Interlaken, Switzerland

This past weekend I took a long train ride up into the Swiss Alps to the great little town of Interlaken.  Interlaken is a small ski town, but big enough to have lots to do for all of the tourists that swarm it.  My friends and I all decided that we should do the one thing that everyone who had gone there recommended...canyon jumping.  Canyon jumping is essentially bungee jumping but instead of a bungee cord, you jump off with a normal climbing rope and when the free fall ends you swing through a canyon like a big rope swing instead of bouncing up and down on a bungee cord.  Standing at 280feet up on a little platform on top of cliff with a small canyon in between two rock faces I jumped off and had a 3-4 second freefall before swinging from this 80 meter long rope.  This is one of the coolest things I have ever done.  Definitely one of the most fun things I've done since being abroad.  If I could, I would go back and jump again in a heartbeat.  Pictures are from the professional photographer.


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Paris

Sorry for the long time without any posts but I've been a tad busy lately.  Anyway, this past weekend my friend and I went to Paris for a nice relaxing weekend seeing the sites.  I had already been to Paris when I went in high school for a week but it was just as fun to go back.  My buddy had not been before so it was a great time going all around with him.  Here's a quick rundown on what we saw and did...The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Basillica Sacre Couer, L'Arc de Triumphe, the Eiffel Tower, and Versailles on Sunday.  I took a few pictures, but definitely not as many as I should have...maybe I'll post a few later.  As well as doing a lot of walking around the city eating crepes and doing various other things that are French.  Saturday night we went to a highly recommended classic French bistro where I had a delicious steak which came with a side of beef bone marrow.  I've never had beef bone marrow before and was a little apprehensive about it because they serve a section of bone from a cow that has the marrow cooked inside of it.  Sounds disgusting.  Its amazing.  Definitely a new favorite thing that I'll be trying when I can find it at restaurants.  Overall it was a great weekend and quite nice to just be traveling with one other person for once.

This weekend I will be going to Interlaken, Switzerland with big group of friends.  Interlaken is a small mountain town that has tons of outdoor activities and things to do.  My Saturday is going to consist of jumping off a cliff and swinging from a 100 meter long cable through a canyon.  Canyon jumping as its called.  Don't freak out too much, its safe.  I'll take a bunch of pictures and hopefully get a video of me doing it!  Until next time, stay classy USA.

Halfway Point

Hello readers, first of all I want to apologize for my lack of posts lately.  Apparently we have papers and midterm exams over here and they actually count for something?  Who knew?  So that's what has been taking up the majority of my time the past week or so.  I decided to lay low in Luxembourg this weekend and take it easy catching up on sleep and school work.  As for posting some big entries about the rest of my carnival break in Lyon and Barcelona...yeah that's just not going to happen, but I'll give a quick recap.

Lyon was awesome because I got to see a Champions League soccer game where Lyon played one of the top teams in the league, Real Madrid.  It was a pretty amazing experience and the game ended in a draw, which was great for us because it was a super entertaining and fast paced match.  Also the hospitality and FREE place to stay at the Marguet's house made it well worth the visit.  As for Barcelona...I've already told a bunch of people since going there and I'll say it again, Barcelona is one of the coolest cities I've been to.  Although I was only there for two nights and three days (for sure not enough time), we tried to make the most of it and I think I can safely say we definitely did.  It helped that we knew a bunch of other American students studying there that were able to take us around the city and out with them at night.  Barcelona is actually the city that never sleeps...sorry NYC and Vegas.  Two nights out until the sun comes up makes it a little tough to do all the tourist attractions but we managed to the best of our ability and saw some of the top spots as well as thoroughly enjoying ourselves at night.  Because of our American comrades studying there we were able to hit up the best of the best that the nightlife has to offer, and I'll leave it at that.

Halfway point...yep, true story.  I've been in Europe for two months now and I have two months more to go.  Time is flying and I'm enjoying every minute of it.  Some travel plans for the rest of the semester include a weekend trip to Paris in two weeks, Poland with my history class, London and Dublin for my Easter Break, and hopefully some other random weekend trips mixed in there somewhere.  Canyon jumping in Interlaken, Switzerland perhaps?  Guess we'll both have to wait and see.

Me and the guys at the game in Lyon.  Our seats were just a bit above where this was taken!