The quaint city of Grindelwald is also known as ‘Glacier Village’ with its towering mountains and crisp air. We took the most rickety train to get into Grindelwald, it looked like it had been stuck together by tape and glue. It teetered on mountain sides and bridges, but somehow we felt safer than ever - I think it was the relief of leaving Paris behind. On the train we met a boy from Korea, he told us that in Korea they calculate age differently to us, and that he was both 18 and 21, but he could’ve been teasing.

We got off our train in the late evening and had to walk up a mountain to find the hostel. We were fortunate enough to stay in a rustic, open plan cabin. Looking out of the window you could see the faint outline of the alps - it was all very Swiss.

We stayed up for hours on that balcony, enjoying five, six or seven mugs of hot chocolate before we started to roam the villages. Every cabin looked different, unique shapes and colours, it was all too quaint. At this point the restaurants were opening up, we had breakfast and found a nearby supermarket, where we stocked up for a day of hiking.

While setting off for the alps, one friend was desperate to find a brook to cool down in - we made that our mission. We climbed up and down parts of the mountains, our feet were sore. At one point we came across a rickety bridge with a flood warning attached. We all smelled and heard the brook before we saw it. It was cool and wonderful, we rested there for hours eating lunch and putting our feet in the water.

After cooling off we found a little restaurant, I had spaghetti. For our remaining time there that day, we played Jenga on our balcony and drank ciders.

As per our rule, we could only stay there for 24 hours, and this devastated us. I think if the hostel wasn’t so expensive we would’ve broken our rule on the second day and stayed for weeks. There was something healing about the air in Switzerland, as if my lungs could breathe properly for the first time. It was the first moment of my life where I understood why people travelled. Grindelwald was quaint and little and a breath of fresh air. Leaving Switzerland to head off into the unknown heat of Italy was upsetting. Having to say goodbye to the safest and kindest little village killed a little part of us. We promised to return when we were rich, we plan to buy our own cabin and paint it yellow.