A
perfect exhilaration came over me this weekend in Switzerland. I have found, through all my travelling and
exploring, that searching for happiness is not necessary. Happiness can be found everywhere and in
everything: on a rainy day, for example, it can be found in hot chocolate,
running through the streets with my friends to find cover, or in the beauty of a city deserted
of people, the ground sparkling with rainwater and the glow of street lamps. I never could’ve known that
Switzerland would’ve brought me such happiness.
It was almost by chance that we travelled there, simply a place to fill
one last free weekend before Fall Break.
Thus, I never could’ve sought out the joy I found in Switzerland; I
needed only to embrace it when I felt it, deeply and purely.
The
first moment I felt uncontrollably, exhilaratingly free and happy was when we
were walking along a river near our hostel in Interlaken. It
occurred to me this is what I was missing in Florence, and everywhere else for
that matter. How do I explain how
turquoise the water was? How green the
trees were? Even the red and yellow
leaves of autumn were stark and brilliant.
Everything was in technicolor.
The mountains were covered with white snow so white and pure that they
blended in with the clouds. The view
I had beside the river was powerful enough to invoke in me this thought: if this
place can look like this, why doesn’t anywhere else?
We
hiked up a mountain because we were told we could see views of all Interlaken and the Alps from the top.
This was true. They did, of
course, manage to leave out the difficulty of the hike. We hiked without stopping from 10 to
12:30. It was at such an incline, I
sometimes had to put my hands down to climb up the rocks. It was unbearably difficult. We watched a few Swiss hikers come by with
hiking sticks and heavy-duty equipment, so perhaps we should’ve searched for
the trail the young kids and old couples had used. But we reached the top and couldn’t complain.
The
restaurant at the top of the mountain looked like it was floating: a heavy fog
had surrounded it temporarily, and you could only see it faintly, like a
lighthouse in the middle of the ocean.
The fog lifted shortly, and as we ate our lunch (16 dollar sandwiches
from Subway… Switzerland is the most expensive place I’ve been), we were able
to look out at a view so incredible it felt surreal, like the back of a
postcard or a 3D movie.
I
wish I could explain it better, but all I can do to explain it is to say that
thinking back now, I have a sense that I never saw this at all; it was so
dream-like, it might’ve been a mirage.
It wouldn’t surprise me.
We
sat at the top of the mountain and ordered hot chocolate. As my friends slept, I sat back and stared at
the view in front of me. Mountains
higher than peaks I’ll ever reach, covered with a thick white dusting that
might’ve been snow or might’ve been clouds, it was so difficult to differentiate. Trees with colors so dramatic and striking
they looked like they’d been filtered on Instagram. The water far below us so solidly turquoise
it shimmered like diamonds. I watched a
few paragliders jump off the side of the mountain and wondered what life could
be like here. What the people who lived
in the small cottages on the side of the mountain were doing right now. If simple really is better. A few cows were wandering the side of the
mountain without direction, it seemed. I
wondered if the people from Switzerland enjoy their home as much as I did: if
they wake up early just to enjoy the sights a little sooner, if they go to bed
a little earlier because they can’t wait to see their world as soon as the sun
hits the mountains from the east in the morning.
After
our hike, we ate dinner and walked over to a suburban neighborhood around
7:30. We’d signed up for a mystery game
that went something like this: we got locked into one room and had an hour (a
timer was ticking on a wall). We had to
use clues around the room to figure out how to unlock things (for example,
Morse code helped us unlock a journal, with a piece of paper inside
coordinating us to look at symbols through a telescope on a light post outside
– these symbols needed to be converted into months of the year using the
horoscope chart on the wall; this helped us unlock the next key). Anyways, that was a lot of fun, although
entirely stressful with the timer on the wall and the tricky clues.
So
that was exciting. Then, around 9:30,
exhausted, we fell asleep.
