Day 6: Gone with the Wind

The night before, around 10pm, we stood at the youth hostel's adventure reservation desk with crossed fingers. After calling around to about 3 or 4 different locations, the receptionist was able to book my mom and I reservations to hang glide over the Alps. The main hang gliding group the hostel worked with was booked solid, but there was one person available to take us one at a time.

At 9:30 am we were picked up at the hostel, and made our accent up the mountain. I'm afraid of heights, so every time I looked out the window as we were going up, my heart beat faster and my stomach churned. After signing my life away, I took a few deep breaths and calmed myself down. Besides, how many people can say they've soared over the Swiss Alps? ...That was also the motivation I used to jump off the side of a cliff. After getting geared up, and being given instructions, we ran until our feet no longer touched the ground.

It was perfect, with an absolutely beautiful view. I only wish I could have stayed up longer than I did.

As I waited at the bottom for my mom to have her turn, I met a couple who started asking me about the flight. After saying they weren't brave enough to do something like that, I assured them that the scariest part was the car ride up. The rest... was a breeze.

My mom landed around noon. She was rather disappointed that she hadn't gone para gliding instead. (Para gliders went up higher and stayed up longer than the hang gliders). At least we know for next time.

For lunch we chose to go to a restaurant with a view. We hopped on a cable car that took us straight up a mountain, which got me more nervous than when I was getting ready to hang glide. At least I wasn't alone in my fear this time. The people in front of us made a comment, as they were exiting, that they were glad the cable car didn't flip and roll down the mountain. Maybe it would have been better if we had been facing up the mountain instead of down.
The restaurant had phenomenal views. And the food was just as good. We split a bratwurst and rosti (similar to hash browns). Yum.

Filled with the sustenance we needed, we had our feet take us down the mountain. We ended up taking the scenic route, since we would have been down the mountain in less than an hour otherwise. We were again amazed by the absolutely breathtaking views that surrounded us.

We made it down the mountain just as the sun was starting to set... perfect timing. After showering and making ourselves more presentable, we had a nice relaxing dinner outside. Well, let me make a slight correction. It would have been more relaxing if we didn't have to listen to a guy at the restaurant sing '70's - 80's lounge music. I was quite embarrassed for him. My mom enjoyed herself though... laughing at him.