The hostel I stayed at was a place called Baumer’s. For those of you who would like to find a little piece of America in Switzerland, I give you Baumer’s. It so happened that the weekend I booked to stay there was also the weekend a study abroad group from University of Kansas was also residing there. As such, I felt like I was living in the worst parts of a frat house nightmare. Even the lingo these kids (I use the term endearingly, I promise) were tossing around was of the Greek variety. This was equally as annoying as the hostel itself, which was a bastion of EXTREME sports advertisements and packages. When I was checking in the guy behind the counter must have said EXTREME about a dozen times in trying to describe all the things to do. And they weren’t even cheap. $300 to go canyoning, or $400+ to go skydiving, even zorbing which I was tempted to try cost $150. I almost stroked out upon hearing from a couple I was talking to that they had spent close to $1000 in just 2 days. Even I have to stretch my imagination to find ways to spend that much in so little a time. It became ever apparent that pretty much everybody here was out on mommy and daddy’s dime, and at the time there were no other people I could think of who were more deserving of my scorn. Luckily I befriended a pair of Canadians who were not apart of the KU group who were on the level. By far some of the best people I’ve met on the road are Canadians and Australians. Brits, on the other hand, meh.
Another thing that made my hostel a frat party nightmare was that it included a night club in the basement of one of the buildings were they would have happy hour from 6-7 and again from 9-10. The area consisted of a bar, some tables, and a dance floor with monitors hanging from the ceiling. The happy hour was the closest thing I could go to a cheap beer ($4.50 a bottle is cheap by Swiss standards. Good grief! Oh well, at least it was Molson, much to the delight of my Canadian cohorts). On the monitors were displayed pictures of people on their EXTREME sporting trips, and I became sick of the bombardment of advertising. The club area was small, and it did not help matters either that the hostel would advertise to the locals that it was the best club in town. As such, the place was always more than packed to capacity and made it a hot and sticky situation, situations I tend to stay far from. I ended up staying outside in the courtyard area, drinking Molson and playing oversized chess with either Mike or any challenger. We toyed with the idea of inventing a form of EXTREME chess, but this petered out after the 3rd round … of chess, I mean.
Despite being surrounded by silver spoons, it was refreshing to speak English fluidly, as it had been something I was beginning to miss. Everything still cost a lot, even the Internet. My only escape from it all was nature, which Interlaken was not short of. I found the nearest hiking trail and hit it. After an hour I made it to the top, out of breath, drenched in sweat, and overwhelmed with an EXTREME sense of self-satisfaction. I took a moment to look out across the town. Interlaken is named the way it is because it is a town situated in between two lakes. It was a beautiful site, and even the mountains were beautiful too. Here are some pics:
Even though this small mountain town in the Alps may sound pristine, believe me it will not be this way for much longer. Much like the small, quiet mountain towns in Colorado, Interlaken is being commercialized and overrun by international conglomerates. McDonalds already has a strong presence (not complaining, at least they offer free Internet) and I even came across a Hooters. Before I left the States I made a promise to myself that I would not buckle and seek out American fast food, no matter how bad the local cuisine was. Thankfully, Hooters falls outside of this because it’s a sit-down establishment. I braved the price and had the most satisfying meal of my trip to date: nachos, wings, and beer. Here’s proof I was there:
Interlaken became my most favorite place in Switzerland, and I would urge everyone to go and experience it before it becomes more commercial than it already is. Remember to bring lots of $$$, and have yourself an EXTREME time!
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