Switzerland, the land of cheese, chocolate and adventure...

I spent five days total in the beautiful country of Switzerland. I stayed in Spiez, Bern and traveled to Lake Thun and Interlaken. This country took the place in my heart that's reserved for natural beauty and now holds a permanent residence.

My last three days in Switzerland were exciting, relaxing and inspiring.

Day 3

I made my way to couchsurfing home number two, just 30 minutes away in Bern -capital of Switzerland. When I sent out my requests for couches, I had originally sent it out for just two days, but realizing I might love Switzerland too much, I chose to stay and enjoy its beauty just a bit longer. Having the kind hospitality of Christina and Remo accepting me into their home, I didn't want to burden them with three extra nights for me to stay, so I sent out another set of requests for the remaining days. A few days and several rejections later, I was acceptance by a girl named Eve.
Reading her profile she seemed sweet and outgoing, the kind of girl I knew I could get along with. She said she enjoyed reading my profile and thought I would be someone interesting to meet. We agreed on the dates and I was set to stay in her place the next two nights. Eve had mentioned that she was going to her parents house on Saturday night, so I booked a hostel in Interlaken for my last night.

I left Remo and Christina's place, early in the morning, but not before saying goodbye and thanking them before they headed on to work. I wrote in their little couchsurfing guest book and attempted to draw something artistic- I'm sad to report I failed miserably.

My very first couch surfing experience was amazing. I enjoyed their company and kind hospitality and I was sad to leave their place. But it was time to move on and get ready for my next couchsurfing-venture.

I met Eve at the main train station in Bern. When she picked me up, we took the bus to her place and then walked a few blocks to my new "home." Having been in Spiez and Interlaken the last two days, I realized how small a town it was when I arrived in Bern. I wasn't in little Swiss-land anymore. Bern was big and full of people, buses, restaurants, shopping and more. I'm from a big city myself, but somehow I wasn't used to this. Perhaps I was enjoying too much the calmness and serenity of the small towns on hills that I was learning to get accustomed with these past few days. Perhaps I missed it because it didn't remind me so much of home.

I walked into Eve's place and met two Cali girls. They were on their way out from couchsurfing Eve's place the night before. They were from San Diego and doing their own little Eurotrip and were typing away on their computers when I arrived, looking for the next couch to surf in Luzern. I chit-chatted with them a bit as I settled in. The four of us talked about places to see amongst other random things.

I found out Eve actively participates in a sport called "Orienteering," a cross between a race and a scavenger hunt. She grew up in a small town about one hour away. She finished her "apprenticeship", and now at 21, works for the train company. She seemed a bit shy and sometimes quiet, but for the most part was eager to share her stories of Swiss-living.

After an hour or so, I decided to take off and explore Bern. Originally I attempted to go to Geneva (two hours away), but after finding out it would cost 62 CHF round trip, I decided the trip wasn't worth it. Instead I discovered Bern, and found that I actually enjoyed it more than I thought.Despite my initial hesitation towards this "big city," I soon realized it still had the charm of a small one. It was still very Swiss, with green hills and quaint little houses along a river, but only now there was a transit system and hundreds more people walking the streets. I found Bern to be a nice cross between big city and small town; it reminded me a bit of my college city in the Philippines - Baguio, maybe that's why it grew on me.

I walked around for a few hours, then got tired and headed home. I've been tired a lot on this trip, I no longer have the stamina I had when i was merely 21.

My first day in Bern was a lazy one, but nevertheless an enjoyable one.

Day 4

The night before when Eve got home from work, we sat and discussed our days. I told her how excited I was to go hang gliding the next day. She told expressed her envy and wished she could come along. When she told me it was something she always wanted to do, I instantly thought of a brilliant idea! "You should come with me," I said. She was shocked by my abruptness, but after a second or two of letting it sink it, she gave it a serious thought. "Well, we could go early in the morning. I don't have work until 5pm; if we go early enough I could make it back in time. I agreed and we started planning it out. She called up her friend Karin, who was suppose to join us for breakfast the next morning, and asked her if she wanted to come along. From the sound of things it sounded like we now became a trio.

We woke up around 8am and were out the door by 9am. The train to Interlaken only took about 30 minutes. We arrived and immediately searched for the obvious outdoor sports booth that the different companies had for curious tourists.

It was a gloomy day and it started to drizzle. We weren't sure if the weather would cooperate with us, but we gave it a try anyways. We asked about hang gliding and found out only one company does it. They were unfortunately booked, so we opted for the next best thing - paragliding. We booked for 1:30 so as to give the Swiss Alps some time to clear up for us. Good call...

Right at 1:30 they picked us up and we headed up the mountain to our hilly destination. Rob, one of the instructors explained to us the basics of how it all worked. We would jog a little down the mountain until we caught some air and were lifted off over a cliff. "Sounds fun," we all thought. The two girls were a bit more nervous that I was, which was a bit surprising. I was quite calm, in zen-like mode almost. I was about to fly over Switzerland... it was going to be an exciting day.

As I got into my gear, I started to get a little nervous. "This was safe right?" I instantly remembered how I don't actually like flying.

Rob would be my professional paraglider, he explained what I was strapped to, and I basically had on a mobile seat. Eve was the first off the mountain. They glided off so easily and it was like a bird had taken off nice and easy into the air. We were next... As the parachute caught air Rob and I did some "light jogging" and as we were about to get to the cliff, we took off. We smoothly sailed into the air and were riding carelessly over the city, as if in a dream.

It was peaceful and beautiful. I was mesmerized by how simple and small everything looked like from above. A bustling city below my feet, full of tourists, thrill seekers and summer live-ins. I sat back and enjoyed the ride from above. We were gliding through the air for about 25 minutes, a good amout of time to enjoy the view, get cold and feel queasy all at once.

When we finally started to ascend back down to earth, Rob decided to try end it with style -meaning he rocked me back and forth 'til I felt like I was going to puke. I held it in thankfully, but Karin wasn't so lucky.

Flying over the Swiss Alps was pretty amazing. The feeling of soaring through the air like a bird felt exhilarating and free! Many of the memories I've acquired so far on this trip will be unforgettable, but paragliding will definitely be on my top 10.