9/15/08 Montreux Switzerland
I woke up early and headed out along the lake to find an internet café. The closest thing I found was a smoky bar located under a cabaret show. I sat there for a long time catching up on my email and facebook. When I was done I headed out and explored the city of Montreux. The views are amazing but that’s all I can really say about the town. Mantreux is designed for the super rich and it’s not very student friendly. After exploring, Kris, Mike, and I went to the chateau Chillion. A real medieval castle that seemed small from the outside but once inside you realize that it is filled with what seem like endless rooms and halls. I particularly like the dungeon, where lord Biron spent six years chained to a pillar. You could still see the spot where he scratched his name into the pillar. After the chateau a group of us went out to the casino.

9/14/08 Montreux Switzerland
As we drove towards Montreux I was awed by the Swiss Alps. These mountains seem to go up almost forever into the sky. I even had to tilt my head back to see the tops. Little towns dot all the mountain sides while waterfalls crash down and turn to vapor as they fall from the sheer cliffs. The roads are narrow and the bus seems to be way to large for them, but some how we make it through the Alps to Montreux. We arrive late, almost at twilight and Montreux looks picturesque along the shores of lake Geneva. After dinner Kris and I go for a walk along the shore, it’s cold and we can see our breath as we talk. Eventually we come across a large statue of Freddie mercury covered in flowers and expensive champagne bottles. We take a few pictures and then head back to the hostel.

9/12/08 Venice Italy
Today we went to Venice. Sadly I really didn’t like it all that much. The place is like a million and six degrees and filled with sweaty yelling tourists and shops filled with overpriced garbage that no one needs to own ever, I mean what are you going to do with a cat Marinette dressed up like a person? On the other had the city is beautiful and the canales are amazing and filled with gondolas. I’m really impressed on the sheer engineering feet that is Venice. Ordinary logs driven into to the muck and sediment of bay support all of the buildings. More than two hundred million logs hold some of the larger buildings up, that sheer number is very impressive. The best thing I did in Venice was hit up a jazz pizza place with a number of people from my group. We ate pizza and listened to jazz, sadly the music wasn’t live. Latter on that day Kris, Mike, and myself met an Australian named Claude, he immediately fit right into our little family and we spent the rest of the day wandering around with him, and talking about comedy and Australia.

9/10/08 Verona Italy
We left Salzburg early in the morning and drove through the Alps. As we neared Italy the alps got smaller and smaller and eventually turned into hills that dotted the country side. There were grape vines growing every where and the land seemed dried and old. We arrived in the evening to the hotel and despite the fact that we were all exhausted a large group of us ventured out to find some traditional Italian cuisine. After a long walk and some searching we found a nice restaurant with friendly staff and a great at home atmosphere. We looked through the menu carefully because Verona has a tradition of eating horse, but luckily with some help from Mike (who seems to have converted his Spanish into some sort of bastardized Italian) we ordered exactly what we all wanted. I enjoyed an alfrado dish with rabbit, something I never have tried before but would not hesitate to eat again. The wine here in Italy is wonderful and I would love to drink it all day if it wouldn’t make me look like a complete lush. On the way home from the restaurant we got lost really lost and some of the girls started really freaking out bad. I tried to reassure them that we would eventually find our way back, but they just wouldn’t hear it. One of them even started to cry. I just cant deal with stuff like that, it makes me so angry when people overreact to situations and stop thinking rationally and start getting hysterical about nothing. In the end we found our way home.

9/9/08 Salzburg Austria
Today was kind of more of the same here in Salzburg. Kris, Mike, Shawn, and myself went to a museum exhibit that’s focus was on vices and sin represented in through art. Afterwards we all went window-shopping and exploring. In the afternoon the group of us found a stairwell that led up to an empty deck, and we sat up there for some length eating our lunches and the fresh fruit we had purchased earlier that day from the market. When we had finished we headed down the stairs and ducked into the nearest café we could find. The café was lively and filled with tourists, all talking and eating. We sat down an ordered coffees and then proceeded to play rummy with a deck of cards that Shawn had stashed away in his bag. When the card game got boring Shawn left and Mike, Kris, and I crossed over the bridge into new Salzburg. We found a decent record store and spent the next couple of hours thumbing through CD’s and Vinyl. That night a group of us ate dinner on at a beer garden located on the side of the hill that the Salzburg castle is on. The food was expensive but very good and filling. After dinner we walked up the side of the hill towards the castle. The view from the castle was amazing and you can see for miles and miles. While at the castle we got the opportunity to watch a quartet perform Mozart in a small medieval dinning hall. The quartet played beautifully and from time to time a man playing a French horn or the Austrian herding horn joined them. After the concert we rode a tram down the side of the mountain and then went out to and enjoyed Salzburg’s bars and clubs one last time.

