Last day in Switzerland

Last day in Interlaken, we decided we should go out with a bang. Five days from now, I'll be back in the United States. No we didn't jump out of an airplane. After considering it for about 3 seconds, we concluded that you can skydive anywhere in the world (and for a lot cheaper most places than here). That being said, we set out to do something that was specific to the area, "Canyoning." It is really hard to explain, so I decided to upload about 15 pictures from today to help me explain it. At the beginning, you pick out your equipment. They identify you by the random names on your helmet. Brian and I decided to pick each other's helmets to make it as embarassing as possible (or funny, I guess). I picked "Dumbo" for Brian, and he picked "Robocop" for me. That explains the names on our helmets. It was incredible, to say the least. Definitely was a fitting way to end my last weekend in Europe. We're wiped out, headed back to Rome tomorrow morning... Here are the pics.

This is everyone putting on their wet suits. It was about 55 degrees when we started this morning at 9 am. We drove an hour to a canyon named "Grimsel." It took a while to put these bad boys on. They kept us as warm as anything could. In the end, you're swimming in a river that feeds directly from a glacier, there's really no staying warm there.

This is everyone who went on our trip. One of our guides was a skier on the Swiss National Team. These guys were pretty intense. Here, they are telling us about the first part of the trek, rapelling down a 200 foot rock face into the canyon. I've repelled on a wooden wall before. I learned today that wood walls of 40 feet do not compare to 200 foot straight drops of granite mountainside.

Trust me, as soon as this picture was over, my hands were back on the rope. I'm about halfway down here, the photographer zoomed in really close to get my "I'm scared but trying not to appear that way so early in the trip" face.

This is a picture of the wall we rapelled from the bottom.

Task number two, "rock slide" down this waterfall into the water. I didn't really understand until the guy pushed me onto the rock (see below).

This is the mid-rock slide pose. This was one of the smaller slides we did. In total, I would guess there were about six rock slides on the trip.

Next we came to this waterfall which had no slide. Therefore, we clearly had to jump. Below is the action shot of the jump.

I would like to point out the precision in my form as well as the concentration on my face.

Now it starts to get a little ridiculous. We came to another rock slide, and this time, our two guides said we were going to "helicopter." That consisted of one of them grabbing my head, the other grabbing my legs, and throwing me onto this rock, spinning like a helicopter. I think I'm inverted on this picture.

Next came zipline number one. This was cool because it dipped underneath this rock that made it look like you were going to hit it until the last second. I posed really quick before the free fall.

This is Luke and I. Luke is the guide who is on the swiss national team. We decided to strike a pose before the biggest jump of the trip, a 35 foot jump into the base of this waterfall. We were told to jump "out" because the waterfall didn't start until about 10 feet horizontally, so we had to clear some rocks. I made it, barely. Ok kidding, I think I made it just fine.

This is proof that I actually jumped. Maybe one of the biggest jumps into water of my life. Definitely top five.

Next came a zip line where we controlled our release. The guides tied a special knot onto our harness so we could hold our own weight easily.

This is right after I slid off the ledge. I'm holding on here.

And here I let go. Everyone was attempting the backflip, so I decided I should try and fit in.

This is my "oh my gosh we've been doing this for two hours and I just realized how cold the water is" face. Or maybe it's the "that was awesome but I can't wait to get rid of this wedgie" face. Not sure.

Picture of our group after we were finished.

Brian and I went for the head-butt action shot.

Walking out of the canyon into the valley to eat and change into dry clothes, what a day's work.

Blogging from the Alps

Arrived in beautiful Interlaken, Switzerland last night at about 8 pm. We left Rome at 6:30 am. There were about four trains that were running late, plus at one point, we got on the wrong train and rode it 60 miles in the wrong direction before someone told us. Turns out Genova and Genevria are different places, and although this could be misleading, the train people decided that trains to both destinations should leave at exactly the same time all day every day. But it's all ok, we're here now.

Our hostel is really great. It is part of a larger resort, so we get to use all of the resort's facilities even though we're paying 18 euros a night to stay here. There's wireless internet in the really large common room. There's also a great olympic size swimming pool which I'm attaching a picture of.

The view here is amazing. We're nestled between two lakes in a valley in the alps (Interlaken means "between-lakes" in German). Apparently they speak German here, not "Swiss." Swiss is not a language, I've been told. I guess "American" isn't a language either... Everything here (including food) is expensive. However, the exchange rate is decent. The dollar is actually stronger than the Swiss Franc.

