Well I made it to Interlaken and am loving it here in Switzerland. Interlaken, as the name implies, is situated between two big lakes and is surrounded by the alps. If it weren't for the gigantic mountain range around me, I would think I was in the Caribbean because of the water color - it is the most clear blue/green water I've seen in quite some time.

I've been staying at the oldest privately owned hostel in all of Switzerland, and it sure has some character to it. I've been staying in their tent village which is situated a bit outside of the town out in a field - nothing like falling asleep to crickets once again. As luck would have it, as I was arriving to my tent, I was stopped by a photographer and asked to help him out for a second. Turns out he was shooting the new promotional material for the hostel and wanted to use me as the model for his shots, so for all of you coming to Interlaken in the future - don't be surprised when you roll out of the train station and see my face (well actually it's the back of my head, I was told it's my better side) and bags on many of the brochures and signs. Life is good, haha.

After checking in to the hostel, I met up with Andrea (my roommate over the last year) for the rest of the afternoon and took a boat out to some of the little castles scattered across the lakes. We then had the best food yet on this trip in a tiny little pub and afterwards I went home and crashed after a long day of traveling. Two important things I discovered however on this day. One: Interlaken has the coolest water fountains in the world. They are all gravity fed from pure spring water running off the lake, and they flow all over the place in old stone troughs. Two: I managed to leave all of my underwear in Karlskrona, bummer. Interlaken has been a city of "inside-outing"and it's soon time that I buy myself a souvenir of some nice swiss undies.

This morning I took the train up to Grindelwald, a tiny village situated in the heart of the alps. After wandering the town for a bit, I decided to take a gondola up one of the mountains and hike back down to the town. Great decision! After arriving at the top and beginning my hike down, I quickly realized that it is a poor idea to wear flip flops when traveling to the alps, note to self, the alps are steep and sandals have no support. Oh well, it just made the whole thing more memorable.

As I wandered down the path back towards Grindelwald, I found myself passing field upon field of yellow, purple and white flowers scattered across the slopes. Surrounded on all sides, I was blanketed by an ever-stretching cloud that dwarfed the valley. I found myself in a trance down the mountain - and then I lost my breath.

As I gazed up ahead of me to see where the path turned next, a parting in the clouds was revealing the most magnificent mountain I have ever seen. It's peak silhouetted by the clouds, it beckoned me to try and touch it. The snowy caps trickled down the grooves on its face and as fast as I tried to scribble down my thoughts on a sheet of paper, the blanket consumed the peak once again.

I was left standing full of awe and found myself spinning slowly, wondering what other peaks lie hidden behind the clouds. It's amazing how such a beautiful mystery can be so easily hidden, and I have no say or control as to when I can see it.

There's been a lot of times in my life where I go looking for miracles, but it seems that it is during the moments when we aren't even looking, and can't possibly fathom that something so incredible is surrounding us entirely, that the miracle hits. God is a beautiful and miraculous god.

After sitting on the path for a few minutes I managed to catch my breath again, but words still took awhile to come back.

One of my recent prayers has been for god to continually bug me and nudge me to learn and grow and find those moments of beauty. I get excited and can't wait to think about all the moments of revealing that God has in store for me in the future, but for now, this mountain will have to suffice :) As cool as it would have been to see the entire mountain range on a clear day, I don't think I would have appreciated them quite as much.

So after making it back into Grindelwald, I decided to head back to the train and return to the hostel. On my way down, I discovered I had been sneaking onto the trains with my Inter-rail pass that in fact didn't work on these trains, go figure. Good thing I had absolutely zero swiss franks on me and was unable to pay the ticket fee to the conductor when they came around checking for tickets. I think he was ready for his shift to be over and just told me not to do it again, I think that shouldn't be a problem considering I leave tomorrow.

Once returning to Interlaken, I popped by the hostel reception area where I watched Switzerland surprisingly beat Spain in the world cup and then took an early night back to my tent. It's been a good day, even though it was filled with rain, and I am so thankful for the things I get to witness.