Who would have thought Shelley would jump off a mountain?

Shelley and guide, Suzanne,about ready to run off the mountain
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After five weeks of cramped, confined urban expierences, we were blown away by our train ride through the Swiss Alps on our way to Interlaken, Switzerland! Interlaken literally means "between lakes" and is situated at the foot of an enormous mountain called Jungfrau which is also known as Top of Europe because it is one of the highest easilly accessible places on the continent. And guess what, our hostel had a phenominal view!

We arrived on a beautiful Monday and got to explore a little before bed. One of the highlights of our stay was the "Interlaken Pass" that was included in our hostel reservation. This pass got us free admission to the health club and swimming pool! Needless to say, bedtime was delayed an hour or so while we took advantage of this perk!

We really got to enjoy the beauty of Switzerland

Up in the sky
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Unfortunatly, we awoke Tuesday to rain, wind, and cold. But that was ok; we had free admission to the indoor pool! Ryan and I spent the morning there while Shelley got some alone time, caught up with Annmarie, and took care of some business with our hostel.

So, we were braced for a week of crummy weather. That is why it was such a great surprise when we woke up on Wednesday to beautiful sun! The sun stayed out the rest of the week, and we really got to enjoy the beauty of Switzerland.

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The Swiss Alps are known for their extreme sports, skiing in the winter and everything else in the summer. We took one hike (along a paved, flat trail) that crossed under several waterfalls and ended at a gondola that disappeared un a sheer cliff. We rode it to the small village of Gimmelwald, looked around for a few minutes, and rode back down. Our adventures continued on Thursday when Shelley and a group of students went paragliding. That is when you strap yourself into a parachute, with a guide of course, and run down a steep hill hundreds of feet above the valley floor. It took her about thirty minutes to float down, and she loved it! Her guide took a bunch of pictures, so we will send them out when we get home. My adventuresome spirit came out on Friday when I went canyoning. We piled on the wetsuits, life vests, helmets, and neoprene socks and shoes and basically jumpped off of waterfalls! It was everything I would have wanted to do as a kid in the streams around Hume Lake but knew I would kill myself if I tried. I even successfully completed my first flip! The last time I tried that, I was 11 and landed flat on my back off the high dive at the Acquatic Center in Pleasanton! Canyoning was amazing!

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Saturday, our family split up with Shelley and some girls going back to Gimmelwald for the night. Hopefully, she will be able to fill you in on the details soon. Meanwhile, Ryan and I continued our adventuresome ways. We rode toboggans down a mountain. I thought he would be afraid, but my little thrill seeker decided it was just like the Matterhorn at Disneyland. I think he even wanted me to go faster! Our day was capped off by a game of minature golf (also free with our Interlaken Pass), dinner at McDonalds, and a bath! This was the first hostel to have a family bathroom with a tub!

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Shelley got home on Sunday in time to kill a few hours before we embarked on another new adventure: a night train. Unfortunatly, since we had to check out of our hostel at 10:00 and our train did not leave until 6:00, Ryan had no place to nap and was a wee bit grumpy. And when I say "wee," I mean "extremely"! But, time eventually came for our train to depart, and once Ryan hit his bed, he slept straight through the night. We have been leary of night trains because we did not know how he would react, but he slept like a log! We got on the train at 6:30 PM in Switzerland and, after several train changes, got off at 11:45 am in Barcelona, Spain. Yes, the trains are amazing!

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Interlaken was a big hit! One of our students liked it so much that he is taking his dad back there over Fall Break. Now, we are in Barcelona, and the weather is beautiful. Tomorrow, Ryan and I head to the beach while Shelley begins to teach her first class. Too much excitement! We love you all, miss you, and are counting the days until we see you again!