I wanted to fit in with the locals, so I donned the traditional headgear.

This is the river that connects the two lakes of Interlaken

This is the pool behind our hostel. Check out the view!


This is the crazy different kinds of money we deal with. Upper left is US dollars of course. Bottom is Swiss Francs, and Upper Right is Euros. Money never looked so funny...

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I wrote this post, and then went out into Interlaken a little longer. At some point during the day, we decided it would be a good idea to jump off a mountain. They call it "the canyon swing," but I think it in no way resembled a swing. I've included some pictures and a couple videos to prove how stupid I am. The jump was 85 meters, or about 300 feet. The free-fall was incredible, and the swing afterwards was a great view. It had just finished raining, and the sun poked through the clouds. Couldn't imagine a better view. I knew I wasn't going to skydive or anything here, citing the high expenses (and using that to cover up a little fear). I like this as a nice extreme compromise though.

As we were driving by, the lady shouted "and this is where you'll be jumping." My mouth dropped.


This is the peak we started driving towards, I love that you can't see the top.


This guy jumped first, and he had no reservations.

After watching the first guy, I had some reservations myself.

This is the video I took of Brian jumping (from the top). He carried his camera along with him, a risk I decided not to take (heck, I was already jumping off a mountain into a river gorge...)

Once Brian got to the bottom, it was my turn. He kindly took this video for me.

And if all of those pictures and videos weren't enough, there was this guy on a harness in the middle of the gorge who took pictures for us. I don't remember much about the jump, but these pictures made me laugh. This thing was really high.. I mean really high. Enjoy the pics, I'll post something else when we get back to Rome Sunday (six more days left in Europe!)

Excited for the Swiss Alps

We’re headed to Interlaken, Switzerland this weekend. There is a huge festival there (the Greenfield Festival if you feel like Google-ing it) with bands like Linkin Park and the Offspring. We probably won't go to the shows, but it'll be a cool atmosphere to say the least. I figured I'd throw some pictures on here that I've stolen offline so you have an idea of where we're headed this weekend, I'll try and post some more while we're there!

(more photos from the trip, click below)

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/brycestuck/Study%20Abroad/?albumview=grid

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/brycestuck/?albumview=grid

Hanging with "His Holiness"

Saw the Pope this week, we went out for some pizza and gelato. We discussed the war in Iraq, Barak Obama, and the Sex and the City movie. His thoughts are "bad, bad, and worse," in case you wondered.

But seriously, we went to the papal audience on Wednesday. Basically, 10,000 people show up in St. Peter's Square to get blessed by the pope (or Il Padre, as they say). It was sort of like a rock concert, which was surreal. Also made me wonder if these people go this crazy in church? I doubt it. It was scorching hot and sunny that day, so I was a little uncomfortable. We dressed up all nice in our cleanest clothes for the pope (Yes mom, my shirt and pants were ironed. Ok, they weren't "ironed," but they also weren't wrinkled). I was really glad I went, but was glad it was over when it was. The pope spoke in five different languages when we were there, and some Cardinal announced the University of Dayton School of Business was in attendance, which was kind of cool. Most of us are staying in Rome this weekend to save a little dough. My roommate Brian and I are headed to Interlaken, Switzerland next Thursday morning (early, so basically midnight Wednesday in the states). We're really looking forward to the trip, but also looking forward to this weekend in Rome. Went to the Vatican today by myself to walk around and watch tourists. Realized when Katie was leaving that we didn't see "La Pieta" (Michelangelo's famous sculpture) last time we were there because we rushed out to see the Sistine Chapel before it closed. So I went back today. I didn't bring my camera, so here's a picture I got off the internet, in case you're unfamiliar with the sculpture.

It was really cool to see, that's for sure. Apparently, they're shooting the sequel to the Da Vinci code in Rome right now, and this girl from UD saw Tom Hanks today. He cut himself on set (according to the papers), so filming stopped temporarily. How cool is that? I haven't seen anyone famous besides the pope yet. This picture above was taken by a guy from UD who was sitting next to me. Look how close the pope got to us! That's all for now, I'm sorry for the distance between posts, I'll try and come up with some cool stuff this weekend, maybe go hunting for Tom Hanks...

Back to the Week Schedule

Back from Florence!

Took a ton of pictures, and rather than uploading them slowly on the blog, I switched things up a little bit.. The first link is studying abroad so far (Capri, Sorrento, Positano, and Florence).. The second link is the 113 best pics from the trip with Katie. Feel free to peruse whenever, the website (photobucket) is like a picture blog site, and has different ways to view the pictures.. Feel free to play around with it and email me if you're confused.