In
the morning I awoke at 6:30 with a burning desire to see Interlaken early in
the morning. I walked outside to find it
was raining, but it didn’t deter me in the slightest. I walked determinedly to the river. As amazing as it had been yesterday under the
glow of the midday sun, it was just as surreal and mystical early in the
morning. The entire town was
otherworldly. The glow from the
streetlamps sparkled across the rainy pavement.
A few shops were lazily opening their doors, but the streets were
deserted. An older couple passed me,
linking arms and holding umbrellas.
Other than them, I was alone.
I
walked along the river until I got the sudden craving to run, so I did. I ran until I had gone under two bridges, and
then I stopped and walked back. I was
entirely at ease, breathing in the cool morning air that felt like it had come
straight to me from the mountaintops. For
a while, I thought I might want to listen to my music as I ran, so I brought
headphones. It dawned on me as I ran
that I’d be missing out on the sounds of nature if I did that, so I didn’t
listen to music: it was the first time I’ve ever run without music (intentionally). The birds were
chirping, the rainwater was dropping softly on the river, the church
bells rang at 8, and the wind occasionally rustled the leaves on the
trees. It was one of the most peaceful
mornings I’ve ever had.
When
I got back to the hostel my friends were awake, so we got breakfast
together. Then, two of my friends and I
hopped on a train in pursuit of a place we’d heard about up the mountain a ways
that offered gondola rides and zip-lining.
Even the train ride was fascinating.
The views as we weaved around the mountain were astounding: so few times
did we pass houses and people; so often was it only trees and rivers.
The
gondola ride to the top was great, if for no other reason than it was our first
experience getting to see some snowy parts of the mountains. As we rode we past houses and cattle, and I
wondered what kind of life one lives on the side of a mountain like this, so
segregated from life as I know it. When
we reached the top of the mountain (it was freezing), we were quickly coaxed into the zip-liner
seats. With barely time to sign any sort
of waiver, the guys said, “ready?”
I
said, “Anything we need to know before we go?”
They didn’t even answer. They
just pulled down a crank that unlocked a door and suddenly we were flying through the freezing air,
parallel to the mountainside. We held
our arms out and screamed, exhilarated and terrified. It was over way too soon.
After
our gondola ride to the bottom, we realized we had plenty of time (nearly two
hours) to eat lunch before heading home.
We picked a cozy cabin-looking restaurant. It had a stuffed black bear out front and
wooden walls and tables on the inside, very Maine-esque. We ordered burgers and tea. The entire experience was unlike any other
I’ve had in Europe: it was much less urban and modern, and much more nature-centered
and comforting.
When
we got back to our hostel I went on another run, because running along the
river beats any other run I’ve done in my life. Also, Switzerland motivates you to be outside every second of every day - how can you miss it? Then we all walked to a chocolate shop where we’d signed up for a
chocolate tasting along with a how-to on making chocolate. The lesson wasn’t that interesting (we didn’t
get to do anything and just watched a guy say, “this is how you put it in the
fridge, and then in 3 minutes… ta-da! All done!”) but the testers were incredible.
The best chocolate I’ve ever had, and I’m not saying that simply
because I’ve heard Swiss chocolate is good.
It was so rich and creamy.
Amazing. After, we got pizza down
the road (because we don’t get enough in Italy), and then returned for dessert
at this same chocolate shop.
This
morning, our last day, I knew we didn’t have much time – we needed to start our
train travelling at 9 a.m. in order to make our 3 p.m. flight. So I had another early wake-up at 7 a.m., got
dressed in my running clothes in the dark, and escaped to the glowing streets
of Interlaken by 7:15. I chose to run in
the opposite direction of the river today, because I wanted to explore other
places. I ran through town, watching as
a few people stepped out of their still-closed shops and onto the sidewalks to
talk with their neighbors. Some tourists
were exploring, but it was still mostly deserted. I found a park right near the chocolate shop
and ran here, running past statues and fountains and around autumn trees,
the mountains forever in my view. I was
enchanted by it all. Out of all the
places I’ve been, Switzerland, by far, has been my favourite. 
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