Sometimes, you just gotta jump!

Hello everyone! I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Interlaken, Switzerland!!  It was very tough not being home for Thanksgiving with my family, but it helped knowing I will be home in a few short weeks!  Here is what I did each day while in Switzerland :)

Friday-

Some of us decided to go skydiving over the Swiss Alps! Best decision I have ever made!! I am pretty scared of heights, so I wasn't sure how this was going to go.  I loved every moment of it.  We each went with an instructor which made me feel a lot better about the whole situation.  4 of us fit into the plane with our instructors.  In my plane it was me, Patrick, our good friend Austin, and a girl we didn't know from Australia.  First off, we had a beautiful 15 minute airplane ride over the Swiss Alps.  I must be honest, it was a little tough to enjoy the views while thinking about jumping out of the plane in a few short moments.  My instructor talked to me the whole time and cracked jokes to make me feel better! He was a really nice guy and made the experience a lot easier.  We reached 13,000 feet and it was time to go!  Once they opened the plane door, my stomach sank!  Patrick was the first to go, and that was one of the scariest parts for me.  One second they are sitting on the edge of the plane, and the next they are flying through the air!  I was the 3rd person to go of the 4, and I will never forget that moment of sitting on the edge of the airplane.  I even kept my eyes open the entire time :)  (I can barely do that on the Wild Thing at Valleyfair)  Free falling was the single most exhilarating experience I have ever had.  The initial feeling of falling only lasted a few seconds, and then I was able to enjoy the amazing view I had of the Swiss Alps.  We fell for 45 seconds before he pulled the cord for the parachute (such a relief!!)  That's a long time to fall!  The air was freezing until we stopped free falling.  The rest of the time I was able to enjoy being over the Swiss Alps.  It was an experience I will never forget!!  The hostel we stayed at had a Thanksgiving dinner for all of us that evening.  It was really nice to have a good meal since we were so far away for Thanksgiving! 

Where our plane took off and where we landed for skydiving!

The crazy group that went skydiving!

Saturday-


We had a day trip to the city of Zurich.  It was about 2 hours away from Interlaken and we had the entire day to walk around the city.  Our group had a great time just walking around and exploring the shops, especially the chocolate shops! :)  Switzerland is obviously known for its chocolate so these stores were everywhere.  It was a great day!

Zurich, Switzerland

Sunday-

A few of us from our group went on a ropes course that had ziplining in the forests of Interlaken.  This day actually almost scared me more than skydiving.  We had harnesses on, but being that high up felt so much more real than when I was in the airplane.  I needed some encouragement from my friends Kayla and Max, but they got me through it!  It was a lot of fun ziplining through the trees.  Such an adrenaline rush!  After the ropes course, we went to a chocolate show in Interlaken.  They taught us a lot of different things about how chocolate is made, and had free samples for us!  We also got a voucher to use in their store so I definitely picked up a few things :)  Most of my money that weekend was spent on chocolate!

Ziplining!

Well, it's getting down to the last two weeks of being here.  We have so many projects, papers, and tests coming up on top of trying to enjoy our last few days here.  Switzerland was a great last trip!  We have a day trip to Leeds Castle tomorrow.  The pictures of it look beautiful so I am excited to see it.  Next week, my art history class is going to Carmen, an opera, and the musical Wicked!  Both of these shows will be a lot of fun.

I can't wait to see all of you very soon!! :)

Love you and miss you all!