Swiss Extreme - The Adventure Sport Mecca

It is said that a picture says a thousand words. In the case of Switzerland, I have found that no amount of pictures or words could ever describe its incredible landscape, spirit or beauty.

Standing in the middle of the Swiss Alps between waterfalls, rivers, ravines and ice capped mountains where our camp site lay, I was in awed silence every morning taking in my 360 degree view from where I stood.

For me, Switzerland meant finding freedom from fear and discovering my capabilities as I pushed myself to higher levels of endurance and courage. Within the short five days we were there we found ourselves swimming through glacier rivers in Bern, mountain biking through the Swiss Alpine trails in Lauterbrunnen, paragliding off mountain slopes in Interlaken and jumping, flipping and belaying ourselves through gorgeous waterfalls in deep canyons in the area.

During the two day stop in Bern, the old capital of Switzerland, Iain and I discovered the locals favorite past time. A river surrounds the city of Bern and the locals have a tradition of swimming (or floating through the fast flowing glacier waters) for both fun and for their health. The cold water is believed to help boost locals´ immune systems and keep them feeling young. Since the weather was hot and we didn´t want to miss out on this experience, Iain and I swam down this river twice together.

It wasn´t as cold as I expected it to be but I was definitely a wake up for both of us since the water was so fast flowing and you have to pay attention in order to catch the exits along the way. Iain enjoyed one last flip off one of the bridges along the way home as onlookers enjoyed his little joust. Iain always looks happiest when he is either flipping off something or in the water. That made this experience an especially fun one for him.

A couple of day later we rented some mountain bikes and made our way from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken. We originally wanted to find out about hang gliding but ended up booking paragliding and canyoning that afternoon.

Paragliding was such a fun experience for both of us. We both enjoyed it more than some of the other air experiences we have had including sky diving in Fiji. Just the feeling of flying through the air for 25 minutes as we took in the views of the Swiss Lakes, Alps and villages couldn´t be compared to anything we have ever done before and because we kept catching thermals (hot air rising) we kept going hirer just as we thought we were coming down. I ended up with a guide that was in the paragliding world championship and he did so many fun tricks with me in the air that I even felt G-force a few times.

Of all the activities we have done (including sky diving and shark diving) I found canyoning the most challenging and potentially dangerous for me. Because of this, it was also the most rewarding when we had finished.

Unlike many other outdoor activities (like kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, etc) canyoning can only be done in a handful of places in the world. It´s turns out it is a very dangerous sport and incredibly demanding physically. Five years ago 21 people died in a flash flood where we went and each year at least five people break their legs, one person broke their neck and there are about a dozen broken, sprained or twisted ankles along the way. Helicopter rescues are not uncommon for canyoners. Luckily, we didn´t find this out until after we completed the course.

Don´t let this scare you into not doing it if it interests you. It was one of the best, most beautiful and challenging experiences of my life, and I was proud of myself for completing it. I knew it was going to be a hard day when we got to the starting point and there were 29 guys and me. Not only was I the only girl, but 25 of the guys were on a hockey team and the other four were really athletic and then there was me.

The highest jump we had was right in the beginning, which was just over 10 meters high (like jumping off a three story building). Aside from the height, the challenge was to not hit any rocks on the way down. Once we went off this jump, there was no turning back. We had to complete the course to get out of the canyon. Throughout the day we did at least half a dozen jumps, at least ten natural water slides, belay down two waterfalls and get lowered into a dark rocky cave.

Our favorite slide was one where we had to run and jump off the side of a cliff and hit a particular spot on a rock wall to catch the slide several meters below. If you missed the spot, you would be broken somewhere. Actually, that was the case with most of the jumps and drops. If you were off from your aim, something would be shattered. Usually either your legs or your face.

The scariest drop was one near the end of the canyon. There was such a small space to land that the guide had to hang you off the side of the rock face by the back of your life jacket and drop you into a hole about three or four meters below. The scariest part was having your safety completely in someone else´s hands hoping is aim is bang on and not being able to look at the water below. Because of the tight space in which we could land, if we looked down we would hit our face into the rocks, so we had to look at the sky not knowing how far we were going to keep falling until we hit water.

The day ended up taking us about six hours, which included pick up, drop off, lunch and a great hike either way. I hurt my back a little on one of the jumps (where we were actually supposed to land on our backs because the water was so shallow) and Iain hit his elbow on a rock going down a water slide (it would have been his face if his arm wasn´t in the way) but aside from that we were totally unharmed and completely in awe at what we had just done.

Now we are safely in Munich to watch the Euro Cup Final between Germany and Spain. We are safe and looking forward to coming home next week. As for extreme adventure sports, I think I have the hardest ones out of my system and will be happy to take up most leisure activities again like snow boarding, hiking and biking. However, stopping in Switzerland made me truly feel that I held nothing back on this trip and I will have no regrets about not living life to its fullest.

