The weekend of March 1st, 2018 was probably one of the best weekends of my life. On Thursday night around 9pm, I boarded a bus for a weekend in Interlaken, Switzerland. The extreme sport capital of the WORLD…YES, the WORLd. This day was also special, because it snowed in Florence for the first time in many many years. When we left at 9pm at night, we were expected to get to Interlaken around 5 in the morning. Due to large amounts of snow in Bologna, and an unexpected highway closure in Switzerland, we didn’t make it to Inkerlaken until almost 9am. But the extra morning commute was worth it. The Swiss Alps are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. The perfect white snow at the top, one after another was mesmerizing. We twisted and turned up mountains and tight little roads, with snow and little ski shops and cabins. It was like I was in another world. We got to our hostel and had some breakfast, and decided to take a cat nap so we would be set for the rest of the day. My friends and I decided to go to a little Irish Pub restaurant down the street from the hostel for some lunch. We got some Swiss burgers and they were amazing. This is the trip where I met my friend Hannah, who will go on to be my best friend I met while studying abroad, and who I will go on many more adventures with her during my time abroad. After lunch, we decided to go walk around and see what was around in the area. Tall, beautiful mountains surrounded the little winter town and I was in pure amazement. After walking around for a while, we headed more into downtown Interlaken for our Swiss chocolate making class at a place called the Funky Chocolate Club. The second I walked through the door, the amazing scent of hot chocolate filled the air, and there was all different types of chocolate all over the shelves. We checked in, and headed in the back to a classroom where we began our lesson. We got to learn about cocoa and try different types of chocolate, from dark to milk to white. Then we got to pick from light or dark chocolate, and create chocolate bars. We got to decorate them however we wanted, set them aside, and then had to come back the next day to pick them up.
Saturday morning I got up bright and early because i was going PARAGLIDING!!! By 9am I was down in the lobby and was picked up in a van to take us to the paragliding place. We got there, put on snow boats, and then took the van up the mountains to get to the top of the Swiss Alps. From there, we walked a bit to get to the overhang where we were going to jump off from. After some setup, and a running start, jumped off the mountain and were paragliding off the air. Paragliding over the Swiss Alps was the BEST and my favorite experience on this trip. It was so breathtaking and beautiful just gliding around. I got a USB with pics and videos from paragliding and I’m still obsessed with them. After paragliding, my friend and I decided to go hang back at the hotel, and after did some shopping. That night, we had a group dinner with the tour group we booked with. We had a choice of fondue or a Swiss burger. I had the burger.
The next and final morning in Switzerland, my friends and I decided to go do some souvenir shopping and head down to Lake Brienz and take pictures. After an extremely long walk, we came upon the lake, and I was mesmerized by the pure blue beautiful lake with snow top mountains behind it in the distance. It was the most beautiful water I have ever seen. I stood there for a good 10-15 minutes thankful I was able to come and experience this beautiful scene. We headed back to the hostel to get ready to depart back to Florence. I was extremely sad. As I left Switzerland I decided to make it my goal to get a winter house there. Whenever I come back to Europe, I will most definitely be going back to Switzerland. You have my heart.
The Amanda Show: Abroad 
Leave a comment