Interlaken Adventure

Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed at my hostel and looked out the window to see downtown Interlaken. A small municipality located near the center of Switzerland, Interlaken boasts an exciting combination of tranquil scenery and extreme adventure. I had arrived the night before so what I saw took me by surprise. I opened the window and stuck my head out. In all directions the small town is cut off from the rest of the world by snow capped mountains.

With a population of just 5500 people, Interlaken survives on the constant stream of trains delivering backpackers, climbers, and adventure seekers. Being one such tourist, I reserved a spot as part of a paragliding group. Throughout the day, flocks of these paragliders, dangling from colorful parachutes, appear in the sky and make their way to the landing zone in a field near the city’s center.

I passed many small shops and restaurants on my way to the paragliding desk and was surprised at some of the prices. Everything was extremely expensive, probably due to the fact that the city is surrounded by mountains, making transportation difficult. Also, the fact that Interlaken is a heavy tourist city probably leads to higher prices as well. I finally made my way to the rendezvous point for the paragliding trip. There I boarded a van with the rest of the tourists and the pilots we would all be trusting to get us back on the ground safely. As the van wound its way up a mountain to the north east of Interlaken, the pilots introduced themselves and briefed us on safety. With 24% of Interlaken’s population made up of foreign nationals, it was no surprise that my pilot, Bruno, was the only pilot who grew up in the city. It was also mentioned that everyone would be insured by the Swiss government during the flight. Curious about what type of government would do such a thing, I researched Switzerland’s politics. I was surprised to see that the current administration, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), is actually fairly right winged.

We arrived at the top and suited up for takeoff. After we were strapped into the parachute, Bruno attached a string to my camera, reminding me that a camera falling form this altitude could be deadly. Many of the participants looked a little green in the face as they ran down the grassy hill and off of the hundred foot cliff, but I was full of excitement. The ground fell away quickly and I fumbled to take my camera out of the windbreaker they had provided me with. Although it was around 70 degrees at the base of the mountain, I was a little chilly up here, even with the windbreaker. When I realized this, I was amazed at Switzerland’s extreme variety of geographic features. The area is diverse, not only horizontally across the landscape, but vertically though the different regions of the mountains.

As Bruno piloted the parachute through a narrow valley, the mountains to my right suddenly ended in a vertical, rocky cliff. Beyond the cliff, Lake Thun shone half glistening in the sun, and half rippled with wind and rain falling from ominous clouds above. In addition to extreme conditions between the mountain peaks and valleys, they also cause some very erratic weather. One second it would be 70 degrees and sunny in the city, the next it could be 50 and raining. During my entire stay in Interlaken, the weather cycled from beautiful weather to monsoons probably five times. Bruno, being a pilot and very aware of the weather situation, put the parachute on “auto pilot” while he made a phone call to his fellow pilots. Auto pilot consisted of him letting go of the control straps, causing the parachute to react violently to the smallest shift of bodyweight.

After confirming that the weather was safe enough to continue our flight, we cleared the cliffs to the left and continued toward the city. Now every inch of Interlaken could be seen through the viewfinder of my camera. Lake Brienz, on my left, is connected to Lake Thun by the Aare River. I took in this amazing panorama for no more than 30 seconds before Bruno interrupted my trance with a simple question. “Tricks now?” he asked. “Jesus, I guess so,” I replied. We proceeded perform a series of g-pulling spirals and stomach turning flips. Just when I thought Interlaken was in for a vomit bombing from 1000 ft, we descended toward the landing field and settled softly onto the grass.

Strasbourg – A city shaped by rivals

Saturday, May 29 – 2pm

It didn’t hit me until I was sitting on the Place de la Republique eating the rest of my day-old baguette. As I checked my map, I read the blurb about the large roundabout where I was enjoying my snack. My eyes began to quickly scan the short paragraph, but I was immediately captured by one sentence that read “the memorial (in the center of the plaza) shows a mother with her two sons, one who died defending France, the other Germany a traumatic experience for many people in Alsace during the two World Wars.”

I guess I didn’t think about where I was going when I nonchalantly hopped on a train in Luxembourg City heading south toward Zurich earlier that morning. I knew the name, Strasbourg, but the historical significance of the city and the region never crossed my mind. As I gazed at the memorial situated at the center of the circular plaza and inscribed with the words “A Nos Morts 1914-1918, 1939-1945, 1945-1952, 1952-1962,” information from AP European History slowly began to resurface.

