Switzerland

Awesome place.  Well, near the end it was.  We arrived on Friday in Interlaken.  The plan was to stay in Interlaken a night, do some canyoning on Saturday, then go to Bern on Sunday to look around and maybe see the Pope if we were lucky.  As it turn out, it rained a lot that week and on Saturday, causing the water levels to rise.  Our trip was cancelled for Saturday so we had to make a decision.  We ended up going the next morning and staying an extra night in Interlaken.  More on that later, though.

So back to Friday night, we get there around 11 and check into our hostel called Balmers.  Now, this is the first time here that I've actually stayed at a hostel.  It was okay.  Nothing can compare to Youth Camp conditions, so I guess I don't expect much in terms of living conditions haha.  Anyway, the only bad thing about it was that they didn't supply towels, which quite frankly sucked.  The place was very American, meaning that there were a ton of American college students there.  Almost forgot you were in Switzerland.  It was cool, but also lame because it was way too touristy.  On Saturday we ended up wasting a lot of time because we couldn't figure out what to do (everyone had different plans) and the trip was cancelled.  The only cool thing we did was ride bikes out to the lake, and I have a nifty video of me doing a powerslide!

That evening we went to a casino (a first time here that I could actually play).  That crap is ADDICTING.  Remind me never to go to one again, or at least make sure I spend like a few bucks in the slot machines for kicks.  Something very psychological about not quitting when you're down, and it kinda snowballs and by the time you realize what happened, you walk away with nothing.  Out of the 5 of us that went, only one of us gained money.  I mean, come on, even the Tech nerds know that statistically the Casino will always win.  I guess people think they can beat the odds.  Luckly we didn't go all out, maybe a meal's worth of cash.  So because we failed to reserve the space for Sat night, we end up staying in some tents that were also Balmers property.  It was different, but not bad.

On Sunday we had to wake up early to go canyoning at 9:30.  This made the whole thing worth it.  Basically, canyoning is just going down rapids/rivers without the raft.  You walk down, cross certain parts, rappel off others, jump off cliffs, etc.  Very fun.  The water levels were at the maximum they told us (don't know how true that was, but they DID cancel the afternoon trips because it got too high, so I guess it is) and they even said it was stressful for them.  The current is a LOT stronger than I thought it would be.  Basically, you're putting your feet down and tryin to get footing where you can't see.  This is harder than it sounds, because 1) you can't see the rocks 2) the current is going at you and if you don't find your footing quick you will be swept away.  A couple times I slipped and it was only because my foot randomly caught a rock that I didn't totally lose it.  Some of the girls we went with kept getting swept away but luckly the guides had them haha.  Overall, it was awesome.  Rappeling, jumping off mini-cliffs, zipline, going down rapids head first.  I want to come back and do the 6-hour trip.

We ended around 1:00.  Got a photo-cd.  Shopped a little bit before catching the train back at 3:30.  Fun times.  Now I'm not sure whether to go to Paris or Interlaken again.  I really want to try Para-gliding too.

So about my travels to Brussels and Amsterdam.  I think I'll switch up the format this time.

Brussels

Very nice city.  You can basically walk down one part of down and see something cool, walk over there, see something else, etc.  There was a part of the city that reminded me of the Latin Quarter.  Tons of restaurants, shops, very very tourist-y.  Saw the "peeing boy" statue which was pretty cool.  Apparently people make costumes for the little guy every so often.  We only stayed there for a night, but it was worth it.  Our four star hotel (which we got for 60 bucks booya) room was NICE.  Hahaha, overall, I'd go back to Brussels just to relax.

Amsterdam

So we arrive in Amsterdam on Saturday night.  Sergio met us at the station and we went to the hotel.  Everyone there pretty much spoke English.  They had these cool tram things that went around the entire city, so we used those instead of the metro.  I'm still not sure if we had to pay to use it, because everyone would usually just go through the doors just like the metro.  On Sunday we just rented bikes and biked around the city.  Bike lanes are EVERYWHERE.  It's pretty cool, but sort of scary because I was all paranoid of being hit by a car or another biker or something.  Plus, my bike had the stupid reverse brake system instead of the handbrake.  Ate at this nice pancake place, then watched "The Day After Tomorrow".  The movie was okay, if not a little cheesy in some places (the wolves?  ahhaa).  Went to the Van Gogh museum on Monday before heading back to the train station to head home.

So, what am I forgetting..... Ah yes.

