If you were to ask me two years ago if I were to go skydiving in Interlaken and skiing in the Swiss Alps, I would’ve thought you were crazy for asking. It has only been about a month into my study abroad experience in Dubin, and I have already seen more parts of Europe than I thought possible. I can only imagine all the cool and inviting places I will get to see during the rest of my semester here. The absolute best, and most adventurous place I have been so far was Switzerland, where the days were filled with thrilling activities and some of the best food!
This short weekend trip started off with arriving at the tiny hostel at a balmy 4:00 in the morning. When I arrived with my friends, we had about 4 hours until we had to be up to go skydiving, not that any of us could sleep because of the adrenaline. The ride to the skydiving area was through very narrow roads in the Alps, and if you looked out of the right window it was just a cliff that goes straight down. We all hopped out of the van and got suited up in a wind suit and got fitted for the harness. Leading up until this point I never really thought I would be jumping out of a plane, and this was when it really hit me. The next few minutes were kind of a blur because we were all huddled up in the corner starting to get nervous, but also extremely excited about what we were about to do. Next thing you know, the four of us were up in the air in this tiny propeller plane looking about 13,000 feet down. With my luck, I was the last one to jump, so I got to see all of my friends do flips out of the planes, which made me freak out a little bit but also more confident. It's hard to put into words what the feeling was as I was in complete free fall for the first minute. There was never a sense of panic that the parachute wouldn’t open or that something would go wrong. However, there was a massive sense of relief when the parachute was successfully pulled and I knew I made it through the scariest part. I could finally take a deep breath and take in the views around me that were just incredible. I never would've thought that skydiving was something I would get to do, and now I can’t wait to go again in a new place. Experiencing this over the Swiss Alps I think will be very hard to compare to in the future, but I would recommend it to anybody planning a trip to Switzerland in the future. As cheesy as it is to say, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will never have the opportunity to do again.
Now we went onto the more relaxing part of the weekend mini vacation. We went skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland which I might have been more nervous about than skydiving. This would be my first time putting skis on since seventh grade, so eight years ago. But I confidently threw my ski boots on and made my way down the tiny bunny hill made for toddlers who just started learning. I really did surprise myself and the fundamentals came back to me naturally. The views were unreal compared to my ski trips to Okemo Mountain in Vermont or smaller mountains in New Hampshire. Not only was the skiing great, but the food and drinks might have even been better. Sitting at the Chalet Bar in the 50 degree weather eating appler macaroni and drinking kahlua coffees made my entire trip to Switzerland worth it. My feet were killing me, I was sore from falling down the mountain and the only thing that made it better was sitting outside with some Baileys and hot chocolate!
Our last day in this beautiful country quickly came up and we had one last excursion booked, kayaking. This was really the best way to end such an exciting and adrenaline filled weekend. We kayaked on Lake Brienz where the water was crystal blue and the alps surrounded us. This was the most relaxed I have been since coming to Europe because I did not have a care in the world and was so content with where I was. It also made me realize how grateful I was to have the ability to study in Ireland for a semester and travel all around Europe. The kayaking trip came to an end and we all made our way back to the hostel to collect our things and head back to the airport
Of course nothing can go perfectly like it was so far. The weather was absolutely gorgeous in Switzerland, but that was not the case for the parts of Europe I was flying through. All of my flights were cancelled and rescheduled for the next night. So this perfect weekend took a slightly unexpected turn. I knew everything would work out so I tried my best not to panic in the airport by myself. Luckily, I was able to book a hotel room which was in Geneva, about 20 minutes from the airport. This allowed me to get to see the whole city of Geneva, which is one place I never would have seen if my flights weren’t cancelled. Wandering around this city without a plan was one of the best things I did the whole trip. Not everything has to be planned perfectly, because the experiences are not always planned!
This short, but incredible trip taught me many valuable things and I had so many amazing experiences while I was there. There are thousands of things I would suggest for anyone traveling to Switzerland, even for a few days. These are my key tips for a life changing and breathtaking trip to switzerland: