SUNDAY 10 | DECEMBER 2017
Continued from page 10 We were spending around three days in Rome; during which I decided to head to Florence. This particular trip was not on my list, but one that I added on a whim. Straight out of a movie, I boarded the wrong train, headed to the wrong place and lost about four hours in all of this mess when Florence is only 55 minutes away from Rome! Nevertheless, I reached the beautiful, sunny Florence late afternoon and was greeted by the picturesque views that made up this city.
With about three hours to spare in this exquisite place, I decided to spend all my time at the Piazzale Michelangelo. With multiple gardens interconnected all over the area, along with a fine, panoramic view of the entire city; Florence stunned me into speechless wonder. I traipsed around the rest of the surrounding gardens with some pizza and mouth-watering gelatos for company. We drove down to Interlaken from Geneva. A wondrously picturesque two and half hour drive, we were accompanied by the mighty Alps through the entire trip. At Interlaken, you are greeted by a sight of paragliders in their multicoloured parachutes and large Swiss cows grazing around their green pastures. The entire city has a very distinct old school charm that calls out to you instantly. Having checked in at a wooden cottage with an amazing view of the mountains, we decided to explore Interlaken on foot. Soon, I began to dillydally around the thought of going paragliding myself. I have always wanted to try this out, my friends urged me to give this a shot because — “how often do you get to jump off the Alps?”
After signing up with Paragliding Interlaken, we were taken on a 20 minute van ride up to Beatenberg, where we would be strapped onto our safety harnesses before running off the mountain. We were exactly 1,350 m above sea level and, I enjoyed every minute of my 35-minute experience — views of the entire Interlaken region and Jungfrau mountain range was absolutely majestic! My pilot Danny offered to try out some “risky games” where we would suddenly start twisting around like a tornado, yet something kept me calm throughout!
There is truly a whole different charm to be able to travel alone and with friends. My 17day rhapsody around Europe gave me a mix of both. I enjoyed every minute with my friends; and equally enjoyed spending my time alone. Having made an experience of a lifetime, I enjoyed every minute in Europe — returning to Chennai after losing my heart to Paris, reminiscing the cold in The Netherlands, wishing I could be a paraglider by profession and gorge on pizzas and gelatos all day without gaining a single kilo! (Nina is a PR Professional and part-time stationary designer by passion)