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/brycestuck/Study%20Abroad/?albumview=grid

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/brycestuck/?albumview=grid

Just booked train tickets to go to Interlaken, Switzerland June 12th-15th. It is known as the "extreme sports capital of the world" and is very popular with people who are reckless. Looking forward to going with just my roommate Brian, the last weekend before I come back home. Pretty homesick over here, but still looking forward to Switzerland!

Firenze (Florence) at a glance

Hey from Florence! Quick post today and a couple pictures. Yesterday we saw the duomo, it was awesome. This morning I saw the statue of David by myself, and it was even better. This thing is seventeen feet tall. It dominates the entire hallway it is in. Apparently you aren't supposed to take pictures, but I snapped six before anyone told me. Oops. Headed back to Rome tomorrow. I'll post more then.

Weekend Recap

For whatever reason, pictures were uploading really fast today. I uploaded about eight of the weekend in Sorrento. I'll try and narrarate the weekend's activities below each picture.

This is the convertible taxi we took while we were in Capri. Every taxi on this island is a convertible. The ride wasn't too expensive, five of us rode from Anacapri (the central market in the island) back to Marina Grande, where we rented our boat.

This is Brian, Kelly, and I on the first day in Sorrento. We were winding our way down the mountain towards the coast (on our scooters) and saw a nice spot for a picture. We were impressed that Kelly kept up with us on the scooters and that Andrew, instead of Kelly, got in the scooter wreck. That was a good day.

This is me diving into the blue waters off the coast of Capri. Action shot brought to you by our sponsors, American Eagle (see the outline of my body), and Old Spice. But really, someone took this while I dove in. After this, we swam through the "green grotto" which is a cave where everything around you looks green. We took an underwater camera with us, but have to develop the film on our own. Hopefully those pictures turn out. This was one of the highlights of the weekend. We rented three boats to take about 18 of us around the island. They were comfy and the "captains" spoke very little English. Most people told me it was the best part of their weekend, hands down.
This is at the "English Inn" in Sorrento. We found a bar/pub that plays American music all night, so clearly Dayton people were all over it. I didn't stay here too long, but I did stay long enough to see a sixty year old Italian woman's birthday party. She came over and tried to ask us if we would help take the decorations down, but Andrew decided to give her a birthday kiss instead. It was very funny, and she ended up buying Andrew a bottle of wine. Funny fact, that was the second sixty year old Andrew had kissed that day (he kissed some housekeeping lady by the coast earlier, for literally no reason).

This is me at Pompei. In the background is THE Mount Vesuvius. I was imagining what it would be like to be buried under thirty feet of volcanic ash in this picture. That is my pondering face.
This is everyone who rented the boat with us in Positano on Friday. We got to drive this boat (see me at the wheel in the background!?). It was awesome. We drove out to these three islands off the coast, and they turned out to be the islands called "Siren" from the Odyssey. There's a little nugget for the literary buffs. Anyway, we rented this boat and drove around for a while. No one wanted to jump in except me, so we pulled to a stop in the ocean, only to see that there were a ton of jelly fish around. A girl from UD had already been stung that day, so we moved the boat two or three more times, and at every stop, we saw jellyfish everywhere. I jumped anyway, I'll only be able to do that once. Didn't get stung, and it was incredible.

This is my famous scooter. I got the girliest baby blue scooter they had. Although by the time I was done with her, she was fully intact. This was maybe the smartest fifteen euros I've spent in Italy so far. We had so much fun. Brian took a video of me driving this thing, so maybe I'll try and upload that this week. It was pretty safe (Mom), because they made us wear helmets. Finally got the hang of it after two hours, I'd love to try riding one in the States, where people actually respect the laws.

The final picture is Brian, Andrew, and I at Pompei. Vesuvius is in the background. It was a really beautiful day. We walked around here on Friday morning (with a tour guide who was very informative) for about two or three hours. I was very ready to not walk anymore after this. I learned a lot, and kind of hoped Vesuvius would erupt while we were there. The last eruption was in 1940, and all the experts say that the volcano is far overdue for another eruption.

So that was the weekend. I hope the pictures did it some justice. If I see that other people have better pictures, I'll attempt to put those up. Another week of classes here. A nice thing though is that I only have one class every day. People are talking about going to Florence this weekend, and I might jump on board for that. Haven't seen the pope yet either, maybe I'll see what he's doing tomorrow morning. Gotta go eat, thanks for reading!