Interlaken, Switzerland 29/3/07

“I was born in a small town….and I can breathe in a small town.” The big cities are nice and I love wandering them but I think my favorite spots when I travel are always the small towns. Of course “small” is a subjective term. I won’t try to quantify it. This is my book of thoughts so I’ll issue the titles as I see fit and Interlaken feels like a small town. I LOVE IT!

I loved it the minute I stepped off the train. Before I had even made it a block on the short walk to my hostel, an old guy passed me on the sidewalk and said “hello” as we passed. He gave just a “hello” and a smile, to a guy that had obviously just arrived in town. I sang that Mellencamp song in my head and smiled for the rest of the day.

I learned about Interlaken a few years ago when Dave and I were wandering through Queenstown, New Zealand. Our canyoning guide turned friend, Scotty, worked his winters in Queenstown and his summers in Interlaken.

I loved Queenstown and would put it on my very selective list of “Favorite Places In The World”. Interlaken would now be right next to it for obvious reasons. They are pretty much the same town. Scotty described Interlaken as the adventure sport capital of Europe and he was right. Seeing both cities in person now I can’t help but think that Scotty might have been the coolest person I have ever met. If I had a second life to burn I would definitely be following his career path.

It’s still the winter season here but spring is quickly rushing in. The weather has been amazing!! Every day is bright sunshine with cool air. A fleece and sunglasses are all you need. The winter season doesn’t offer all the adventure sport options that I would have liked, namely canyoning, but I’m far from disappointed. Hangliding, paragliding, canyon swings, skydiving, etc. are all still available.

My Mom will be happy though that my budget constraints on this trip have kept my feet on the ground. I debated long and hard on hang gliding today but in a rare instance the conservative side of my personality won. I decided I had splurged enough here on two full days of skiing. Well that and those two days of skiing, or rather learning how to ski, have left me physically beat up and drained.

I know, I know, probably not the wisest thing to do 3 days before a marathon but like I said, the conservative side rarely wins. Plus, I’m not sure if anyone has said this before but, bruises will fade, memories this powerful will last a lifetime! I might have to limp 26.2 miles on Sunday but I’ll have a smile on my face the whole time thinking about the 2 days I spent skiing in the Swiss Alps.

The two places I hit to ski, quite literally I’m afraid, were a short bus ride outside of Interlaken near the town of Grindelwald. After the bus it was a gondola ride to Firstbahn for day one and a train ride up the mountain to Kleine Scheidegg on the next day.

I rented pants, skis, and boots before I left town so when I hopped off the gondola there was nothing stopping me, again quite literally. I clicked on the skis and off I went. I managed to get the toes pointed enough to steer me toward a blue route. (Blue are the “easy” routes in Switzerland. Of course these are Swiss standards which seemed to mean there is nothing to hit. It has nothing to do with steepness of the run.)

Through probably sheer leg strength alone I managed to make it down my first run without killing myself, or someone else. It took about 30 minutes and my legs shook for 5 minutes after I came to a loud tumble near a restaurant area. Who knew snow could be so loud?

After a little rest and with new determination to go slow, I headed back up the ski lift. This time it took me an hour to get down but only through controlled, and some uncontrolled, wipe outs. I should point out here that I paid for two days of skiing before I even left the Villa on day one. So after two runs of impressive wipe outs and many more hours to ski I decided it was time for a lesson no matter the cost. It was a matter of protecting my investment as well as a life or death decision.

An hour with instructor Tina and I was off again. A snow plowing, tumbling, fool but I was definitely better. I improved on each run and am very proud to say that on my last run of day two I made it down without a single wipe out! Plus I made it down in 25 minutes cutting my previous runs down the same route in half. Good ol’ Blue run #22 & 24! I will never forget you! Even after you gave me the deepest bruise I have ever had. I will remember you long after it stops hurting, which is hopefully soon.

Interlaken has been more than just skiing though. I’ve had some beautiful hikes along the Aare River and Lake Brienzersee. I’m also staying at a great hostel, Backpackers Villa; nice, clean rooms, free Wi-Fi, a fully equipped kitchen, and even a membership at the town Health, Wellness, & Fitness Center. I have taken advantage of it a couple times, the Fitness part at least. Today I think I’m going to check out the Wellness side. I think they have a hot tub. Have I mentioned how sore I am?!

I’ve also saved some money this week by using the kitchen, exposing me to a new cultural experience; going grocery shopping in a foreign country and we’re not talking a little convenience store either. We are talking full size super market, or as big as they get in Interlaken.

The Swiss have 3 official languages, Swiss, German, and French. Depending what part of the country you are in determines which one is used more. Interlaken is kind of in the middle of the French/German area so it’s not uncommon to get a “Guten Tag” greeting with a “Merci” good bye.

The food labels usually have all 3 languages on them giving me more assistance on trying to figure out exactly what things are. It helped some. I figured out what ham was in a meat section where everything looked strange. I struck out on the water though and got 3 bottles of sparkling water which isn’t half bad once it goes a little flat. I guess it’s just regular water at that point, which could explain why I liked it.

My hostel hasn’t been great for making friends though. Most people stick to themselves. I have met some nice people while cooking but they have always been leaving the next day. One conversation with a young guy and girl from South Korea does stick out in my memory.

We talked about North Korea some. They don’t mind them bud don’t want re-unification because of what has happened in Germany. Basically they know it will shift resources in the South to help the stunted North. They know it’s selfish of the young to think this way but that doesn’t change what they think.

They like the U.S. but wish they got out of our shadow, politically, some. The girl told me a hilarious story that really impressed me. I won’t try to imitate her broken English accent but trust me it only gave the story more impact. She said they were recently in Copenhagen and a group of Europeans were sitting at the table next to them talking loudly. She said they were complaining about the U.S. and she wanted to interrupt them to point out that they were all wearing Nike!

That pretty much sums up most people’s feelings that I meet. They love the U.S. culture. They hate the U.S. foreign affairs. I wonder where, and why, the two became so different. It’s time to get back to “rock and roll and cola wars”.

I made some friends on the ski bus; Alex from Canada, Liz and Kate from New England. I’ve been keeping pretty quiet at night but I did meet up with Alex and Liz last night for some Rugen Brau’s at the Brassier 17 in the Happy Inn Lodge. We are supposed to meet up again tonight but I’ll admit to feeling a little worried about my current physical condition. In addition to all the sore muscles I just feel really worn down. I popped an Air Born this morning in an attempt to block off any bugs I have been susceptible to lately. Maybe this is just what getting older feels like?!

My time in Interlaken wraps up tomorrow when I hop the train to Zurich. After that it’s two days of sitting around and resting the legs. I hope that makes a difference. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
MJF