. 1, 2, 3, and I jumped off the platform! You free-fall for about five seconds, and then begin swinging through the canyon. It was an exhilarating experience, though I think I snapped my neck a bit. I feel like I have whiplash. Hopefully the pain will subside in a few days! The memory of how it felt to canyon jump/swing... will last forever! That was an incredibly cheesy statement, but still heartfelt.


I am so absurdly happy that I decided to just go for it, and visit Switzerland. This was a destination that I had in mind before I studied abroad, and I can only imagine how much I would kick myself for not visiting while I had the chance. Without a doubt, this was one of my favorite weekends of the semester. Canyon jumping was definitely the experience of a lifetime.

Playing Catch Up

 As one of my lovely friends pointed out to me, I am VERY behind in my blog posts. I'll be catching up on them over the next week, but will be back-dating them to their appropriate date. Check this post for the links to my post on my first visit to Venice, my fall break trip (including visits to Milan, Athens, and Amsterdam), my parents' visit (including trips to San Gimiagno, Siena, and Venice), and my trip to Rome! I know... I have a lot to recap!

Roma (Nov. 6-7, 2010)

Rome can be overwhelming, but it can also be incredibly inspiring. This past weekend, I traveled to Roma with my school, Accademia Europea di Firenze. We had an obscenely early wake-up call on Saturday  (5am), and were at the train station by 6:15am. The sun hadn't risen by the time we left for Rome! Unfortunately, I missed the sunrise that day, because I immediately passed out on the bus. A short four hours later (we stopped at AutoGrill? Missed that), we had arrived! We spent Saturday morning in the Vatican, and Saturday afternoon in St. Peters. My GST class and I climbed to the top of St. Peters! It was something like 550 steps... definitely my exercise for the weekend :)  It was really lovely to see all of the artwork in the Vatican once again. When I visited the Vatican with my family in 2004, I got an unfortunate case of the hiccups while viewing the Sistine Chapel. Keeping with tradition, I got them once again! My hiccups were much quieter this time.

The view from the dome of St. Peters was, well, breathtaking. I mean that in the literal sense, as we'd just climbed up a LOT of steps and were quite out of breath, as well as the metaphorical sense, as it felt unreal to behold such an amazing view full of such lush landscapes, fall foliage, and ancient buildings.

That evening, I went to the Jewish ghetto for dinner and fell asleep early. It was such a long day! Sunday proved to be an even longer day.






We began our day at the Villa Borghese where we were amazed at the sight of Bernini's work. This one sculpture in particular was astounding to me, Pluto Abducting Persephone, as it was so lifelike.

After the Villa Borghese, we began our Ancient Walk towards the Pantheon. We stopped at the Spanish Steps, and then the Trevi Fountain, taking more pictures than necessary. Right after I snapped the picture to the right, my camera battery died. I'm going to steal pictures from the rest of the day from my roommate.


We later walked to see the Pantheon, which was sadly under massive construction. There is nothing like scaffolding to ruin the beauty of ancient buildings. We briefly stopped by the Roman Forum, but realized we were late for our appointment at the Colosseum. Apparently the latest time to enter was 3:30pm (why so early?), and we got there right at 3:30pm, and the museum guards wouldn't let us enter! After a lengthy phone call, Professor Butler managed to talk our way into the Colosseum.

It was a beautiful day that ended with us watching the sun set as we drove out of Rome.

A Weekend with my Parents!

Surprise! My parents came to visit me in Italy. It was a very welcome visit, as I'm missed them a ridiculous amount and had just begun to feel really homesick. Considering that I am spending the semester studying in Florence, you might assume that they stayed in Florence this past week. That would be an incorrect thought. They chose to return to San Gimiagno, the small town in the Tuscan countryside, right outside of Siena. Luckily, they were able to stay in the exact villa at which we stayed six years ago!

They came into Florence to see me last Monday (October 25), and we had a fantastic lunch together as well as a delicious dinner at Il Gatto e La Volpe! It was so nice to be able to share one of my favorite restaurants in Florence with my parents!

They next returned to Florence to see me on Thursday (October 28). We shopped San Lorenzo Market for a few hours (I got a killer cute brown leather jacket!) and then I went back to Il Cornetto with them. We stopped at the cutest little trattoria (coincidentally it was the only one open) where I had pasta and pizza, a very balanced Italian meal. I was in awe upon returning to the villa; it was just as I remembered it, but more beautiful! As much as I adore my apartment in Florence, the queen-size canopy bed I slept in at this villa certainly was an upgrade.

Friday afternoon, we went into San Gimiagno for a half hour of so, stopping at my favorite restaurant from years ago, as well as a gelato shop which boasted that it was "The World's Best." We then made the drive to Siena for our cooking class!

