Interlaken...

Interlaken is a great town. It's what I pictured Austria to be like, and very "Sound of Music". The houses are brightly colored cottages, the people are nice and the scenery is amazing. The downside is that everything is incredibly expensive. A simple entree in Switzerland costs as much as an extravagent meal back home. Even a moderate size of shampoo was $4. I guess locals don't mind because the minimum wage is $22.50 swiss francs! That's like 20 dollars an hour, so I suppose $12 for a McDonald's cheeseburger doesn't seem as bad.

I feel I wouldn't be doing justice to Switzerland if I neglected to mention the abundance of attractive men. Mostly those on the top of the mountain who'd been sking. Although I obviously have no future involving skis, these men are beautiful and have great hair and seem very fun. I had ample opportunity to people watch while Leigh skied, and this was my scientific observation.

Our hostel provided the most unique travel experience. At least three gigantic "house" dogs laid in the lobby or the front porch. One even leapt (or leaped?) into the van when Simon dropped Leigh and I off at the train station with our skis on Friday. These dogs weighed at least 150 pounds but were extremely gentle. They provided a very laid back atmosphere and of course no one could walk by without petting them!

Saturday, Leigh and I found downtown Interlaken and browsed the shops. We took a much needed nap and then got ready for the evening. We ate at a very friendly restaurant down the corner from our hostel. I think 20 of us overpowered the restaurant and all the locals stared at us. We're getting used to that now.

Afterwards, Leigh, Kyle and I thought we'd try our luck finding the KU game at Hooter's while everyone else went back to the hostel to see videos from the people who went skydiving. By this point a steady snow fall is coming down and we're freezing. Everyone stared at us when we entered Hooter's. I was a bit disappointed with the Hooter's girls, as this was my first time in a Hooter's establishment. Most of the Swiss people are very attractive and these women did not represent the orange shorts or tank top very well. Although the game was not on, the three of us had quite an enjoyable time. After 3 hours, Leigh and I decided we should get t-shirts (we couldn't find any during our afternoon shopping that said Interlaken). Hers is black and mine is the classic white. We were a bit embarrassed asking the male waiter to get the shirts from behind the counter, but we really wanted shirts that said Interlaken, Switzerland. He also gave us an excessive amount of "I heart Hooter's" stickers that I feel I will not accessorize my outfits with. Any takers?

Hooter's was dying down so we met up with a group of people in the basement club of the big hostel down the street. We arrived 45 minutes before it closed, but I was fine with not staying long because it was very hot and full of teeny boppers (as I'm finding most European clubs are. Where are the adults? And why are these children out late drinking?)

By the time Leigh and I were ready to go to bed, the boys next door were just realizing our rooms were in fact connected. They also wanted to throw wet toilet paper at us (they used it earlier to throw at the random man who passed out near their room. Freaky.) We were able to lock our doors and went to bed, trying to ignore their random pounding.

Suddenly our door to the balcony flung open. A few seconds later I saw a shadow and screamed. That's when Jimmy and Mike popped in and started laughing and making fun of us. It turns out they were able to unlock the privacy gate between our balconies and kicked down our door to throw more wet toilet paper at us. It felt very "Saved by the Bell".

Simon, the man who oversaw our stay, let Leigh and I know there was room on the bus the group took from Paderno and we could take it back. Wonderful news because that saved me a 65 euro train ticket back! The 8-hour bus ride was bumpy, cramped and seemed to last forever, but it was free so I kept my negative thoughts to a minimum.

Still no news about the bench incident. Rumor has it that the culprits have until Wednesday to confess before the police become involved.