Yodeleyhehoo!!! (April 18th)

Though we just got into Florence yesterday, we had to hop on a new train headed for Venice today...or at least that was the plan. But apparently our Eurail pass failed us again and we would´ve had to pay 15 euros just to go there for the day. So us, being the tightwads that we are, abandoned those plans and decided to head for Interlaken, Switzerland.

We bought our ticket and were heading out of the station when who of all people did we run into? Katy Bird and her two roommates. We gave her a good 5 minutes of crap about not contacting us. It turns out that she"tried" but she couldn´t find an internet connection and she was busy getting ready for her fashion show and yadda yadda yadda. She had plans to go to the south of France after that, but she actually decided to change that and join us in Interlaken for a few days.

After making plans to meet up with her ten minutes before our train left so we could all find seats together, Scott and I sought out our last pizza lunch of the trip. With pizza in hand, we started walking back to the train station.

Now if you´ve been keeping track, you´ll notice that Scott still had the gelato lead on me by one scoop and he was waiting for his victorious moment when we crossed into Switzerland to bring this up to me.

Tsk tsk tsk.

We went by the the last gelatteria we would see and Scott gave it just a little too long of a look, which reminded me that this would indeed have to be my last stand. With both of us strategizing, Scott approached the window first. I reminded him that there was no WAY he was going to out gelato me and he might as well order 2 scoops so I could order 3 and tie it up, which was all I cared to do.

Scott looked at me and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

He placed his order. "2 scoops, please."

Scott got his cone and stepped aside. I approached the counter. Would I keep up my end of the bargain?

"3 scoops, please."

And there the Great Gelato Competition would end...In a tie.

On with our day!

We met up with Katy and got on the first of our many trains of the day. The train rides were all pretty boring. Katy showed us how we could recline our seat and the one across from it to make a "bed" of sorts, so we all got some nice relaxation time.

Finally, we rolled into Interlaken around 8 at night. With the last glimpses of daylight left us, we still had time to view some of the most beautiful scenery any of us have ever seen. Yes, i realize this is starting to sound like a broken record, but every place we go it seems is even more beautiful then the next.

Interlaken is this tiny little town tucked away in the Swiss Alps. Mountains surround it on every side with the exception of a crystal clear lake to the north. Just absolutely breathtaking scenery.

We stayed at the Happy Inn Hostel, as recommended by Jessie Kinyon, which sounded like it was pretty cheap. My Let´s Go book told me that the US dollar was actually trading HIGHER than the Swiss Franc...around CHF 1.21 for $1.

The hostel had a restaurant on the bottom floor where we ordered a few beers and ate some good ole Iowa food: Chicken wings, spare ribs, french fries, and corn on the cob.

Ummmm....the fries were good.

Actually, the ribs and the wings weren´t too bad, but the corn on the cob was atrocious! You just can´t duplicate food from back home, so we´re gonna stop ordering it.

The bill came and the total was a little steep, but hey, the dollar is doing pretty good here so we could afford it, right?

WRONG!!!!!

The waitress rings it all up gives us the receipt and we see that the US dollar was trading LOWER than the Swiss Franc!!! We got about CHF .99 for each $1. Apparently my little book, despite being printed only about 6 months ago, was already outdated.

Lousy US Dollar!!!!

With this horrible feeling in our stomach, we were off to sleep, each of us masking tears of sadness.

Gelato count:

Jordan - 3
Scott - 2