Goodbye Florence...Hello Switzerland

Well, today was my last day in Florence...and sadly enough I was rather glad to be leaving. I couldn't have handled much more of that crazy city--although it was beautiful. I took my last final and literally ran around like a crazy woman for the following hour finishing packing and walking like a Grandma-power-walker to the train station.

I met Peter, Todd, Zan, and Mary there and we boarded the 1:14 train to Milan where we had a connection to a train to Interlaken. I am excited to see what the next 19 days will bring...and as a matter of fact, the adventures are already beginning.

Sleep was my primary concern on the train since it has been something I have experienced few and far between the last two weeks. So I slept, soundly enough, until a scarz Swiss police man asked me for my passport--but better to be safely (and legally) in a country than sorry, right?

My friends, my 30 lb. backpack and I all got off the train in Interlaken around 8:20 p.m. and wandered around for about 20 minutes in the most beautiful countryside I have EVER seen trying to find our hostel. I didn't at all mind the wandering and was tempted more than once to throw off my backpack and run through the pluthera of open meadows and maybe climb a mountain or two during our walk from the train station to the hostel. I resisted, however, and after finding our hostel--The Funny Farm--and getting our rooms, our first priority was to decide what was on the "to do" list for tomorrow. Interlaken, being the adventure sports capital of the world, is just waiting to be discovered by us...which is the reason I am taking some pretty big risks tomorrow. Curious as to what they are??

Remember my cliff jumping adventure already this trip?? Well, multiply that by about 5 and you will have what I will be doing tomorrow. Also known as canyon jumping, I will be free falling with a harness on for about 200+ ft. and then swinging at a speed someone told me approached 70 mph through the canyon. Sounds fun huh?? Well, that isn't all...I will also be canyoning. The difference?? Canyoning, I will be jumping off cliffs and sliding down natural glacier waterfalls. And although I won't be able to eat for the next three weeks because these thrill seeking adventures took a huge bite out of my budget, it will all be worth it. Good thing, too, because I am so nervous right now that I really am not at all hungry.

So wish me luck...and wish me life :) Hopefully I'll be back to update you on my day tomorrow night :)

By the way, this countryside really is amazing and I could be completely content staying here for the next 3 weeks...but I'll just enjoy these two days I have here now...can't wait to show you pictures :)