Since I have just left Interlaken, I have decided that I will blog
one more time to relate my trip to the blog and to reflect on the amazing time
that I have had here. Interlaken is easily the most beautiful place that I have
ever been to in my entire life, and I wish that everyone would have gotten the
opportunity to travel here. The water is just as blue as the sky, the mountains
still have snow on them, and there are so many trails and waterfalls to hike to
that you could travel here for seve3ral weeks and not see everything. I will
definitely be coming back here one day, and I hope that I can share this
wonderful place with my loved ones and some of my best friends. This is
certainly not one of the last times that I will see Interlaken in my lifetime.
Shelby, Gunnar, and I took a night train to Interlaken, and upon
waking up from a nap on the train, I woke up to the most beautiful view of my
entire life. The mountains, snow, water, and small little towns lining the
lakes were all so much to take in, and upon arriving in Interlaken, we took an
hour just staring at the landscape with wonder and awe. We then went to our
hostel, which was right on the lake, and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of
hiking and relaxing by the lake. While Gunnar went into town to get some of his
friends that would be traveling with us, Shelby and I found a trail right next
to our hostel and went exploring, enjoying the walk by the lake and even did
some off trail hiking to really explore our surroundings. After meeting our new
friends, we all took a 3 hour hike to a beautiful waterfall and enjoyed talking
and making new friends. We also had an awesome dinner in the city, and we went
to bed early to prepare for our next day. When we woke up the next day, we
rented mountain bikes and went biking through trails to a place called Lauterbrussen,
which is also known as the place of 72 Waterfalls. It was easily the most
beautiful bike ride I have ever been on in my life, and I was taken back by the
number of beautiful views that just kept coming around each turn. The weather
only made the trip even better. It was 70 degrees with a slight cool breeze,
and for the first time since I have been in Europe (besides the Bonn Marathon)
I was able to enjoy walking around in shorts and a short sleeve t-shirt. I even
managed to get sunburned. After our amazing bike ride, we went kayaking on the
lake right next to our hostel, and we paddled all the way out to an island in
the middle of the lake and floated just outside the island, relaxing in the sun
and enjoying the scenery and good company. We cooked an awesome spaghetti
dinner and had to say goodbye to Shelby, but it was another amazing day.
The following day, we got up and went to Welder, which was just
outside of Lauterbrussen and gave us a view of each of the waterfalls as we
made our way up the mountain. When we arrived, we were greeted by the view of
Jungfrau, a very snowy and beautiful mountain that was called the “top of
Europe”. We decided to go hiking to a snowy part of the mountain, and after a
couple of hours, we got to enjoy a picnic amongst the snow in a mountain
overlooking an amazing pasture with waterfalls surrounding us in every
direction. I felt like I was literally in Heaven, and I never wanted to leave.
We then went home and cooked dinner, and we all ate right next to the water and
watched the sunset and really took the time to get to know each other better.
The trip was an amazing one, and I am so thankful that I stayed to get to experience
the most beautiful place that I have ever seen in my entire life. There is so
much to do in Interlaken, and had I had more time and money, I would have
enjoyed sky diving, canyoning, bungee jumping, and paragliding among other
things (but that’s okay because we are all booking a paragliding trip in Innsbruck
now).
In exactly one week, my friend from home will also be arriving in
Europe to travel with me. We will go to Munich to see Dachau and then travel
through Italy (Florence, Rome, and Sorento) and end in Barcelona, where we will
meet Shelby, before we head home from Frankfurt after staying the night at my
host family’s house one more time. I still have plenty of time to enjoy Europe,
and I am going to take every opportunity that I can to make sure that I enjoy
it. This trip has been the most amazing thing that I have ever done, and I
can’t wait to go back home to share my experiences with others (assuming they
won’t get tired of me talking to them).
Finally, I will wrap up my blog entries with what I can’t wait to
see and do when I get home. First, and most importantly, I cannot wait to see
my family and tell them about everything that I have experienced and share
pictures and memories with them. I especially can’t wait to see my brothers
again and get to hang out with them, for they are my best friends in the whole
world, and I have missed them dearly. I plan on eating dinner at a Tex-Mex
restaurant, for I have really missed it, and I plan on drinking as many free
refills as my heart desires. I cannot wait to see all of my friends again and pet
my dog. I want to be able to drive my car again and not worry about having to
catch public transportation (I hate not being in control of when I can leave).
Most of all, however, I cannot wait to be back home, my real home, where all of
my family and friends are waiting for me. This has been a great trip, and the
best experience of my life, and I have no regrets coming on this trip. At the
end of the day, though, there is no place like home, and I belong in Texas with
my family and friends. I will come back to Europe one day, hopefully with
Gunnar and other people that I really care about, and I cannot wait for that
day. I love reminiscing on all of the good times that we had, and I really
can’t thank everyone enough for making this experience so grand. I really
suggest that everyone should study abroad, even if it is only for a couple of
weeks, for it really is life changing, and it is so beneficial to helping you
learn more about yourself and the world around you. It has taught me to be more
adaptable, and I have learned so much about myself and life in general that
studying at home cannot teach you. For the last time from Europe, I bid you
goodbye, and I hope that everyone has enjoyed this trip as much as I have. God
bless.
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