Via Ferratas were introduced to me by a few Contiki friends. They are old WWI aerial access routes, now present day ropes courses that consist of steel cables, ladders and bridges that allow you to ascend, descend or traverse mountains and cliffs.<\/strong> They involve of a mixture of hiking and rock climbing, and you are attached to the steel cables via a harness and carabiners. So in one sense they are safe since you are attached to a rope, on the other hand you are dangling off a rock cliff sometimes hundreds of metres above the ground.<\/p>\n I love them.<\/b><\/p>\n Via Ferratas are hands-down one of the best thrill seeking outdoor activities you can do. <\/b>Not only are they fun, you get to see some of the more unique parts of the region. I highly recommend trying one if you visit Switzerland.<\/p>\n Now there are a couple of options on how to do Via Ferratas:<\/p>\n Some courses are very doable on your own, the M\u00fcrren \u2013 Gimmelwald<\/b> <\/a>course is very straightforward, although VERY frightening. Stephanie and I managed it on our own and it took around 3 hours.<\/p>\n On the Eiger -Rotstock <\/b><\/a>however, I would have been very clueless if I had attempt it on my own, so I am very glad we were with friends that could guide us through it.<\/p>\n Now you hear this a lot in Switzerland, but essentially there are three main languages: Swiss-German<\/b>, Swiss-French<\/b> and Swiss-Italian<\/b>. Z\u00fcrich is Swiss-German, Interlaken and Bern as well, where as Geneva is French. It\u2019s astonishing how just a few hours by train can make such a huge difference on language and culture. I honesty felt like I was in a different country when I was in Geneva; the way people acted, the food and the transportation systems were all so different from the interior German parts of Switzerland I was more accustom to.<\/p>\n Now I wasn\u2019t in Geneva for too long, just a few days which was a good thing, since it\u2019s not the most budget friendly of places. On my life\u2019s bucket list of places I want to visit,\u00a0 CERN<\/b><\/a>, The European Organization for Nuclear Research<\/i>, was near the top.<\/p>\n I am a huge science nerd and I love watching all the Discovery specials on the universe, quantum mechanics, particle physics and string theory. (I did study engineering for a year after all) Hence why visiting\u00a0 The Large Hadron Collider,<\/strong> the 27 km particle accelerator track underneath Geneva, was indeed a very nerdy fantasy of mine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Book in advance.<\/b> There is only one tour a day and they run in multiple languages, so call and book in advance.<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you cannot book in advance or forgot, like ourselves, call anyways and find out the time of the tour in your language for the day, then show up freakishly early and put yourself down for the cancellation\/wait list<\/b>. Most of the time there will be space and you\u2019ll be able to get in this way, but obviously booking in advance is the better option.<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is A LOT of information they are going to cover on the tour and it might be a bit overwhelming, but the information is at its\u2019 most basic explanation. The tours are meant for visitors that aren\u2019t necessarily familiar with the innermost details of particle physics, so don\u2019t worry about not being a genius. I do however recommend going through the interactive information zones to familiarize yourselves with the terms and general concepts<\/b>, that way you will have a much largest appreciation of the material being covered.<\/p>\n 4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ll probably be a bit disappointed<\/b>. You don\u2019t get the see the LHC or go anywhere they are currently working, which is essentially everywhere. This is a bit of a disappointment; however, we have to remember that these are real scientists working and I\u2019m sure they would appreciated us not staring at them while they work and not touching anything.<\/p>\n![\"Jungfrau](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8524\/8537408073_a571f5e1f7_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Jungfrau](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8105\/8538494912_348605fec2_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h2>\nVia Ferrata- The Iron Way<\/h2>\n
![\"Via](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8519\/8538530584_854b21e7f7_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Via](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8373\/8537417895_45ee0ca66d_b.jpg\")
<\/a>\n
![\"Jungfrau](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8241\/8538502840_7baffc6236_b.jpg\")
<\/a>The great divide<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Jungfrau](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8379\/8537390321_277d01010e_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGeneva<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Geneva](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8227\/8538547236_3b941f5a2b_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Geneva,](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8518\/8537441047_12b9c3cd0e_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nCERN<\/h2>\n
![\"CERN](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8111\/8538557002_867f381470_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"CERN](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8513\/8537456427_cfe0190a2e_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThinking about visiting CERN yourself?\u00a0 Here is what you need to know before you go:<\/h3>\n
![\"CERN](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8095\/8537454333_522c6c022e_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"CERN](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8368\/8538562500_1f735c10e1_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"CERN](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8091\/8538568986_0b30eeeeef_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n