After a great weekend in Barcelona, we traveled to Switzerland this weekend for Ryan’s 21st birthday. Switzerland has always been a place I've wanted to go so I was very excited to be able to travel there.
On Thursday's we took a train from Maastricht to the Brussels airport to catch a 9:30 flight to Geneva. Since our travel plans were similar to traveling to Barcelona, this time it was easier and much more relaxed as we were familiar with our whereabouts and schedule. After the flight, we stayed the night in Geneva. The next morning we woke up early to catch a train to Interlaken. Since the hotel that we stayed at was in the center of the city, we were able to walk to the train station. On our walk, we were able to see Lake Geneva, which was an amazing site to see. We soon got on the train to Interlaken which took a couple hours. Throughout the whole trip, I can honestly say that the train rides was one of my favorite parts as well. The views of the beautiful mountains, houses, and lakes were gorgeous and something I was amazed by; I couldn't believe my eyes.
When we arrived in Interlaken it was around 11am. We walked through the town which had a small, cozy feel to it. Our hostel was in a merging town called matter that were closer to the mountains. The first thing I noticed when arriving in Interlaken was the towering mountains in the backdrop of the town; it almost looked fake! Before the trip, we all had the idea to go skydiving in the swiss alps so when we got there we immediately searched for places that offered Skydiving. When we got to our hostel, we asked the receptionist if there were any skydiving companies that could take us that day since we were leaving for Zermatt the next day. Lucky enough, there was availability to go fifteen minutes after he called! Fifteen minutes later, all seven of us got in a van that took us down the street to the skydiving company’s bases.
When we got there, we filled out paperwork and was notified that we were going to be taken up in two’s in a helicopter to go skydiving. Sean and I were the third groups to go as Kevin and Will went first, Mike and Ryan went second and James went after us. I was hoping we could be a group of three so James wouldn't be by himself but the instructors wouldn't allow it and James had insisted on going solo.
The base was located on the outskirts of a big open field with mountains surrounding every square inch. As Sean and I were waiting we watched Kevin, Will, Mike and Ryan all skydived with an instructor from 14,000 feet up! We were able to see the helicopter in the sky from the base, which they dropped directly above us. After each of them landed, they couldn't stop raving about how amazing it was, so it was needless to say that I was getting a little anxious! As soon as Ryan and Mike landed, Sean and I got in the van and drove to the helicopter base down the road with the instructors. We then got in the helicopter sitting side by side in the instructor's lap and took off. When we went up in the helicopter overlooking the Swiss Alps, I was speechless. The view of the mountains, lakes and the city of Interlaken from 14,000 feet up was incredible and something I would have never dreamt of seeing. Soon enough, before I knew it, I was jumping out of the copter, since I opted to go first. My instructor, who I was strapped to, opened the door of the helicopter and jumped out as I began to scream on the top of my lungs with the adrenaline kicking in. I couldn't believe what I was seeing as well as the fact that I was falling out of the sky from 14,000 feet! After forty seconds of free for all, the instructor pulled the parachute and we slowly glided down. I was able to take off my goggles and take everything in which was surreal to say the least. After we landed, I couldn't believe what I had just done. Not only was able to cross skydiving off my bucket list but I was able to do it in the Swiss Alps with my seven best friends which is something very special to me. 
The next day on Saturday, we traveled to Zermatt and stayed there for two nights. I thought I was impressed by the beauty of Interlaken, but I was completely caught off guard by how incredible Zermatt was. Everywhere I looked there was a snow-covered mountain towering over me. The town was the perfect ski town that had bars, pubs, restaurants, ski shops and clothing stores. The night we got there we all played ice hockey for fun at a rink that was in the center of the town and was something I have never done before! After we went out and celebrated Ryan’s 21st birthday and one of the bars which were a lot of fun. The next day we woke up to a sky full of snow! Even though I love the summertime, I really enjoy when it snows so being able to wake up to the snow, especially in Switzerland was amazing. Around 11, Kevin, Sean and I, went skiing on the mountain close by for the day. Like skydiving, skiing in the Swiss Alps was always something I've been wanted to do since I started to ski. We went to the top of the mountain which was 11,000 feet up and was able to see the Matterhorn and a numerous range of mountains. 
We left the next morning around 8am, in which we took a train to the Geneva Airport, flew from Geneva to Brussels and then took a train from Brussels airport to Maastricht and managed to get back by 7:30pm.
This was definitely a trip I will never forget. The spectacular mountains and the incredible views were similar to an episode of Planet Earth or National Geographic that did not look real to me, and I will never forget it. The one thing that I disliked about the country, being in three different cities, was the high costs. Other than that, I thought Switzerland was the most beautiful country and place i have ever been and hope to visit again someday.