The region of Alsace has been one of the most disputed territories in Western Europe. Situated along the Rhine River and on the border between France and Germany, the instituted region, now part of France, has been under the control of both countries. Conflict began soon after the region was given to France with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. During the two World Wars, in particular, Alsace the center of intense fighting. As I continued to walk around the memorial, and snap a few quick pictures, it was incredible to think about how such a tiny and seemingly insignificant piece of territory could be a source of so much conflict between neighboring countries. (http://www.visit-alsace.com/librairie/index.html)


The history of the region, but more specifically the periods of control by both France and Germany, has had remarkable influences on the culture of the city and region today. This was clearly evident as I strolled from La Place de Republiqe through the rest of the city. Hungry from a long day of walking, I stopped for a quick bite at a small café off of the La Place Borgire and immediately noticed the German influence. Scrawled on a small and worn-out chalkboard were the daily specials. The one that caught my attention was the spatzle – a traditionally German dish that was listed alongside more common French cuisine. Not only has the food obviously had Germanic influence, but the language and culture have as well. Most notably, members of the Alsatian community speak not only French but also Alsatian, a German dialect that has been highly influenced by French. In addition to language and food, the area has it’s own traditional costumes that are worn on special occasions. It is incredible that two biggest rivals in Europe have had such enormous impacts on the identity and culture of this tiny region. (http://www.tourisme-alsace.com/en/alsace-regional-identity.html)

As I savored my food at the cafe, I thought about the “must-sees” of Strasbourg and I found it interesting that the highlight of my day, and the city’s main attraction, the cathedral, was built prior to there even being a France or a Germany. The Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame is one of the most famous churches in France. Known for its intricate, lace-like façade, the church was known as the tallest building in the Christian world until the 19th century. As I walked through the church earlier in the afternoon I was in complete awe; the size of the structure was absolutely unbelievable and indescribable. Some of the most beautiful elements that I noted were the soaring pointed arches, the large stained-glass windows, and the interior columns that were all clear evidence to show that the Catholic church could be dated to the gothic period (in particular the 12th century). (http://www.strasbourg.info/cathedral/)

After snapping out of my remeniscing of the day, paying my tab, and stopping for an ice cream cone, I decided it was time to make my way towards The Palace of Justice, but more importantly, the Ciarus hostel. Back in my surprisingly clean room, I began to process my day in the city known for being at the crossroads of Europe. Thinking back on all I had seen, I realized how much history was encapsulated in one small town. From a 12th century gothic cathedral, to the reminders of the world wars, to the modern glass building of the European Parliament, it was clear to me that Strasbourg is a city that has been shaped by the past, and is sure to have a promising future.

Thrill Seeking Switzerland

Interlaken, Switzerland is famous for attracting adventure and thrill seeking backpackers from all over the world. Although I am not much of a thrill seeker I decided to go purely for the scenery and adventure. With a magnificent mixture of mountains, lakes and thick woodlands the geography of Interlaken is perfect for exploration and facing ones fears. Interlaken was originally settled by the Celts but later taken over by the Romans around 58 B.C. who gave it the name “Interlacus” meaning between two lakes. The Romans later over ran Switzerland a few hundred years later giving the area a Germanic language and culture. Hence the name, Interlaken is located in the Swiss Alps between two large lakes giving the town a beautiful scenic view in all directions. The two large lakes were formed by a glacier which used to fill the entire valley. When I decided to visit Switzerland I had no idea what to expect or even what to do. Some more information on the history of Interlaken can be found at: http://www.eurotravelling.net/switzerland/interlaken_history.htm.

Upon arriving in Interlaken my friends and I immediately looked at a few brochures of tourist attractions in the area. Due to the majority of Interlaken’s income coming from tourists we figured almost anything would be worth the money. We decided on going to a high ropes course located in the woods a short walk from the town center because it was the cheapest. When we arrived we saw tall trees with an arrangement of obstacles and wires about 20 meters in the air. We went through a brief instructional course and then we were set free to climb anywhere we wanted. We began to climb up the starting platform high into the trees and once I looked down the fear set it. Each course was a mixture of obstacles, balancing, and zip lines that stretched above the tree tops. All I was given was a safety harness used to prevent me from falling but it did not make me feel safe enough. None of the five courses available were simple; they all involved a mixture of strength and balance along with coping with the fear of being 20 meters up in the trees. The entire time my adrenaline was pumping from the fear of falling or any mixture of events that could go wrong. After about two hours in the trees we finally finished and my hands didn’t stop shaking for about ten minutes.

