InterRockin!

Our goal today, as always, was to fit in with the locals as much as possible. We've learned that in Interlaken, this means being EXTREME! Hang-gliding, river rafting and bunjee jumping, oh my! Interlaken is the EXTREME sports capital of the world. As EXTREME individuals, we decided to wet our feet with the two most EXTREME activities Interlaken had to offer -- skydiving and canyoning. Galen took to the skies while Chris, Ray and Caitlin careened over cliffs.

Canyoning is much too gnarly to bring even the Olympus Stylus Tough that has so graciously captured every moment of the trip so far, so in lieu of photos, we will attach the following video of canyoning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGsy139Q_dw

However, Galen has incredible pictures of her skydiving adventure:

In honor of our last night in beautiful Switzerland, the hostel threw us a party!

That's not actually true, but we did make sure to turn the "bad taste" party at Club Metro into our own personal party. Our version of a costume was mediocre at best, wearing all white.


We even won a prize....



Okay, that's not true either. We STOLE a prize from the actual winner and were kindly asked to participate in the party appropriately, or go to sleep. After many rounds of the macarena and pestering the bartenders, we decided our work in Interlaken was done.

Off to Rome tomorrow to meet up with API!

Harder Kulm Than You'd Think...

This morning we woke up and went to the hostel's free breakfast again, choosing of course our favorite meal - muesli, fruit and cheese! The hostel kicks us out at 10:30 am for cleaning (probably a good thing since our room smells like foot) so we decided to don our crunchiest hiking gear.

We went to the hotel's reception and spoke to Lara, a spunky Swiss outdoor enthusiast. We asked her where to hike and she suggested that for a "light hike" we should try Harder Kulm. Light was exactly what we needed, so we jumped on board.

We filled our water bottles with fresh Laken water that comes out of a spout in the hotel's Biergarten and headed toward the base of the mountain. We were a little surprised to see the sign's suggestion that the hike would take 2 hours and 20 minutes, but we figured that was for the average folk, not D1 athletes like ourselves.

From the bottom, you can see the summit where a restaurant sits. We made this and the cake it promised our goal. We started the hike, not necessarily knowing which trails were right. About 30 minutes in, we were all huffing and puffing and covered in sweat. The straight vertical rocky paths were anything but "light." At this point, we realized that the average Swiss hiker must be pretty serious.

Though difficult, the hike boasted beautiful views of the entire valley. We even found a small farm where tons of cows roamed free on the mountainside.

After about 2 hours, we finally made it to the top. We decided to postpone passing out in order to indulge in berry tarts and chocolate cream cake. All the physical toil was worth it.

Pleasantly full and exhausted, we took the funicular down the mountain.

From the top, we started to notice that the lakes have a very distinct, beautiful teal color. In an attempt to show all of you, we've posted a picture from underwater. Yes, it does just look like a blue blob.

When we arrived back in town, we bought cheese, fruit and bread that we ate outside in the biergarten.


The night ended with a fun dance party in Metro Bar. We made sure to request tons of American classic songs such as "Sweet Dreams" and Lady Gaga. The DJ was utterly offended by our requests for Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA."

Scoots & Chutes

Our Swiss adventure began by lugging our baggage through the small town of Interlaken at 11pm. Upon arrival at our hostel, Balmer’s Herbetage, we were informed that the only place open for food was Hooter’s. Although puzzled as to why Hooter’s of all American restaurants made it in Interlaken, we were happy to enjoy some chicken cheesesteaks after a long day of travel. Now Caitlin, Ray, and Galen can all claim that their first meal at a Hooter’s was in Switzerland!

This morning we woke up in a storybook. Interlaken, Switzerland, we have decided, is the most beautiful place in the world. Although chilly, the tiny town situated between giant green mountains and two lakes could prove to be our favorite place yet. Our hostel is a kind of backpackers’ resort with free wifi, a kitchen, a totally cool club called Metro, a biergarten and convenience store. Plus our free breakfast consisted of muesli, fresh fruit, and local Swiss cheese so we knew it was going to be a good day!

We quickly got ready and headed next door to rent motor scooters for our great adventure through the Swiss countryside. We headed north on small windy roads. Almost every kilometer we stopped to admire a small village, a herd of cows (wearing real cowbells!!), snow-topped mountains, or white water rapids. The 20 km trip took us an hour as we tried to take it all in.

We finally arrived at trummelbach falles, ten glacier-fed waterfalls (or “chutes” as the Swiss call them) inside a series of caverns. They’re the only accessible waterfalls of such size in Europe! Hiking through trummelbach falles and the surrounding caves was awesome-just like The Goonies- and of course, we couldn’t get enough pictures.

On the ride back we scootered to one of the two lakes surrounding Interlaken. The fresh, Caribbean-blue water was unbelievable.

The day ended with a trip to the local supermarket for dinner supplies (and lots of beer). Chris cooked delicious pasta with vegetable sauce while we snacked on Swiss cheese, tomatoes and bread. We were finished just in time to hang out at Metro with our new hostel-mates from St. Louis.

Miland of Fashion and Gelato

We arrived in the beautiful Milan late at night and had a little trouble finding our hotel. Perhaps the fact that our Italian vocabulary between the four of us consists of around four phrases will be an issue after all. All was made well when we found the cute, clean Hotel Sabatino and indulged in some authentic cheese pizza before hitting the sack.