Two weeks of WOW in Spain and France

The last couple of weeks traveling in Europe have been incredible. Since Rome, Iain and I have spent a lot of time hanging out on beaches, in cafes, watching the EUFA games (soccer), and getting to know a very good group of people from Australia who have been traveling with us for the past week.

In the last few days, we have visited Florence, which I highly recommend as a good shopping and artistic appeal destination. They have a very famous art museum called the Uffizi Gallery, which has the world´s largest collection of Renaissance Art and several masterpieces by artist such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Raphael and so many more. If you come to Florence and visit this museum expect a three hour wait to get in. We were lucky enough to only have to wait an hour and a half to get in.

After Florence we went to Nice which was nice. It is a quaint little town in the South of France with a great beach and good shopping. We spent both our days here lying in the sun. However we also did get a chance to see Monaco with its ridiculously opulent lifestyle and incredible beauty. To live here you have to apply with the Monaco governing state and your application will cost a million euros. After paying the application fee, you are still not guaranteed entry. Michael Jackson was rejected (I´m not surprised). We were able to see Bono´s house and private island which was really nice.

From Nice we travelled to Barcelona which became my new favorite city in Europe (along with Berlin, Stockholm, Vienna and Dubrovnik). It had everything I love about a city including a great beach, exceptional architecture, cathedrals, history, sunshine, great food, equally great shopping, lovely people and was even the site for one of the summer Olympics. We found that renting bikes was a good way to see the city. I think the art around the city was my favorite part with Gaudi being the centre of artistic expression. Overall I give Barcelona a 9.5/10 for most appealing city to visit or live in.

Madrid came next and we not only made some amazing friends here (ones that will always be close to my heart and will visit when we go to Australia) but we got to do two REALLY cool things here. First and most important was visiting the home pitch of The Real Madrid soccer team. You can go visit the stadium, see the museum of all their greatest players including Backham, Zidane, and Ronaldo but you can also tour the team locker rooms, sit in the player´s seats and even touch the pitch (well, you´re not supposed to but we did). This was such a meaningful experience for Iain because it was his childhood dream to visit a professional soccer stadium. What better way to do it than visit the most successful soccer team in history´s home field.

The other thing that I was a particularly big fan of in Madrid was the Madrid Flamenco Dancing Theatre. There were about six of us (all girls staying at the hostel) who wanted to go out and see the traditional Spanish dancing. Not only did the dancing blow us all away but the costumes and music were fabulous too. This was a great girls night for me and each of us became very good friends over the course of the week we spent together.

Now Iain and I are in San Sebastian which is my new favorite smaller city. It´s so unbelievably beautiful here you would have to see it for yourself to believe it. There is a giant statue of Jesus on a hill overlooking the city and you can see it from almost anywhere in the town, the shopping is awesome (I bought a pair of shoes from Zara here which is where the store originated) and the beaches are pristine. They comb them every night and people sunbathe and surf on them every day. The tans we have from being here make us look like professional beach bums.

With only two weeks left in Europe before we come home for our friends weddings, we are going to Bordeaux for two nights, Paris for one, Bern in Switzerland for three, Lauterbrunnen for two, Munich for one, Paris for one, and then Canterbury for three to visit Iain´s brother Paul again.

Even though we have been to a lot of places in such a short amount of time we actually feel rested because of the people we have been with and the downtime we have had on the beaches in Spain and France.

Although we are looking forward to coming home, we can´t believe our time is almost up and will have to re-adjust again to get used to the lives we used to lead back home. This trip has been incredible and its not over yet. With two weeks left we plan on living it up until the very end. Until then, best wishes to all and we will see you very soon.

Rome - The Birthplace of western society and my personal upbringing

After leaving Croatia last week, Iain and I headed straight to Rome for four days. I have always wanted to go to Rome since I was a little kid because I knew that's where the pope lived. We had some great experiences there, including seeing the Pope speak.

The Vatican City was breathtakingly beautiful and each room of the Vatican Museums became more and more impressive.

The Sistine Chapel was one of the last rooms in the building and although the paintings inside were masterpieces done by some of Italy's most famous artists, including Michelangelo, it didn't stand out against the other rooms of the museums as much as I had predicted. I attribute this mainly to the fact that each room in itself was so intricately detailed you didn't expect the next rooms to be any better.

Despite this, I was moved by the Sistine Chapel's artistic value, time and energy that was put into it and the personal meaning it had to me.

The Colosseum was one of our other favorite attractions in Rome. When you walk into the main arena from the entrance you can't help but be in awe at the sheer size of the stones, the walls, the floors and best of all, the underground layer where the animals and gladiators waited. One end was partially rebuilt to give visitors a hand in using their imaginations of the formation of the building when it was still in tact.