Although we had a great time on the high ropes through the tree tops we failed to take advantage of the different package deals which had been going on. The following is a great link which shows and explains the many different tourist attractions Interlaken has to offer: http://www.balmers.com/en/activities/high-ropes-course.html. The link explains the individual activities but one will have to look upon arrival for great package deals which are different through the changing seasons. Some of the deals involved high ropes, white water rafting, and an all day bike rental for a reasonable price. Overall Interlaken was an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone traveling in Europe. Apart from the thrill seeking and adventure, the relaxing scenery was extraordinary.

An Interesting Moment at the Jesuit Church of Lucerne

It was day two of our weekend and Jonathan and I had left the beautiful Swiss city of Zurich and had traveled by train to the smaller city of Lucerne. We both loved Zurich. The old city was full of stone paths and roads, a city rail system, and bus system which made the traffic on the streets go almost unnoticed. We both were so sad to leave, but were excited to see what the city of Lucerne was like. When we got there it had the same feel as Zurich with its stoned roads, many cafes filled with residents of Lucerne as well as many other tourists like ourselves, and was surrounded by water. However, Lucerne had the advantage of having the Swiss Alps surrounding it, which made the backdrop amazing! When we first arrived we decide to do a walking tour since we only had a short period of time before leaving for our next destination. We walked through the streets of Lucerne and walked into many shops that sold Swiss Army brand knives and watches.

While browsing through the streets of the small city we found a beautiful church, so of course us being a tourist in Europe we decided to go inside and have a look. Before entering I was already comparing the exterior to the cathedrals I had already been in. It was obvious that the architecture was vastly different then the gothic style of Notre Dame that I had visited the weekend before. Right when we got inside we read the sign that sits in front of pretty much every church we have been in, “Please be quiet in this place of worship and please dress respectfully.” I like to think that I am mature enough to not have to worry about being loud and disrespectful in church, however I guess my maturity level is not as high as I had thought. While walking through the beautiful Jesuit Church of Lucerne and taking in the bright interior I was looking up at all of the ornamentation on the ceiling. I had made it to almost the front of the church when I heard something move underneath the pew. I jumped and yelled out a small “Ahhh”, because for some reason I thought a wild animal was underneath the pew. Don’t ask me why because I really have no idea why I thought this! It ended up being a man who had fallen asleep in a pew who jumped because I had startled him awake from his nap. This is the moment that my low level of maturity shined through, as I started laughing uncontrollably. It couldn’t have been just a quiet giggle either; it was like I was back in the 5th grade sitting with my best friend giggling uncontrollably while our parents were threatening to separate us during church. Luckily Jonathan and I were done looking at the church, because I had to leave as I was making a scene in front of those that were praying and napping

The Jesuit Church of Lucerne is one of the churches that I will actually remember from my trip to Europe this summer. Not just because of my laughing spell, but also because of the history that I learned from a book that I bought while I was there. When we first walked in the church the first thing I noticed was how bright it was inside. All of the other churches seemed so dark with the stained glass windows and dark wall ornamentation. These walls were made of plaster and were all white none of the windows were stained glass which allowed so much light to flow into the chapel. The pamphlet says “The Church of Lucerne is indeed quite extraordinary. It is based on the one hand on well-balanced dimensions and proportions and on the other on the way light is allowed to enter the church—through large windows in the chapels, galleries, and clerestory—filling the room uniformly with light and thus contributed to the desired static quality.” The stucco-work and ceiling paintings are absolutely amazing and they date back to 1672 when the church was originally built. Like most churches, changes were made to the original design but only in the addition of colored plaster-work that was done in the 18th century. The church’s simple exterior with two onion heads that sit symmetrical on each side of the façade and the ornate inside really show the Baroque style of architecture.
Through visiting the first church built in Lucerne I feel that I learned a lot about the history of Lucerne and the Baroque style architecture. Through experiencing the bright colored interior of the church and my not being able to control myself my trip to Lucerne was definitely memorable and is a place that I would recommend everyone to visit if they get the opportunity!

Here are some links about Lucerne and the Jesuit Church of Lucerne:

http://travelguide.all-about-switzerland.info/lucerne-jesuitchurch.html
http://www.luzern.org/en/navpage-CityExperienceLU-SightseeingLU-72049.html