9/8/08 Salzburg Austria
We started out today with another walking tour. Salzburg is such a beautiful city I found it hard to listen to the guide because my eyes kept wondering. He showed us the basics of the city. This included the home of Mozart and some of the notable churches plus the theater were the Sound of Music’s closing scene was filmed. After he left us I explored the city further with Kris and Mike. We had coffee at a little café and then wondered the streets window shopping and exploring all the tiny alleys and then the hillside, eventually we settled down on a bench overlooking one its many squares. We sat there for a long time talking about this and that wile taking in the spectacular view of Salzburg. That night we all went out to an Irish pub and really partied as a group. Tim Tom came along and it was fun to see him has a person and not just an advisor. We all eventually decided to leave and go next door to a karaoke bar, but for some reason we couldn’t get in. Amidst the confusion at the door I started walking in the wrong direction and when I turned around I ran into Tim Tom headed in the opposite direction. I asked if he would like to go to another bar and ditch the rest of the group and he was down so we wondered down the street looking into various bars trying to find the right one. Eventually I heard some great electronic music coming from a bar called Blue Haven, so I grabbed Tim Tom and dragged him in. The bar was dead and almost all the people in the joint were behind the bar dancing. I felt bad for Tim Tom because I could tell this probably isn’t his type of place, hell I didn’t know if it was my type of place! But we had a few drinks and I talked his ear off about electronic music and 90fm nonsense. We left and headed back to the hostel, stumbling and talking about Pink Floyd, eventually we ran into Mike who was partying next to a parked car with all it doors open and blaring techno music, wile he and a small group of teenagers danced and hugged.

9/7/08 Dachau Germany
It’s a cool rainy and we just toured the Dachau concentration camp. Dachau was a surreal and solemn place. The camp consists of a vast empty area filled with the foundations of the long bunkhouses that have become synonymous with concentration camps. The whole time I was on the verge of breaking down but it never happened. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs at everyone who ever told a holocaust joke, I wanted to drag people from all over this planet to this place and show them this horrific blemish in Europe. It’s so strange to be in a setting where so much torment and aguish has taken place. What made it worse was that it was a very peaceful calm morning, gray and raining with crows cawing gloomily in the distance. It was eerie. When we set out from Dachau towards Salzburg I felt like I had witnessed a car accident, thankfully the feeling soon subsided and I found strength in my new friends Kris and Mike through laughter and good conversation. We arrived in Salzburg in the late afternoon and even though it was raining Salzburg looks beautiful. Our hostel reminds me of an elementary school back home. It’s filled with colored lockers and smells of cheap disinfectant, but I’m sure it will be a lot of fun. One of the girls on our trip left her bag on the bus and after it had driven away I tried to help her chase it down but sadly it was all in vain. To cheer her up Kris, Mike, and I took her with us to find a café. While we didn’t find one, we ended up in a Mexican restaurant of all places. I had an espresso while the others sipped on margaritas. The walls were covered in graffiti so we asked if we could add some of our own. Our waitress kindly obliged. We each tagged the ceiling and dated it with UWSP 08.

9/6/08 Munich Germany
I got up early this morning with a splitting headache as I walked around the hostel trying to cure my wicked hangover I was surprised to see a lot of people still drunk and stumbling around after awhile I decided to headed downstairs for the continental breakfast. Wow coffee never tasted so good! I was able to make myself a few extra sandwiches, which I packed away in my bag for later. Today we toured Nymphenberg palace. The palace is absolutely enormous and filled with beautiful artwork and baroque designs. I sadly didn’t enjoy the palace all that much, all I could think of was the super rich aristocratic people who lived there and probably took it all for granted that they got to live so high on the horse. After the palace I headed back to the hostel and took a nap and then collected myself and went out with a big group of people to explore the English Gardens. When we walked into the gardens I was shocked by how much it resembled a fair with people drinking and singing songs wile they ate giant pretzels from the concession stands. The best thing about this giant fair is that it never packs up and leaves town, it like this all the time. Besides the beer garden the park was absolutely beautiful and filled with a surprising number of naked people. We ended the night with beers and white veil sausages at the Hofbrauhaus. What a great way to end our stay in Munich.

9/5/08 Munich Germany
The walking tour was very interesting and filled with great information. I never new that Hitler really found himself and came to power here in Munich. Beer is no joke in Germany and it is deeply in twined with the citizens of Munich in particular. You can’t fall out of a plane in Munich without landing on a beer hall or beer garden. Both Halls and gardens are filled with smiling Germans and tourists singing and drinking enormous beers wile the umpa band plays in the background. People are so friendly in Munich and I really feel at home here. Kris, Shawn, Mike and myself signed up for a pub-crawl in the evening and then we all took naps. To bring you up to speed a pub-crawl is basically a drunken tour of beer halls and gardens. I thought I was up for the challenge but by the end of the tour I didn’t even want to look at another beer. After I sobered up little bit Kris, Shawn, and I went out to a discothèque called 8 Seasons and danced the night way to amazing house music.

9/4/08 Munich Germany
Munich Germany, wow what a place. I’m so excited for this trip even though I’m tired from the all the traveling. I can’t wait to meet all the members of our group and share this once in a lifetime experience with them. I know that I have the tendencies to pre judge people but I made a promise to myself that I would give everyone in the group and everyone else I meet a fighting chance.
We arrived in Munich in the late afternoon and checked in to our hostel, which is a really hip building filled with travelers from all over the world. The bar and lounge are very laid back and allow people to meet one another in a very comfortable environment. First night we ate dinner at a traditional beer hall, it was like walking back in time. I find it interesting to see how a city that appears to be so modern still holds on to the traditions of lederhosen and beer drinking. I was very surprised that the Beer Hall wasn’t filled with tourists but common Germans. The wait staff was dressed in traditional German costumes and were very friendly to us even though we didn’t speak German. The walls were covered in paintings of fryers and monks drinking and brewing beer. . Tonight I met a lot of people in the youth hostel bar and was amazed how many Germans wanted to talk about American politics, they have such a skewed view of our system and could not believe that there are really only two parties to choose from. I talked to a very young drunk German guy about the whole matter wile an American I had met earlier from Seattle translated.