Scootering Around the Alps

Night trains are probably the creepiest mode of transportation. It wouldn't be free travel without a night train experience. We had our first experience on our way to Switzerland. We squeezed into our 6-cot room and wondered how we were going to function in such a tiny space. After taking some medicine, I fell into a deep sleep. We were woken up that morning by this annoying Italian man, who tried to tell us something in Italian that we did not understand. The more confused my facial expression got, the louder and faster he would explain this unknown thing to me. He kept saying, "Bern!" and I would nod my head "yes" because we were, in fact, stopping in Bern. Then, he would shout, "Interlaken!" and I would say, "Yes, we are going to Interlaken next." He would point out the window shouting "Bern" and "Interlaken" with many sentences in between. I was already groggy because my medicine hadn't worn off. When Lacey sleepily made her way to the bathroom, he tried to talk to her too and she got so frustrated. Haha!

When we stepped off the train, it was FREEZING. We finally made our way to Interlaken, where we walked to our Balmer's Heritage Hostel, the nicest hostel we stayed in the whole trip. It had a warm, log cabin-type atmosphere with a gameroom, tv room and a nice staff. Because we got there early, we had to entertain ourselves around the facility until we could get into our room. We walked to a nearby mall and bought stuff to make spaghetti for supper. We also went into a clothing store and saw Miss Swiss, who was signing autographs. I bought a brightly-colored top for when we went out in Ireland. Lacey bought some shirts from this store called, "Blackout" and they gave her a billboard-sized bag for promotional purposes. Later, Lauren got inside of it. A guy that worked at the hostel tried to pick her up in the bag and ended up dropping his keys inside. He went around looking for them before we realized where they were. We all got a few laughs out of it.

The hostel gave us a free voucher for breakfast and we used it right away. As we sat at our table, we looked across the room and saw a basket that said, "Left over bread goes here. For the stray dogs of Interlaken." You know you are getting to the end of free travel when you have started envying the stray dogs of Interlaken. Danielle kept talking about going over there and getting the bread out of the basket. Though I was all for it, I pleaded with her not to do it-- we were NOT going to stoop to that level. Later in Paris, I would find myself staring at a trashcan with half-filled soda bottles, commenting, "I can't believe they threw that away."

We really wanted to sign up for the outdoor activities that Interlaken is famous for, but they were all too expensive. I would love to go back just for that purpose later on in my life. Instead, we rented scooters and decided to drive around. The guy knew that we were inexperienced and let us practice in a parking lot. After seeing my face one-inch from a metal fence, I was pretty worried about hitting the streets. I eventually got the hang of it and he set us free. We drove through the small villages and the winding roads of the Alps. I couldn't help but smile and laugh for no apparent reason except that I was having the time of my life! Here I was, with a ridiculous helmet on, scootering around the most beautiful country I've ever seen! Since singing in the car happens to be one of my favorite hobbies, I decided that scootering should be no different. The wind blowing across my face reminded me of a kid sticking their head in front of a box fan, but I didn't care. Though spit flew out of my mouth as I sang, I continued on: "You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words...too wonderful for comprehension..." I meant every word. Waterfalls fell from the tops of mountains and the snow on top of the mountains looked like it was painted there.

Our next stop on our journey was the city of love-- and boy, did we love it! Paris!