I could tell from the start that Switzerland was going to be beautiful even in the middle of the night as our bus slowing zigzagged up through the dark mountains. It is impossible to compare Switzerland to any other country that we had already visited because it was mostly just nature. Not going to lie, it was definitely nice for a change. We stayed at this famous hostile called Balmer's. Alyssa, Danielle and I ended up getting squeezed into a small room with a total of ten girls. The place was extremely old and felt like a log cabin. 

On our first day there we wanted to go see Lake Brienz. After walking completely in the wrong direction for a while and then getting lost, we gave up and payed for bus tickets. When we finally made it my jaw dropped as I saw in front of me a body of water that was legit the color of blue gatorade. It seemed like a mixture between the water I am used to at home and a tropical island. I had never seen anything like it before. Although it was FREEZING my mind was quickly distracted. We spent the next hour or two enjoying the view and taking tons of pictures. The nightlife was extremely easy to figure out because everyone just walked out the front door to the hostile's very own club. I was relieved to not have to walk through the cold. My friend Elyssa turned 21 this night so we all had a ton of fun. 

We woke up early the next day because we had gotten day passes to go skiing! I was super nervous because I hadn't recently been skiing and I had been told several times that these mountains were much harder than the ones at home. The train ride up to the top of the mountain, Jungfrau, was spectacular. It just kept getting better the higher and higher we went up. It was cool to see the small villages plopped in the middle of no where and covered in snow. When we came to a stop and I got off I was shocked to see that we were above the clouds. They were like a layer below us. It made it feel as if you were in this secret, nonexistent world for the time. These mountains were ten times the size of any of those I had ever seen before in Vermont, upstate New York or Pennsylvania. As we made our way to the first and easiest slope I quickly realized that I had every right to be nervous. In the United States the order of difficulty for the slopes goes green, blue, black diamond and then double black diamond. In Switzerland it goes green, blue, red and then black. Little did I know that as I started down a green slope in Switzerland it would be like an intense blue slope at home. I wiped out just a few times to say the least. Even their "bunny hill" was far from a beginners slope. No actual bunny hill that I have ever seen before even existed here. I felt embarrassed as I watched tiny kids flying past me looking as if they were professionals. I was still proud of myself for at least putting in the effort and trying. On one part of the mountain there was this large teepee where everyone seemed to hangout at when they needed a break. There was a bar on the inside of it and places to order food. I got this delicious hot chocolate. After returning back to ground level the three of us went out for dinner. We each got warm cider beer which, I had never had before along with this pasta that had been recommended to us by tons of people. It had melted cheese all over it with bacon and potato pieces mixed in. Apparently it was a traditional Swiss meal. 

We didn't leave until later on Sunday so we spent our last hours at a chocolate making workshop. It was a very personal lesson with only a few people. We each got to make and then decorate three of our very own chocolate bars. I now understand why they say that Swiss chocolate is the best in the world! By the time we left I had a stomach ache from eating so many sweets!!