After one final look around Bern we got on a train to Interlaken with some American girls we had met in the hostel. The train ride was comparatively short compared to our other trips and it didn't take long to find our hostel and dump our bags. We wandered around the town for a bit but were a little disappointed. There doesn't seem to be much to do in the town itself and there isn't even much variety in the shops; it is mainly an assortment of chocolate shops, souvenir shops and restaurants. Additionally, EVERYTHING closes for lunch from 12-2pm so it was a little annoying not being able to go into some shops. On the upside, we did try some amazing Swiss chocolate praline truffles. They were brilliant, and we quickly realised that the cheap supermarket chocolate that we have been snacking on is very poor quality in comparison. The smell as you walk into the chocolate shops is just brilliant, and there are some interesting combinations available. I have never seen so much Toblerone either.
The rest of the afternoon was relatively uneventful as we passed the time talking to the girls (Alex and Alyssa) and relaxing. It was all building up to the fantastic night sledding we did. We met at the shop, got fitted with some snowboard boots, and jumped in the bus for a twenty-minute ride up into the Alps. There was only the four of us in the bus, plus the guide, which is normally too few to run a tour but they did anyway. We jumped into a rickety old gondola-lift from 1975 up to the top of the run, then sledded down. The views are amazing, even though it was night, because the snow and stone/trees contrasted so much with each other. Also, you could see the little villages nestled amongst the Alps, which was cool. High above us, much higher than anything else, was the solitary white light of the Jungfraujoch train station, the highest train station in Europe at 3400-odd metres. We are visiting it tomorrow. The sleds are very easy to control and a lot of fun, and we got some decent speed up. The best part was that our eyes adjusted quickly to the light and it was pretty easy to navigate the slope. We stopped and saw a frozen waterfall, and the snow cover was so thick that the railing that normally prevents people from falling into the waterfall and river was buried (so at least 1m deep). At the end of the run we ate fondue and a Swiss potato cake thing and had some beer and a bit of a laugh. It was great fun and definitely something I would do again.
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