The End of The Rainbow

Becca, finally arriving in Interlaken

            From Innsbruck we went to Interlaken, and I could hardly wait to get there. I’d heard so many great things about it, and nearly everyone I knew who had studied abroad said it was a must on the itinerary. One bus, five trains, and nearly eight hours later we were approaching Interlaken. I couldn’t tell through the window glare and delirium how pretty the scenery was, but it had better look like the front of a post card from the minute we get to the train station after this journey.

Balmer's tent village

            Getting off the final train, Interlaken exceeded my expectations. Rows of snow capped mountains surrounding lakes that were such a bright green they seemed to be color dyed. We stayed at a tent village at the base of the Alps, which looking back now was really cool. At the time, after traveling all day I wasn’t exactly thrilled about sleeping on a bed made of plywood and some blankets. We did need a good nights sleep after all, because come 8am we’d be catching a bus to go skydiving.

Skydiving in Interlaken

            It was my second time to go skydiving but Becca’s first. I went in Texas last summer, and the one thing I said to my instructor after I pulled the chute and was floating through the sky above flat Texas plains was, “I’ve gotta do this again, except somewhere with better scenery.” On the flight up you could see snow capped mountains for miles, with lakes and grassy plains between. It was sunny and clear and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. When the plane door opened and ridges of ice were in close distance, my nerves skyrocketed. It’s gonna take more than once for me to feel at ease about jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. The second time around was better than the first for obvious reasons, and I soaked up every second of the way down, taking in the views and feeling my adrenaline rush.

Firework show in Geneva

            We finished the trip and the summer in Geneva. We figured we’d get fondue somewhere by the lake and go to bed early, but when we got there, there was a huge festival going on. A carnival wrapped around the entire perimeter of Lake Geneva and there was a firework show better than any 4^th of July I’d seen. We joked that it was Europe’s way of telling us bye, and I still like to think it was. It was weird saying bye to Becca the next morning since we hadn’t spent a single day apart the past 2 months. In a short period of time she had become one of those rare friends life hands you. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I see her again, but I’d miss her none the less.

Rainbow we saw from a train in Austria

            I met my mom in England for two days before going home. It was the perfect way to wrap up the summer and catch my breath before going home and dealing with reality. To say this was the summer of a lifetime is an understatement. The purpose behind going abroad was for an international business and cultural experience. I went to work everyday in an incredible office in Dublin for a successful advertising agency and saw campaigns I personally worked on go up around the city. I went to a Mosque in Bahrain, sat on the edge of the Cliff’s of Moher, climbed Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh, sailed the southern coast of Portugal, went to the clubbing capital of the world, International Bier Festival in Berlin, skydiving in the Swiss Alps, among many other unforgettable adventures throughout Europe and the Middle East.  The business and cultural aspects were fulfilled, and with that I earned so much more. Doing this trip was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The things I’ve learned, the people I met, and the memories I made will stay with me for the rest of my life. In some way, I did find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.