Switzerland was one of my favorite places. I have never had experiences such as the ones I had in Interlaken. I will remember everything about Switzerland for the rest of my life. My roommate Amber and I took a bus, through a company called Bus2Alps, to Interlaken. It was about an 8 hour ride that was not as bad as it sounds. We watched movies on the way there and back so the time went faster. When we got to Switzerland, it was raining and there was no snow on the ground. I guess we didn't realize that the winter season didn't start for another two weeks, so we were early. All day on Friday, it rained…and I mean down poured. Nothing was open because it wasn't the season. On a worse note, even though there was a call for snow on Saturday, they were predicting that none of the ski lifts would be open, and many of the extreme sports activities would not be operating. We were a bit bummed because if we had known this, we probably wouldn't have booked the trip. So on Friday, we went ice-skating. We were the only ones in the rink! We acted like fools trying to do tricks that neither of us had done in years…We brought out our inner children, which is always fun! We had hoped maybe it stopped raining, but it didn't, so we decided to eat. So where did we go? Probably the most American place you can get…Hooters. It was the only place close enough to walk to and we didn't want to be soaked. So we had some pina coladas…perfectly appropriate for our situation. After Hooters, we tried to go to the casino, but Amber forgot her ID, so we couldn't…Figures she is 26 and can't get in but I am 20 and can…haha. With it still raining, we asked what there was to do on a rainy day, and they said bowling and drinking…so we combined both. We headed to the bowling alley and ordered a pitcher. On top of us sucking at bowling, we watched Jimmy Johnson win the NASCAR championships…typical Americans. After 3 hours of bowling, we went back to the hostel to get some hot chocolate and sit by the fire while we figured out our next move. We decided just to go to the bar in the basement of the hostel with some of the girls we met on the bus ride there. They weren't kidding when they said all there was to do was bowl and drink. As the night ended, we were hoping for snow on Saturday, so we could do something fun! When we woke up on Saturday there was so much snow on the ground! We got ready and headed down to the activities counter. The lifts were still closed, so there was no skiing that day, but we did find something else fun to do. How many of you have ever heard of canyon jumping? Does jumping off a 250 foot platform into a canyon sound appealing? Apparently it did to us that day, because we didn't hesitate to sign up! I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We didn't know how high, where, or how this was going to happen because none of us had ever done it. We loaded a 15 passenger van with about 30 people and headed up into the Alps. It was snowing like crazy and was super windy, so it was a crazy ride up there. When we pulled into the parking lot, we had to walk a ways to get to the top of the canyon we would be jumping from. I kept falling because my boots had no tread on them…It was pretty funny to watch. When we finally got up to the top and I looked down, I was surprised how calm I was…I wasn't scared at all, but I was pumped! I couldn't wait to go…It was very unlike me, but I was at the point where I wanted to do something super crazy that I could remember this trip by…When we were all done looking where we were jumping, we had to sign release forms that basically said if we died, it wasn't their fault or they weren't liable. So many technicalities… We then headed over to get all harnessed up. Then it was off to the platform…I went 4th out of 30. We had the choice of holding onto the rope or jumping with no hands. I figured that if I was doing this anyway, I was going to go all out…and I did. As I was getting all hooked up I let all of my inhibitions go. I thought about what this was going to mean for me and didn't hesitate whatsoever. I ran off that platform with my hands in the air and free fell 150 feet going 85 miles per hour. There are no words to describe what it felt like jumping off that platform. Everything was calm and despite the rush, was relaxing. All of my inhibitions and stress went away for those 3 minutes I was swinging through the air. On top of that, as I looked around I realized that I was in the Swiss Alps and took in how beautiful everything was. It was the most amazing experience of my life and I will probably never get to feel like I did in those moments ever again. It is so exhilarating and freeing and everyone should get to feel something like that. When I was done the first thing I thought was "can I do it again?" It was so much fun!!!! The only downside to going 4th, was that I had to wait until all other 26 people were done, so it got quite cold as the wind was strong in the little opening of the canyon. After canyon jumping, there wasn't much we could do other than go back and warm up. As if canyon jumping wasn't enough, we found out when we got back to the hostel that one lift would be open on Sunday. Right away, we headed next door to rent our ski gear. I have never skied before so this was all foreign to me. We rented all of our gear including coats and pants, etc…I was so excited for the following day, but we had to be up and dressed by 7:30am….We called it an early night. We headed up the Alps to Murren, which was approx. 1600km high. I took a 2 hour beginner ski lesson, so I didn't die on the mountain. The ski paths are not like in the USA at all…they are not marked and a beginner course can turn into a black diamond without notice. I stuck to my bunny hill J. It was definitely more of a workout than I ever imagined. It was so hard to get used to having skis on… but after I got used to it, I ended up doing really well. The instructor told me I had great balance and control, unlike many of her other trainees. I suppose this was because of my background in dance and ice-skating. We took a break from skiing and walked to a village next to the slopes. You can only get here by lift, so there are no cars or anything in the village. Everyone skis! The views from Murren were breathtaking. I had never seen anything like it. There are no words. It was almost magical. I could have sat at that village with a cup of hot chocolate and started into the Alps all day. As the day started to wind down, we headed back to the lift to start our way home. We got back into town and returned our rentals, then headed to grab a bite to eat and grab some souvenirs. We are at a traditional Swiss restaurant where I had a traditional Swiss sandwich with real Swiss cheese! I also tried French onion soup and loved it! It was a great way to end an amazing weekend. Interlaken was one of my favorite places. It was so beautiful and life changing.