Day 9 – Arrival in Interlaken – Friday June 1st

We woke up at 5am to get ready to leave for our train to Interlaken. It was hard, but we made it on the train missing only one person (who was accounted for). The two train rides lasted until 3:30pm, so we mostly just slept, listened to music, had class, and ate. It seemed to take forever, but the view from the train was great. We went through small French and Swiss cities deep in the countryside until we made it to Interlaken (which I found out literally meant “between lakes”).

The water was so clear and blue, fresh from the mountains, and although it was raining, the mountains and the small town were beautiful. Ate about 4pm, a woman from an outdoor experience outfitter came and talked to us about extreme sport options while we were in Interlaken. The prices were steep for anything really cool like hang gliding or bungee jumping, and I didn’t want to go canyoning after our professor told us about some people who died just a few years before. I opted to just go horseback riding for a reasonable price through the trails surrounding the city. The excursion wasn’t until the next afternoon, so I’ll tell you about that later.

Mr. Turkett, Chris, a girl, and I went to a fondue restaurant for dinner. The prices were a little high, but the portions were very generous. I definitely got my money’s worth, the food was excellent. Apparently, some girls on the trip got ripped off there after we left, so I’m not sure if I would recommend the place.

After dinner, we all headed back, and I joined up with Sam and Drew. We decided to go with some girls to a casino just to see what it was like. Also, there was not much of a nightlife in Interlaken outside of casinos and local bars. I only took 5 euros with me, which ended up getting me 7.5 Swiss francs to use, which was great. I win two francs, but then blew it all. I guess that’s what gambling does though; it makes you think you could win more just before taking the rest of your money. Some people on the trip got really into it and spent a lot of money. I realized 7 francs was enough to blow before realizing I wasn’t going to win anything big. I left soon after losing and went to bed.