Interlaken, Switzerland - Heaven on Earth
If you ever come across a postcard of Switzerland, take it and stare at it. The postcards do not lie. Switzerland really is that beautiful. The mountains are taller than any other mountains I have ever seen before. The water of the lakes and rivers are a glacial blue. The valleys are a luscious green. Visually, there is no evidence that only two or three weeks ago, Interlaken suffered some severe flooding except for some fallen trees and some mud here and there. However, some activities have been cancelled earlier than usual, including canyoning and rafting, due to the excessive rainfall and the drop in temperature. This has left me a little disappointed, because I had planned on doing canyoning while here.
When I left Cinque Terre, I was covered in approximately 45 mosquito bites. The night before I had paid an excessive 80 euros for a tiny room in Vernazza, Cinque Terre and one mosquito came included in the tariff. During the night, the mosquito had a field day all over the top half of my body, munching its way from my right arm, up to my right shoulder, across my back and down my left arm. I wasnt feeling very well when it came time to leave the Cinque Terre and the train ride up to Switzerland via Milan was miserable. Given that I was less than well, and tired after a bad nights sleep, i wearily climbed onto the train and closed my eyes, desperately wanting to be back in Australia with a big bottle of calamine lotion - and forgot to fill out my eurail pass for the day. As a result, I had the pleasure of dealing with a train guard who fined me 30 euros for not filling the pass out properly. I wasnt a happy camper.
However, there is something special about backpacking. Even on your worst days, when you want to be home with family, life can take a turn for the better, with just a simple conversation with strangers. I was grumpy and annoyed when I climbed onto my second train for the day, in Milan, when I sat across from two American girls from Wisconsin. After talking to Ashley and Angie for a couple of hours, they convinced me to not go to Interlaken straight away, but to come along with them to a place on the Swiss/France border, called Gryon. Gryon ended up being the most beautiful mountain village, and with Angie and Ashley, I stayed up in amongst the Swiss Alps in the friendliest hostel (ie. Mountain Chalet) for two nights. My Mosquito Blues disappeared as I spent my days wandering around the Alpine villages and my nights sitting around a bonfire with twenty other backpackers, toasting marshmellows. In between that, we even visited thermal baths, where we all swam relaxed in heated pools and spas in the open air (3 degree temperatures outside the water) looking across the Swiss Alps. The fact that I was at my lowest, missing home, missing my family, and then meeting two strangers on a train, my journey took an extraordinary turn for the better. It was a fun three days all up, three days that may not have occured had I not met Ashley and Angie.
Angie and Ashley had to head off to Paris to catch their train back to London, but I moved on to Interlaken. Some of the girls from Gryon have come along to Interlaken so I am not alone here. Today I spent the day amongst the huge Swiss Alps that surround Interlaken.
I really wish I could write better entries. I feel as though these entries have been very rushed and poorly written (my sister is probably editing them as I go). However, with the pressure of trying to write everything in limited time (it costs about $5 for 15 minutes internet use here in Switzerland) and the noise of people in the backpacker hostel, my concentration isnt strong enough to construct proper sentences. I am keeping a pretty detailed journal, which I will hopefully transfer onto this blog, with the photos, once I return to Australia.
I hope everyone is well and I miss you all very much. I am thinking of staying another night here in Interlaken, and then heading across the French Alps into Lyon and Dijon, ready to arrive in Paris on 3rd October.
Hugs n Kisses
K
When I left Cinque Terre, I was covered in approximately 45 mosquito bites. The night before I had paid an excessive 80 euros for a tiny room in Vernazza, Cinque Terre and one mosquito came included in the tariff. During the night, the mosquito had a field day all over the top half of my body, munching its way from my right arm, up to my right shoulder, across my back and down my left arm. I wasnt feeling very well when it came time to leave the Cinque Terre and the train ride up to Switzerland via Milan was miserable. Given that I was less than well, and tired after a bad nights sleep, i wearily climbed onto the train and closed my eyes, desperately wanting to be back in Australia with a big bottle of calamine lotion - and forgot to fill out my eurail pass for the day. As a result, I had the pleasure of dealing with a train guard who fined me 30 euros for not filling the pass out properly. I wasnt a happy camper.
However, there is something special about backpacking. Even on your worst days, when you want to be home with family, life can take a turn for the better, with just a simple conversation with strangers. I was grumpy and annoyed when I climbed onto my second train for the day, in Milan, when I sat across from two American girls from Wisconsin. After talking to Ashley and Angie for a couple of hours, they convinced me to not go to Interlaken straight away, but to come along with them to a place on the Swiss/France border, called Gryon. Gryon ended up being the most beautiful mountain village, and with Angie and Ashley, I stayed up in amongst the Swiss Alps in the friendliest hostel (ie. Mountain Chalet) for two nights. My Mosquito Blues disappeared as I spent my days wandering around the Alpine villages and my nights sitting around a bonfire with twenty other backpackers, toasting marshmellows. In between that, we even visited thermal baths, where we all swam relaxed in heated pools and spas in the open air (3 degree temperatures outside the water) looking across the Swiss Alps. The fact that I was at my lowest, missing home, missing my family, and then meeting two strangers on a train, my journey took an extraordinary turn for the better. It was a fun three days all up, three days that may not have occured had I not met Ashley and Angie.
Angie and Ashley had to head off to Paris to catch their train back to London, but I moved on to Interlaken. Some of the girls from Gryon have come along to Interlaken so I am not alone here. Today I spent the day amongst the huge Swiss Alps that surround Interlaken.
I really wish I could write better entries. I feel as though these entries have been very rushed and poorly written (my sister is probably editing them as I go). However, with the pressure of trying to write everything in limited time (it costs about $5 for 15 minutes internet use here in Switzerland) and the noise of people in the backpacker hostel, my concentration isnt strong enough to construct proper sentences. I am keeping a pretty detailed journal, which I will hopefully transfer onto this blog, with the photos, once I return to Australia.
I hope everyone is well and I miss you all very much. I am thinking of staying another night here in Interlaken, and then heading across the French Alps into Lyon and Dijon, ready to arrive in Paris on 3rd October.
Hugs n Kisses
K
posted by KateOnTheGo at
8:40 PM
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