The second floor displayed pieces that were still in tact from walls and pillars, so intricately carved you could see fingernails in the figures shown in the walls. These carvings gave visitors an idea of what life would have been like when the Colosseum was fully in use over 2000 years ago.

The Colosseum was one of Iain's two favorite spots and is definitely a must see if visiting Rome.
The last spot we visited which blew both of us away was the ancient Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, which is basically a bunch of ancient ruins from the start of Rome over 2000 years ago.

Why was this so significant? It was pretty much the birthplace of Western Civilization!
Many of the buildings were still completely standing and whatever was left of the rubble surrounding the stable buildings had a story to tell with each step closer to the gates.

Throughout the era of the kings, the Forum was the political, religious and social centre of the Roman world. With its sence of history and situated right in the middle of Rome and surrounded by incredible gardens, walking through it gave me goose bumps. This is something I hope one day my children will see.

Overall, Rome was a little overwhelming for us in the short time we had there. Aside from the mentioned places above, we also visited the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps and many famous shopping streets. In the end Rome was especially meaningful for me because it is the home of many of the beliefs and values I was brought up with. I was very glad we got to visit it.

Croatia Saved Us!

A few weeks ago a good friend of mine asked me if I was stressed out based on an email I sent her. She said I sounded a little uptight and shouldn’t be stressed out while on vacation.

I agree, you shouldn’t be stressed out on vacation. However, I’m not on vacation. I’m traveling. These are two totally different things, especially when you are traveling long term and with another person. In my case, that’s my husband.

Now, I want to get into how Croatia saved us and I want to tell you all about the wonderful reasons Croatia is now our favorite country, but I feel I need to clarify on this little “you can’t be stressed out!” statement first.

I would have to say the three most stressful things about traveling are:

a) Being with another person 24/7 for five months straight. You barely ever get time to yourself. When you’re tired or hungry or grumpy, they are the person you are going to take it out on and there are times when you have nothing to say because you have just spent the last 5,829 hours together. However, of all people, I am grateful that it’s my husband that I get to travel with because we keep each other laughing, he understands me the best of anyone else, we can be affectionate together and we don’t judge each other’s moods. But of course you still have your days where you want to rip someone’s head off and they are the closest ones standing next to you.

b) The physical stress. When you’re running, climbing stairs, and walking several kilometers a day with an extra 15 kgs on your back, you get tired and sore. Iain and I have bled, sweat and cried together and a lot of it stems from being just physically tired. We’ve had late nights (bed at 4am) early mornings (again, 4am) and sometimes one meal a day. I have lost count of the bruises I’ve had and have both lost and put on weight. So, yes, the physical stress can get our immune systems down and affect our moods. Changing cities every three days, repacking our backpacks, not having clean laundry and running for busses, trains and planes can definitely take it’s toll.

c) Watching your bank account quickly go to zero. This has got to be the most stressful of them all. You want to be able to do all the things you dreamed of, knowing that you might never get a chance to do them again and have no regrets. Unfortunately having no regrets in Europe is ridiculously expensive and we have been flustered and disheartened more than once seeing our entire life savings so far disappear in less than two months. That aside, we have no regrets and are going to continue to enjoy as many experiences as we can along the way. Iain just might have to sell his body a couple of times to fund us till the end ;)

Ok, that’s enough complaining about the stress of traveling. There are more, but I don’t want to spend anymore of your or my time talking about the negatives. Instead I want to tell you about how totally incredible and underrated Croatia is!

We have wanted to go sailing somewhere exotic for a long time and Croatia hit that target. I could write for the next hour about how beautiful, lively, exotic, peaceful, playful and remarkably perfect Croatia is, and it still wouldn’t do this country justice. You would just have to come here yourself to see!

What I will say is that the people are lovely, the islands are phenomenal to sail around, the sea is crystal clear (and very refreshing from the hot sun) and the prices reasonable. That, and the Gelato is super yummy (I tried banana chocolate chip, kiwi, and ferrero roche:)

While walking through the streets of the small but welcoming towns, you can hear classical piano coming from obscure windows somewhere in the distance that creates a haunting echo sound in the air. You can smell home made pizza or fresh fish and hear men singing together under the tress. The old stone buildings are around 1400 years old and you can see reminisce of Greek, Venetian and even Egyptian history around each corner.

I will come back here one day and spend even more time than before. It somehow feels quiet and peaceful while lively and exciting at the same time. Plus I got the best tan of my life within a week!

Our sailing trip saved us from the hectic travel schedule we have followed so far and the exhaustion we were starting to hit so frequently that our burnout was keeping us from enjoying ourselves as much as we had liked. Now we are fully rested again, well fed and leave with 26 new friends that became our family on the sea.

For me, this week has been the best week of our trip so far and one of the best weeks of my life. Croatia will be missed, but it will see me again with a big smile on my face, a book ready in hand and possibly a few new people to enjoy the experience with again.