Hooters wings and a 200 foot free fall in Switzerland

On my second day in Interlaken, I felt a rush of YOLO come over me. I figured that this weekend could in fact be my last time in Switzerland for quite a long time, so I decided that I needed to do something a little crazy....

Like canyon jumping.

But before that could be done, it was mandatory that we stopped at Hooters. For some chicken strips.

So worth the 15 francs. 

At three pm, our Outdoor Interlaken guide picked us up from Balmer's and drove us 25 minutes to a town called Gimmelwald-- the most picture picture Swiss town that you could ever imagine.

When we arrived to the canyon we would be jumping through, I walked to the ledge and looked down... far. Very far. That's when I started shaking...

Before we were weighed and strapped into our harnesses, the liability waiver was read aloud to us. I wish I had recorded it-- it made us all laugh a bit. My favorite part was where it stated that you will not jump if you are pregnant-- because it would be twice the price. 

I originally told myself that I would go second or third because I didn't want to go first and I thought I would get too scared if I waited for too long. But some of the students from the Bus2alps trip asked if I could take pictures and videos of them jumping, so I ended up going LAST. It worked out for the best though-- by the time I went, I was so excited, and knew that I would have to just GO, and not think about it too much.

It was almost dark by the time that I got to jump, but here's the video! 

Like my scream? The feeling was absolutely crazy. Falling 200 feet for four seconds-- almost indescribable. Did I love it? YES. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat-- but I'm thinking skydiving over the Swiss Alps is next !

Once I got back to the hostel, I emailed the video to my parents, who had NO idea of exactly what I was up to in Switzerland... the reaction when I called them later that day was priceless.

You'll Find Me in Interlaken!

I received an email early this past Thursday morning, and by 9pm Thursday night, I was on a 9-hour bus ride to Switzerland. Things in my life have been moving pretty fast these days, but it keeps things interesting-- I didn't move to Florence to be living a routine lifestyle.

By 5am, we were in Interlaken, Switzerland. I have heard so much about this place over the past three years-- from both my friends who studied in Antwerp with me that went skydiving here, and from the students and Bus2alps staff members who had fallen in love with the town in just one short weekend. I couldn't sleep on the bus because containing my excitement was impossible....

Get ready for a significant amount of scenery pictures because I just could not get enough of my beautiful surroundings. Editing was unnecessary for most of these photos because they came out perfect the instant they showed up on my camera.

We stayed at world-famous Balmer's Hostel. I've had a ton of friends stay here in the past few years and they have all raved about how fun the hostel was-- especially Metro, the bar/club that they have right in the basement. It was in a great location too, just a five minute scenic stroll from the main street in town and was next to Outdoor Interlaken, where I signed up for the craziest thing I've ever done in my life-- but more about that later...

Yup, those are the Swiss Alps.

Swiss cows

On our second day in Interlaken we expected rainy and cold weather, but it turned out to be fairly warm and the perfect day for a walk. Our Bus2alps guides took us along the river to a large lake filled with stunning blue glacial water. 

It was so nice to see greenery and leaves, such a contrast from Florence. 

Don't worry, we didn't walk around Interlaken just taking pictures and staring at the mountains for three whole days... just wait till my next post, where you'll see what life-changing activity I did in the Swiss Alps!

There's still more weekends left to go to Interlaken with Bus2Alps! Use gift code "Dante" for 5% off your trip!