Our cooking class was absolutely amazing! We made pappa al pomodoro (tomato bread soup), pepe e calcio (a super cheesy/peppery pasta that I can't remember it's name in Italian), a potato souffle, a slow-cooked beef dish, and almond cantucci with orange essence. SO DELICIOUS.

On Saturday, we journeyed to Venezia for the remainder of the weekend. It was fantastic to be able to share my mother's first visit to Venice! It's such an awesome (I use this word in its traditional sense, meaning inspiring awe) place and I know how fortunate I am that I've been able to return so many times! We walked all Venice, eventually stopping for dinner at a fancy little restaurant where I had the extravagant meal of filet mignon. Yes, I ate red meat... and I enjoyed it! Who have I become?? St. Mark's Square was beautiful and bustling with street vendors and slow-walking tourists. I was able to buy a few souvenirs for friends, which was nice, since my prior trip to Venice was overtaken by issues with my eye!

We stayed in a modern hotel right outside of Venice. Sunday, we traveled to Murano, the island of Venice known for it's glass. While in a store picking out glass jewelry, we had the fortune to see an artist blowing glass to make cute little Halloween figurines! The water bus system takes a bit of time, so we had to venture back to the train station so I could travel home to Florence. After retrieving my bag from the luggage holding center, grabbing a quick bite to eat, and saying a long goodbye to my parents (who I'll see again in 3 weeks!), I was on the train, headed for Firenze.

It was a fantastic weekend with my parents, and I'm just so happy that I was able to see them during their visit to Italy!

Fall Break!

I fully intend on doing a few posts about my fall break. Patience is a virtue!

An Unfortunate Series of Events

It has been a few days since I wrote a proper blog post. The reasons/excuses are as follows:

THE EYE INFECTION:
While in Venice, my right eye developed a super nasty infection due to my contact lenses. Saturday night was absurdly fun, as we celebrated Elsa's 20th birthday... but upon returning home, my eye was ridiculously irritated. Fast-forward to Sunday (October 11), and I'm going to the hospital with Dr. D'Amato. Dr. D thoughtfully picked up the medicine I was prescribed.

Monday, I skipped my two classes, and hoped my eye would heal itself. Tuesday, I was convinced I was going blind in that eye, because I could only see blurry color. That day, I went to a general practioner who said the medicine I'd been using was the absolute worst thing and the definite cause of my blurred vision. This Australian (!!) doctor prescribed a new antibiotic and insisted that I see a specialist. Awesome.
Wednesday, I met Edy at 9am, and we traveled to see an opthamologist. There, I was prescribed two additional antibiotics and told I'd need to be seen two more times over fall break. No thank you.

THE DEATH OF MY LAPTOP:
During my super fun time of blurry color vision, I managed to knock over a glass of water while using my computer. Guess where the water went? Right where it shouldn't have gone. Womp womp. There's goes that!

THE BREAKING OF MY GLASSES:
I resolved to only wear glasses. No more eye infections for me, thank you very much. Clearly, it was necessary for me to break them our first night in Athens while we were on the painfully slow taxi ride home from "I have no idea where we are." 10 euros later (thank goodness the taxis are so cheap here!), I was back at the hostel, and a pair of ghetto goggles.

THE STEALTHY STEALING OF MY WALLET:
Today, I stopped at the ATM to withdraw some cash. I wanted to take out 250 euro, but struggled doing so, and I ended up taking out only 180 euro. I next went to get my glasses fixed. It took a good hour and a half to find someone who could fix my glasses, but I managed! Hurray, I can see again! I asked the woman how much I owed her for fixing my glasses, and she said it was free. I tucked away my wallet in the little zippered compartment of my purse, and zipped that up too.

While we were in Milan (October 15th and 16th), one of my friends made a big deal about how I wasn't dressed properly to go to this caliber of bar/club. I hate packing, because I never seem to pack the right things! I wanted to go shopping yesterday, but most stores are closed in Greece on Sundays. So... I went to H&M today! I love how cheap and cute everything they carry seems to be!

I picked out a few things (including an outfit appropriate for Jen's birthday in Milan), went to check out, and realized I didn't have my wallet. I proceeded to frantically search the store. At this time, my wallet hasn't been found, and I don't think that it will be. Yes, I lost around 190 euro, my debit card, my drivers' license, metro card, and various other things... but they didn't take my camera, or phone! Small successes, right? It's definitely time to start counting my blessings.

Venice (Oct. 9-10, 2010)

Venezia: a city of romance; a city of canals; a city of gondolas; a city of alleyways; a city in which to get lost. Venice is truly a beautiful city, and I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to visit. 


I first visited Italy in 2004 with my family, yet we did not venture to Venice. We had plans to do so, but were so taken with the beauty of San Gimiagno that we decided to stay longer at Il Borgetto, rather than travel to Venice as scheduled. 


