A sporty start to the Youth Challenge adventure
Diary entry by Pastacorn, Sunday, 23 July 2023, 8 pm – Burgdorf Castle
I, Pastacorn, the Pastapläuschler mascot, am enjoying my peace and quiet in my beautiful room at the castle. The others went outside to enjoy the evening atmosphere. In a quarter of an hour, I’ll meet them to mix cool drinks in the lobby. Earlier, I saw everything that has been prepared for us. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are plenty of drinks for at least ten people. Thank you, Red Bull!
Off we go! ©Pastapläuschler
But back to my day. At just before 10 am, we set off for Bern. Anna and I just missed the train and we really had to sprint to join Chiara and Celina. Shortly afterwards, Laurin also got on board and our Pastapläuschler team was complete.
In Bern, we had some good tacos and took our first steps towards our careers as influencers. Our journey went on to Laupen where we tested our rail cycling skills. We were really fast and left everyone else behind (not).
More strenuous than expected, but definitely worth it. ©Pastapläuschler
Overnight stay at Jugi Castle
We chose Burgdorf Castle as our accommodation for tonight. We were quite surprised by the climb up to the youth hostel, but it was worth it when we reached the top and saw the castle. Our book-themed room was beautifully furnished. After dinner (unfortunately there was no pasta) we made our reel. This was my first public appearance and I think I mastered it extraordinarily well. It’s almost 15 minutes already. I’ll get back to you tomorrow to report on the drinks challenge.
Excursion to lofty heights with the best views
Diary entry for Pastacorn, Monday, 24/07/2023, 5.30 pm – Youth Hostel Brienz
Yesterday’s drinks challenge was super cool. We tried many different things and ended up showing our drinks to the youth hostel employees. We have written down the recipe for the top two drinks and are excited to see if we win the competition against the other teams.
After a tasty breakfast, we set off towards Brienz today, where we wanted to tackle the ascent of the Brienzer Rothorn (and ended up taking the train :)). Fortunately, there were lockers at Brienz station, so the others didn’t have to drag all their luggage up the mountain. That would have been a sight. Despite the noisy clatter of the locomotive, we all enjoyed the ride and were able to enjoy the view to the full.
When we arrived at the top, we immediately grabbed a seat in the restaurant, because it had just started to rain outside. After a break for snacks and games, the weather had improved and we were able to start our “This is Sheep” photo shoot. We did get some funny looks, but otherwise everything worked great. We managed to record the first “Makeba” dance sequence. This was supposed to be our reel today, but I’m still quite sceptical about it working the way we want it to. At this point the sun showed up again and we decided to go to the top. The view was breathtaking.
Best view from the Brienzer Rothorn. ©Pastapläuschler
Unfortunately, we soon had to make our way to the mountain station where we shared a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream before heading to the youth hostel. Then my stomach began to rumble. There was pasta!
Bad weather and a tricky plan B
Pastacorn diary entry, Tuesday, 25 July 2023, 3 pm – Grindelwald Indoor Ropes Park
This morning the plan had been to have an early start, as our destination would have been Grindelwald First. However, as the weather forecast was thunderstorms, we opted for our bad weather programme instead. We took the train to Interlaken. After a walk through the town we went to a mystery room where we had an hour to solve the mystery and escape from the room. Of course, we managed to do this together, even if we needed a bit of help on the way. But we still managed it with five minutes to spare!
Done – all four have successfully made it out of the Mystery Room. Pastapläuschler
We had lunch in Interlaken Youth Hostel, where we met Katrina and Dominic, who are accompanying us for two days. The two of them will record our journey in a (hopefully) great film. We’re going to need this film to advertise our group. In September, there will be a vote to determine which of the four groups has won the Youth Challenge. The youth hostel served pasta with pesto, which was prepared for us on the spot. That was soooo fine!
Our next stop was Grindelwald. We went to an indoor rope park, which is above an ice rink. I’m also writing my diary here at the moment, because I suffer from a fear of heights and am definitely not keen to dangle from a rope. But the others seem to master the obstacles with aplomb.
How does the journey proceed?
After some tricky puzzles and action on the ice field, the Pastapläuschler take a diversion to Ticino. Find out how they made it to Lugano and what else happened during the night in Grindelwald in the second part.
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