The "coffeeshops" were everywhere.  Basically, they call it a coffeeshop but it's basically a weed shop where you can smoke and buy.  I could go into why I don't really like it, but that'll be reserved for my the other xanga.  No deep stuff here;)  Red Light District can be described in one word.  Crazy.  You just walk down these two streets and the few allies attached to them.  It's just how it's described.  Women line the buildings up and down behind glass doors that have a big red light.  Curtain closed = in business, curtain open = open for business.  Porn shops, Sex shows, etc etc.  It was like a huge overload of the senses.  Really tests you, and I'm not gonna lie and say I succeeded.  But again, I'll save the deep stuff for some other time.

Overall, the trip was more relaxing than anything.  Since Amsterdam and Brussels didn't have any "must see" places we weren't just spending the whole day walking around like in Paris. 

Currently Playing College Dropout By Kanye West, Kanye West see related

- Jesus Walks

Brussels, then Amsterdam this weekend =)

But first I gotta go to classes haha

So here we are again, a little time before I have to go off to class.  Apparently I have xanga premium for a month or something. 

Sunday

I sort of forgot what we did right after we woke up, which was around 11, but I think we ate at the Latin Quarter..wait, yess...we did.  We ate at another cafe and I had chicken and fries, I remember now...

So anyway, after we eat we go to Musee D'Orsay, which a museum that used to be a train station.  It wasn't quite as big as the Louvre, but it had a lot of nice art inside.  I'm not really a huge art buff so I don't think I could have appreciated it as much, but it was cool to see the Van Gogh and Monet paintings.  I wanted to see Starry Night but it wasn't there.  A friend said it wasn't in Amsterdam either.  Hmmm.   After spending a few hours in the museum, we decide to go to Versailles.  The train ride was really long, I must have fallen asleep like 20 times during it.  (Okay, so it's not THAT long, but pretty long for the metro...which, btw I keep calling the marta).  So we finally get to Versaille, and what we want to see is the big castle that is here. 

Words cannot describe how huge this place is.  It was about as big as the Louvre except with big extensions going off on the sides, and this was only the building.  The other 5/6 or something of the property was garden.  Just tons of garden and lake that you could walk around.  Unreal.  That would be the awesomest place to live in.  Unfortunately, the inside was closed (we got there around 6), but the gardens were open until 8 so we just walked around there.  Wanted to go the next day to see the inside, but it was closed on Mondays=(. 

So we get back on the metro and go back to downtown Paris to see the Eiffel Tower(!) next.  The Eiffel Tower was huge.  It was just crazy standing under the base.  I had ideas about how big it was, but it surprised me still.  I think it was taller than the Tokyo Tower, not sure, but definately much cooler.  So we end up eating sausages and fries at the stand before buying the lift ticket up (since we didn't want to walk the hundreds of steps up to the 2nd level).  Kind of crowded getting up, but once we were up there it was amazing.  It was freaking cold, but I took a ton of night shots.   I was also really paranoid of dropping my camera over the edge, which would have been VERY BAD.  Eiffel Tower was probably the high point of the trip.  We ended this night early, and after the tower headed back and just crashed

Monday

Ahhh, last day.  Didn't plan much for this day.  Walked around and visited some stores for clothes and stuff.  Saw a pair of euro style shoes I thought were cool, and now that I think of it, should have bought (25 euros).  Then we visited the Arc de Triomphe (to see it during the day).  After that we just went to La Defense, which was more of the business sector of Paris.  Lots of tall modern buildings, and a huge square "arch".  Spent some more time just walking by the river looking at the street vendors.  Bought a key chain.  Soon, it was time to catch the train.

Overall, an awesome trip.  I hope the other are just as great.  Not sure where to go this week.  Maybe Amsterdam, but I don't know what I could do for three days except chill, and that would seem sort of like a waste.  I don't want to go to "coffeeshops" (there is a limit what I can tolerate comfortably, and while refusing a drink is one thing, not breathing is something I'm not really skilled at haha), and the red light district is probably just interesting to walk through a few times.  Van Gogh museum is also there, but I heard you have to pay crazy to get in, and the fact that some of his more famous paintings aren't there...well...  I heard that one could bike ride around the whole city, that would be fun.   The other alternative is to go down to Nimes, where they are having a bullfighting festival type thing.  That would be fun as well.  Decisions, decisions!  Oh well....it is time for class now.