30 June, Friday
We were supposed to be on a nigh train to Budapest tonight. However, Ted had his passport and money stolen (around $1,500). Therefore we're staying put for the time being. We went to a new Hostle also in Interlaken. It's much more quiet and peaceful. It's at the base of the mountain right on the river, and like so many other places I've described, it's also beautiful. We played that ultimate Frisbee game on the grass in front of the hostle. After, we cooled off in the river. It felt very refreshing, and even though it's glacier water, it was warmer than the lake when I went skiing right before Europe. Right now J & Rob are playing ping pong at the hostle (on the deck) and I'm sitting down at the edge of the river. I think I want a place in Switzerland someday. We'll see.
Earlier today I went paragliding. It was really exciting. I wish Rob & Brian would have gone also. We ran off the mountain at around 4500 ft and climbed to 5000 ft on the thermal draft (or whatever they call it). You can go for as long as you want riding thermals. One guy's longest jump was over 4 hours. Again (like everything else in Switzerland) the scenery was beautiful. I got some great pictures from the air (I think). They did what they called a "Swiss kiss" where they touched the wings of the paragliders. Then we spiraled down REALLY fast. It was a real rush. The flight was about 15 min & would have been longer had we not dove down - although I'm glad we did. We had a really soft landing right on our feet. It was totally worth the 147 SFR. J, Brad & Matt went canyoning - where you travel through the river down falls & whirlpools. It's really popular and sounds like fun. However, I'm glad I went paragliding.
Brian figured we can only spend $22 per day each without going broke.