I next visited Italy with EF Tours in my sophomore year of high school. This time around, we did visit Venice! The most distinct memory I have of that trip is one my friends being attacked by pigeons in St. Mark's Square. We were doing a whirlwind tour (as I'm sure I've mentioned an annoying number of times), and didn't spend nearly enough time in the city. 

I was absolutely determined to visit Venice one again, and was given ample opportunity to do so during my semester in Florence. I was first given the opportunity to go through the student travel agency (FlorenceForFun), but due to timing issues, that didn't work. I was next given the opportunity to go with my school; that definitely worked! I was later given the opportunity to visit Venice with my parents, but more about that later.


Going to Venice with the Accademia Europea di Firenze was so easy. Like all school-planned trips, we simply met at the train station, and our transportation was waiting to whisk us away. We were all amazed at the city on the water, and took pictures every step of the way from the train station to the hotel we were staying at (Hotel Basilea). After settling into the hotel, we went as a group of 40 to several museums, including one on Leonardo da Vinci! It was really interesting to see his sketches turned into actual inventions! One hot chocolate later, we entered an amazing museum (Sala delo Scrutino) which had breathtaking paintings all along the ceiling of the second level. My neck began to hurt from craning my head backwards for so long!

It was Elsa's birthday on October 9, so we just had to celebrate it. I bought a bottle of Bellini to split with Elsa before our delicious dinner at improntacafe. I am still salivating (gross, I know) at how delicious that meal was. I had spaghetti carbonara (only one of my favorite pasta dishes ever), accompanied by vegetable tempora. There is nothing like coating and frying something to turn something from healthy to fattening, aka delicious.

After dinner, we went out to a bar and met up with the rest of the people in our program. It was a lot of fun, and I talked the bartender into giving Elsa many free shots/drinks, including a flaming shot of absinthe! She really wanted to go to a club for her birthday (it was only her 20th birthday), so we began the journey to find a club in Venice. I later found out that there is a grand total of TWO clubs on all of Venice! Luckily, we were able to find one, Piccolo Mondo. It was over-priced to enter, empty and dead in the beginning of the evening, too crowded by the end of the evening, and just not my scene. I would've left, but I promised Elsa that I would 'take care of her.' I say that in quotes because at the end of the night, Elsa was the one who led us home! She has an amazing sense of direction (direct contrast to me!).

As the evening wore on, I began to grow more and more weary of getting hit on by random Italian men, and my eye began to feel more and more irritated. I sat in a chair by myself waiting for my friends to grow tired of their new 'friends.' Eventually, one of them found me and said that she was ready to leave. Elsa's navigation skills are unparalleled and she led us home without any issues. Well, without any issues other than the increasingly painful sensation in my right eye.

By the time I got back to my hotel room, the pain was unbearable. I immediately took out my contacts and tried to flush out my eyes. I inspected  (I use this word because I was intensely looking at the contact lens for any rips or debris that would've caused the pain) the contact lens but found nothing. I tried to go to sleep, but the pain kept me awake. When I got dressed for Sunday's activities, the pain was simply unbearable, my eye was horrifyingly red and incredibly sensitive to light. If you're thinking what everyone else was thinking... I'll repeat myself, No, it didn't feel like 'pink eye'/conjuntivitis. I've had that in the past and know what it feels like. This was something entirely different.

I've had a ridiculous number of eye issues in the past, but this was without a doubt the most traumatizing.  My friends insisted that I show Dr. D my disgusting looking eye, so I did, with the intention that we could make a pit-stop at a pharmacy to pick up some eye drops. He agreed that I needed some eye drops and that a pit-stop could be made. Rather, a pit-stop could have been made, were pharmacies open on Sundays! I truly miss the convenience of 24/7 CVC & Walgreens. We rejoined the group and got on a water bus to head towards one of the islands of Venice... or so I thought! Dr. D had other plans, and when the water bus made it's stop at the hospital, I was informed that this was where I was getting off.

Despite my protests for hours on end, he maintained his position that I needed to be seen by a doctor immediately, and that he pulled rank and so I would be staying put. As a 21-year-old individual, it was fairly grounding to be told by an adult that I was to do something "because [he] said so." I thought that those days were long over. False statement. Long (yes, this story could be more drawn-out) story short, I had a massive eye infection from my contact lens in my right eye. The ointment that was prescribed to me by the emergency room doctor was later deemed to have been the worst treatment for my condition and the reason my vision had been reduced to blurred color. Two weeks later, and three bottles of antibiotic eyedrops later, my vision was all cleared up. Contact lenses will NOT be worn by me for the rest of my time in Italy.

Clearly, my time in Venice was dominated by my eye issue, so I felt it was necessary to return once more... with my parents. See this post for details on that trip to Venice!