In the morning we woke up and began the trek through downtown Milan toward the famous Duomo. Each of the buildings was like it’s own work of art as they were topped with marble statues, covered in mosaics, or decorated with wraught iron or flower boxes. We even stopped in a garden with an enormous stone observatory. On the way we stopped at a small take-away restaurant and managed to communicate our desire to purchase some fresh vegetables, olive bread, and cheese pastries before continuing down the main road.

Out of nowhere the literally breathtaking marble Duomo appeared. The sheer number of carvings and statues paired with its extreme size was enough to keep us staring in the middle of the piazza for half an hour.


We then made our way through Milan’s fashion district and couldn’t resist stopping in a few stores. We each tried on a few items, but no one found any winner’s in Europe’s fashion capital meaning that Ray’s hunt for a trendy Euro trench coat is still on.


We spent the rest of the afternoon traversing the entire city. We walked through the charming Old Milan spotted with hodgepodge street vendors and took a rest in the beautiful gardens of the Castello Sforzesco. The afternoon ended with a late lunch of pizza and gelato at an outdoor café before heading back to the hotel to pack for Switzerland. Our first train ride is hours away!

Rambling down La Rambla

On our last day in Barcelona, we had to get up early to enjoy free breakfast and check out of the hostel. This included returning the top sheet we rented for 2 euro along with the other bedding. We took the funicular to Mont-Juic, one of the highest points of the city, right on the coast. It is the site of the original city-state of Barcino, founded by the Iberians. We walked up and down the entire mountain rather than taking the cable car because we figured it would give us a more comprehensive tour… and save 9 euro. At the top we visited the castle and saw the most beautiful views of the city. We looked off in the distance to find Italy, but unfortunately couldn’t see it.


At 2, we were meeting our friends at The University of Barcelona so we headed over for a quick bite first. We indulged in our new favorite food, falafel. The main goal of the rest of the day was to find churros and chocolate, a local dessert that trumps most in the states. Our friend Will led us to Café de l’Opera and we enjoyed the awesome treat that featured fried dough with 2 cups of melted chocolate for dipping.

After some brief shopping on La Rambla and a stop at the market with endless fresh fruit, nut and cheese vendors, we caught the Aèrobus to the airport, where we decided that European traveling is much more convenient than that in the States.
As we write, we are on the plane to Milan enjoying refreshment towels and apricot pastires.

BarceLOCA

After our trip to Park Guell we were starving. The Dartmouth kids studying here have decided that their favorite bar is, appropriately, an Irish pub named Ryan’s. We decided to try it. We had nachos, veggie burgers and cheese fries while we waited for the Championship game for FC Barcelona to start. We watched one half with the locals, saw two goals scored, and learned the song they all sing at every goal.

We were exhausted from such a long day of walking so we went back to the hostel for a quick siesta. We woke to millions of horns honking, Spaniards chanting and fireworks going off on all the streets. Apparently the futbol team won. We’ve never seen this level of excitement about anything in all our lives. La Rambla was jam packed with people celebrating from anywhere they could find room. People drove down the streets, doors open beating on drums and dangled from light posts hooting. At Plaça de Catalunya there was a huge stage that had been erected for the occasion and a jumbo screen played footage of the match, eliciting the same number of cheers as though it had just happened. When we saw that the sea of people continued all the way down La Rambla, and the fireworks were getting a little too loud for our taste, we went back to the hostel’s bar and hung out with our room mates.



The 5 British doctors as we came to know them were eager to learn all about American culture, especially fraternity and sorority life. Their favorite television show is MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16” so we were asked many questions regarding Ne-yo, new cars “bought by daddy” and “the best party of the year!!!!”


We also decided to teach them a few games from Dartmouth and they purchased sangria and beer. We decided it was an even trade. They also taught us several songs from the UK like the Scottish national anthem.

We ended the night with a brief stint at the Portuguese club Roxy, where Ray saw a famous Brazillian futbol player, Ronaldiño.

Playin' at la playa

Our second day in Barca began with a Flamenco show on the steps of the Barcelona cathedral. We then stopped for crepes, sandwiches, and yogurt at a tiny bakery called Bready before heading down La Rambla. This is the central street in Barcelona with a large walking area down the middle frequented by street performers, small shops, restaurants, and tons of random bird vendors among other things. We took it all the way down to the shore and saw a large statue of Christopher Columbus in the center of a rotary. There were tall lions attached that Ray attempted to climb before deeming it impossible. Chris quickly and easily mounted the lion. Ray was forced to take a picture on the ground with the girls in skirts. We wound up at the port and Rambla de Mar where we relaxed in the sunshine for a while and looked at all of the fantastic yachts, our favorite being the Martha Ann. We walked along the boardwalk with a street market to the beach and enjoyed a cool ice cream while we watched locals play futbol. There were also tons of awesome sand castles along the boardwalk.


Then we met Calby and the gang for a trip to Park Guell, a huge Gaudi designed park. We were really excited when we realized that the finale of America’s Next Top Model was once filmed there. It had amazing views all the way to the coast where you could see Sagrada Familia and a really modern building contrasting above all of the other buildings of Barcelona.