Today’s goal was PARAGLIDING!
7 of us were going to paraglide with a view of the Swiss alps today. The company was picking us up at 10:15. I wanted to wake up early to enjoy my breakfast and have enough time to prepare my brain. I woke up and opened the blinds to let in that sunshine and get a glimpse of the mountains. They were very happy to say good morning. I put on some acoustic jams and made some eggs. Grizzy came by and checked in on us. Abby decided she didn’t want to go so just the 6 of us went down to wait on the van to pick us up. He finally made it and we found out that Abby was going to have to pay no matter what and she really was frightened by the heights but she didn’t want to pay for nothing. Since we couldn’t really figure out what to do, he took us to their base to pick up their pilots and then abby called them and said she would come so we went back to pick her up. We then started going up the mountain. It was a beautifully scenic drive. You could see all the mountains for miles. And the lake below reflecting the sun. Whew. So pretty. David was the guy that told us what to expect and what would happen. He explained the whole process and then played some jams for us. I was assigned my pilot, aryan. I think that was his name. We got to the hill and they started unpacking their parachutes. He put my harness on and I put on my helmet. I helped him lay out the parachute and then he hooked us on. Next thing I knew we were walking down the hill and the wind caught the parachute and we were flying! Flying through the air like a bird. We flew over some farms and then we dipped off a cliff. We flew over so many pines and I saw a big bird take a dive to catch their prey. We went down along the decline of the mountain and right over the tips of trees, I even got to kick a tree! We went right next the the rocky cliff, I felt like we could’ve touched it. He would do sharp turns sometimes so my view would change from one lake and mountain range to another lake and mountain range on the other side. We could see the village of Interlaken lying right between the two lakes. The alps were incredible. The sun shining down on the bright white snow and a light haze hugging the mountains. The mountains continued on across the horizon. One peak after another. They seemed like they were in their own world. A world unreachable by humans. The shadowed peaks against the bright blue sky. Free of all clouds today. The colors were so vibrant. The blues and greens. It all seemed so unreal. I literally felt like I was floating. A bird flying through the air. Birds have the best views. I would definitely be a bird if I could. You could see down through the trees to the forest floor and you could see on the sides of mountains and in the parts of land never touched by man. Critters were scurrying and flying throughout the forest. The air was chilly but so clean and fresh. It was super windy so I could hear just fine and it was just peaceful. I felt like it was just me and nature. The world was living and I was a spectator. It wasn’t real life, I was just observing. Like a dream. Or a movie. It was insanity, crazy, unreal. I just smiled the whole time and kept laughing in disbelief. I think my mouth kept dropping open too. It was the best feeling in the world. If I could paraglide on my own, I would do it all day every day. Just me and the world. The mountains, the forests, the rocks, the trees, the lake and the sky. And me. We would be friends and I would watch them grow and change. I would go again in a second. It wasn’t scary at all. I never felt in danger or at risk. I just felt happy and at peace and wishing it would last forever. God sure did create a beautiful world. And the sad part is, I’ll never truly realize all the beauty it holds. I thought I had seen the gist of what this world holds, not that I would ever grow tired of seeing it, I just felt I had been exposed to beauty. But honestly, I gained a new perspective. A new viewpoint. I saw beauty from a new place. And it was incredible. I have never been on top of nature and yet so close to it. The feeling of just catching the currents and floating above the world is incomparable to anything I’ve ever lived before. It just made me realize that I will never even see a fraction of the beauty that fills this world. I wish I could. But I know if this world holds this much beauty, then heaven will be pretty incredible. Anyway, we floated down too fast for my liking. I wanted to stay in the air for the rest of my life. Live in a bubble and just float in the sky. Wowza. When we got close to the ground, he started turning sharply and it felt like a roller coaster ride. That was thrilling and then we landed in the middle of town on this big grass field. Once I touched the ground, I instantly wanted to go back up. I miss it constantly. The guy I went with took some pictures and video but I guess he forgot his remote so they weren’t that great and the angles were pretty dull. He let me look at them while he put his chute away. You had to pay for the pictures and videos and I wanted them so I could remember it, but they weren’t that great so I was very torn. I eventually agreed and we walked back to their base. He uploaded the pictures to my phone and then I paid. He didn’t charge me for the pictures though so I think he felt bad for the poor quality. That made me feel a little better. I’m just bummed I don’t have much documentation of the best 15 minutes of my life. We then started shopping around and making our way back to the train station to meet Annah. We shopped some more and then decided to go to a lake. We took a bus there and watched the sun sink in the sky. It was across the lake and made the mountains shadows and the lake this shadowy and reflective mirror. It was gorgeous. We took some pictures and watched the birds and then walked down the lake a little. It was so serene and felt like a nice fall day. The trees are all yellow and the air is brisk. It was just a calming chill day. We went back to the train station and went across the street to buy groceries for dinner. We got taco fixings. We hopped on a bus back to our Chalet. Annah made dinner and made some cookies from cookie dough. They turned out to be an odd cookie but I still enjoyed them. It’s hard to tell if foods will taste the same as they do in America because they usually don’t. We watched some tv and chilled and sweet home Alabama and then went to sleep.

Fun facts. While walking along the lake a couple was playing those long tube instruments. We still see a lot of cute dogs everywhere we go. Swatches are cool and are tempting me. Paragliding in Switzerland is 10/10 recommended.

Shoutout. Paige Lampe for having the cutest Halloween costume with Tom. A snitch and harry potter. And also for sharing that common love of Harry Potter with me. And for being the cutest friend ever. Love you. And miss you daily.