Stomach flu in Switzerland

Arriving to Interlaken, Switzerland in the early, early morning, I didn’t get the chance to fully appreciate its beauty, but instead focused on getting myself settled in the bunkbed of my four-person hostel room. It didn’t take long to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow, after getting only a few hours of interrupted sleep on a bus before I arrived. Once morning came, it took even less time to realize where I was and jump up to see the view. The sun was shading the room in a vintage yellow glow, and as I peered out beyond the patterned shades I could see exactly why I had wanted to come to Switzerland…the town spread out below in shades of brown and red, surprisingly dispersed with green despite it being January, and mountains rose up behind the buildings in every direction, snow-covered peaks and wholly majestic. It was my first time seeing the alps, and I was in awe of their sheer size and number and proximity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a Minnesotan, I loved that there was snow. It didn’t fully cover the ground but was plentiful enough to need winter boots while hiking. Outdoor Interlaken took care of us in that regard, providing not only hiking boots but trail information and maps in the most friendly manner. A group of us set out that first afternoon, up a small mountain and into the sun. I was most happy to discover real holly on the hike. Real holly!!! It looked like Christmas and made me so happy. One of my friends, who loves the outdoors and climbing, even got teary-eyed when she saw the peak of a nearby mountain, made famous by a climber she followed. If there was any theme for the weekend, it was the thing of dreams and fairytales in our heads about snow-covered wonderlands coming to life before our very eyes.

 

 

 

The town of Interlaken itself is fairly compact and we were able to get around easily without a car or bus. The walk to Lake Brienz was the farthest we ventured, and that only took about thirty minutes. I vibed for the weekend with the athletic wear everyone was sporting, because Interlaken is a serious adventure destination. It was a breath of fresh air from worrying about my outfit everyday when I left my apartment in Florence. Plus, I had barely packed enough layers for outdoor activities in the cold, so if layering three different coats wasn’t fashionable, oh well!!

 

 

 

 

 

The first day flew by in awe and wonder and that night we dined at an Irish pub, one of the most affordable options (read: Switzerland is very expensive!!). From there, unfortunately, the trip went downhill for me. I was hit by an aggressive stomach bug or food poisoning of some kind later that evening and spent the majority of the night on the floor in my hostel bathroom. I was so thankful that I had been placed in a four-person room and could have the bathroom all to myself, and my roommates were so sweet and concerned for me. One of them ended up having pink eye the next day, so it was clearly not our weekend, collectively speaking! Also, I was so thankful to be in a place where delicious, fresh, crisp mountain water flowed freely out of the tap!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it goes, the hostel we were staying at only had wifi in the lobby, so I wasn’t able to send a text to my friends in the next room over saying I was sick. Instead I ambled down the hall the next morning, knocked on the door, and told them how I was. They all thought I looked like a ghost! I joined them for breakfast and nibbled on some toast, then after climbing up two flights of stairs took all my effort, I bowed out of the day we had planned of taking a cable car up to a small village, far up one of the nearby mountains. I held back my tears then spent the rest of the day in the hostel lobby (which was quite cozy and really had incredible views), venturing out only to the grocery store for peanut butter and pretzels and anything else bland that I could find.

 

 

 

 

Even though I spent most of the weekend sick, I am still so glad I made it to Switzerland because it fueled a fire of desire in me to make a return trip. It was a country very high on my list of places I wanted to visit, and now I know I want to go back and see more of it, in every season, and be able to really experience it! The silver lining of it all (aside from drinking a lot of their refreshing tap water, so much better than Italy’s) was being able to walk through town that Saturday, very slowly by myself, and stop to sit on a park bench and breathe in the Swiss air. This was something I’m sure I couldn’t have managed if I had been with a group the whole time, and it was worth it.