We left on Thursday night and rode a tour bus to Interlaken. We ended up going with “Bus 2 Alps”, a tour service catered to study abroad students. After our learning weekend in Venice, I was very thankful for our transportation and hostel to be taken care of. The drive took about 9 hours but I managed to sleep and listen to my ipod for most of it. I really enjoyed the drive and it snowed on the way there! We got stopped at the Swiss border for about an hour and our bus got checked. We arrived to Balmers around 3AM and snuggled into our little room. We woke up pretty early on Friday to reserve our paragliding/skiing spots, ate free hostel breakfast, and headed to Lauterbrunnen Valley for the day.
Lauterbrunnen was incredible! I felt like I was in a movie. We walked down a little road through the town and the country side for almost 3 hours. Just walking, taking pictures, ice skating, and falling down. I would move there. Open a little bakery, live in a log cabin, and have a couple cows and chickens. No kidding, it’s unreal. One of those places I will always long to go back to, and will forever remember as a magical town. In Lauterbrunnen we ate lunch at a little café called Airtime. The lady who owned it was super nice and managed to sell us tomato soup and brownies. We hung out there for a while, eating and looking out the windows. It was a great day in a winter wonderland! Friday night we hung out around Interlaken and went to bed pretty early so we would be ready for paragliding! Note about paragliding: I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS GETTING MYSELF INTO. I decided I didn’t want to ski because I’m not a very good skier and I wanted to have time to explore Grindelwald, so paragliding seemed like a logical option. While walking in Lauterbrunnen I happen to spot a paraglide just coming off the mountain. Hil was cracking up, but honestly I didn’t have a clue I would be up that high. I was legitimately nervous. All that said, going to bed Friday night I was quite apprehensive about our paragliding adventure in the morning!
We got picked up for paragliding around 10. Melis and Em went skiing, while Rach, Hil, and I went paragliding. Obviously I didn’t really know what paragliding was at this point but I was praying that I wouldn’t have to run off a mountain (my other friend Haley who came with us went skydiving…I’m not that crazy) . We went to the paragliding office and picked up our guides. The guides were really funny and cute! That made everything better of course. We drove up to the top of a mountain and hiked up a bit to some random cottages back yard. Thankfully I didn’t have to run off a mountain, just run down it with a guide strapped to my back! Paragliding is just like flying a kite except you are attached to the kite. I LOVED IT! I was not scared once. It was unbelievable and the view was awesome. I didn’t even have time to be scared because I was constantly looking around and gawking at the alps and town below. It was quite chilly and I was thankful for the boots and pants the paragliding guides had provided. If you go to Interlaken pleaseee paraglide (and request Dominick as your guide). After paragliding we went to went to the grocery store and got some soup. Our hostel was so homey and nice. It even had a kitchen which was useful for preparing some cheap meals. Another great part of the weekend was the Swiss Franc. The euro is stronger than the franc so everything seemed a lot cheaper in Switzerland. We stocked up on chocolate, oatmeal, and the some of the best bread I have ever had! So many reasons to love Switzerland.
After lunch on Saturday I went to explore Grindelwald. Jerm had told me that’s where Pop’s tree was located and I wanted to find it! It was about a 45 minute train ride through the alps, and then I arrived in the town of Grindelwald. Everyone in Grindelwald was either on skis or riding a sled! It was the quaintest little ski town. I explored for a bit and then asked a lady where Terrassenweg road was located. She told me to keep walking straight. I walked straight for quite some time. Straight and uphill, but the view was impeccable. I just kept following Terrassenweg and prayed that I would see the tree! When I got to the ski school I knew I was close. The tree wasn’t hard to spot. There were skiers everywhere, but I trekked in my rain boots to take a picture and stand under it like Pops had many years before (too bad I didn’t have on skis like he did)! It was a really cool experience, one of my favorite from the weekend. I wandered around the ski school for a while, set on a bench, admired the 3 year old pro skiers, and God’s unbelievable creation. I love Grindelwald and I now think every Troxler should go take a picture under the “Troxler Tree” :)! I got slightly lost on the train ride home, but obviously I made in back to Balmers in one piece! We had a fun night eating Swiss fondue and hanging out at the hostel!
Sunday we explored Interlaken a little more and then had an eight hour drive back to Florence. It was Valentine ’s Day so we all ate A LOT of chocolate! Fun times! This week has been the first week of quizzes. It’s hard to make myself study, but I still enjoy the material for each class. I finally went inside the church of Santa Croce with my Renaissance class this week. After walking by it about 1000 times, it is nice to know what it looks like inside! Hopefully we will go to the Duomo in the next few days! The weather has been really nice lately.
Other random things from my week:
-I went jogging on the Arno today wearing my UNC shirt and some old man yelled “Go Tarheels”. It was pleasant surprise! There are Tarheels all over the world!
-Our beloved dog Chip died this weekend. I got an e-mail from Al when I came home from Switzerland. Her words summed Chips life up best: “The lady up the road doesn't know yet, she cried just telling Mom he needed to go to the vet...she said that Chip was the best dog she ever loved..that he was a "pure bred"..that he loved everyone :) Chip was good dog. Dad and I sat around and laughed at him tonight. About him running on the basketball court and softball fields. About him running/swimming after the boat at the lake. We laughed at him trying to jump on the truck and never being about to handle fireworks....It was fun thinking about how he had been there through all these funny moments. Made me smile and think about how blessed I am.” I know Chip was just a dog but I loved that dog. He grew up with us. Makes me realize how fast time moves, but also how blessed I am with family, memories, and friends! There will never be another Chipper.
-my “feel the world around you” photo assignment turned out ok. It was A LOT harder than I thought it was going to be. I’m a pretty good creeper but people get freaked out when you are taking random pictures of them. I posted two of my favorites. My teacher gave me a lot of helpful feedback so my next assignment “focus your vision” will be better!
-I managed to capture a picture of one of the little produce trucks Dad. It’s not a great one, but maybe you can get the feel of what they look like.It only has 3 wheels. You need one!
Headed to Rome with school on Saturday! I'm excited!
I love and miss you all very much. Some days I feel a little homesick but I quickly remind myself I’m in Florence and I have to love everyday where I’m at! BS still has a huge part of my heart (and Raleigh and CH too)!
Love. Wing. Meow.
Bec
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