1. A few weeks ago I went to Interlaken with four of my friends, and after a great deal of research we had our hearts set on sledging down the Alps via the world's longest known "sledge path." What our research didn't tell us was that we would have to hike up a mountain (not just any mountain, but an ALP), for 2.5 hours before we reached the beginning of a the sledge run. In addition, we couldn't rent our sledge at the top of the mountain, but would have the pleasure of dragging the sledge along behind us as we trekked up through the Alps. Once we made it to the top we were elated for approximately 5 minutes, until we started the sledging experience. In Switzerland they apparently don't have the same safety regulations as they do in the United States, because not only were we sledging down an alp on a sled without brakes or any device for steering, but we had about a 50% chance of making it down the mountain without sledging off a cliff, since there weren't any retaining bars and the path was about as wide as two sleds. After about an hour of stop and go sledging (using our feet and hands as breaks) we made it to a restaurant. It had gotten substantially colder so we decided to make a quick pit stop and make sure that we were on the right path. After some amazing hot chocolate we asked the waiter whether we were going the right way to get back to our destination in the town of Grindewald. He told us that the rest of the sledging path wasn't open due to lack of snow, so we would either have to take the bus or walk down. As cheap college students we obviously weren't going to pay the 22 swiss francs for the bus, so we decided to make our way down the mountain by foot (still dragging our sledges). Once it got dark we realized this might not be the best idea and to make a long story short we hailed down the bus, hopped on and found out that after an hour and a half of walking we had saved a whole 5 francs, so we only had to pay 17 francs for the rest of the bus ride. Definitely an exciting way to experience the Alps and gave me the opportunity to see the Swiss version of sledging.2. Next, I got to spend four jam packed days in Paris. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, and had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower from our rooms! I absolutely loved the city, but it was extremely difficult to see everything in such a short amount of time. I got to meet up with my friend, Hadley, who is studying abroad there. She showed me around the Latin quarter and made sure that I tried a nutella and banana crepe which would definitely become my go-to food if I was spending the semester there. Overall, Paris was an absolutely gorgeous city with more impressive building, monuments and museums than I can count.
3. After the four day stint in Paris a bunch of my friends and I flew to Barcelona for the weekend. This city was such a switch from Paris, and the pace of life was much more relaxing. It was nice to feel 60 degree weather, see the beach and have a more relaxing travel experience. Some highlights from this trip include biking along the Mediterranean Ocean, getting a second piercing on the streets of Barcelona, getting food for a picnic from the most amazing farmers market I have ever seen, and seeing Gaudi's garden on a beautiful sunny day. Barcelona was an incredible city and made me want to see more of spain.
So those are my quick updates on the past few weeks, and I plan to be much more on top of it from here on out!
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