Easter in the Black Forest

Happy Easter! After our wonderful evening last night, we started out with breakfast and Kinder eggs from Mrs. Mayer (mine had a mini polar bear inside!). It was our last full day as a large group with the travelers from Tennessee and Idaho as well as out awesome driver, Siggi. When we made our first stop of the day at Rheinfalls we gave Siggi a gift which he absolutely loved! Tyler was sent on a hunt for his gift yesterday in Switzerland and picked out a Swiss army knife that he had engraved. Our group photo of the day is with Siggi at the falls. After our short stop we continued on through the Black Forest to the world's largest cuckoo clock where we had lunch and Schwarzwalder Kirschetorte (black forest cake...delicious!). Once again we continued on, making another stop in Heidelberg and ending at our hotel in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Tomorrow morning most of the other travelers will head to the airport bright and early and go back home while our crew (plus a few others) take off for three days in Paris! More student blogs below!

P.S. Mom, does that name look familiar in the last picture? :) I've seen it around a few times now in Germany!

Dalton:
Hey from Ludwigshafen, Germany! The trip has been a very influential part of my life. I am very glad to have this opportunity. I may never be able to have this experience again. My favorite part of the trip so far would probably have to be the Swiss Alps. The Alps are awesome. Happy Easter everyone! Hi family! See you guys at home in four days!

Colten:
Hy everyone, I hope everyone is having a good time over spring break back home. I have been having a really good time. Things are a lot different than the U.S. but that's not a bad thing. It had been a great experience to be out on my own. I thought that the Alps were super awesome and all the different foods were really good as well. Hope to see everyone soon.

Tyler:
My favorite part of this trip so far is definitely seeing the mountains. They are awesome and something we don't get to see often. Another awesome part of this trip seeing the big towns from an elevated view. My favorite food so far was the meal we had in Rothenburg which was sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and sausage. Also a fun part of the trip was going to the church service last night and seeing how they do things, turns out its about the same just in a different language. Happy Easter to my family. Hope it is warm when we get back because it is cold here!

Alex:
The trip is awesome. My favorite part of the trip was Switzerland. It was very peaceful and quiet. The people are kind and open to us. Happy Easter family. I can't wait to get to see you guys.

Chelsea;
Guten tag from Germany! This trip has been amazing. Today we went to the Black Forest (which was a lovely shade of white due to the snow). The chocolate here is sooooo amazing!! And the rest of the food is good too. I'm so excited to head to Paris tomorrow and experience life in france. I'm also excited that I'm spending Easter in the same hotel my brother did two years ago! Missing everyone back in the United States!

Kelly:
It's been an amazing trip so far, even though it has been a little cold at times! I'm so excited to be here and when we are looking at the beautiful scenery, sometimes it still doesn't seem real. I'm super excited for Paris, especially after all the research I've done for Global Connections. We are in Germany for the night and hopefully going swimming! :) Miss everyone back home and hope to see you soon!

Lucerne/Mount Pilatus

We had a very long day today! We started off our morning with a quick ride to Lucerne where we took a short walking tour with Claudia followed by free time for lunch and sight-seeing on our own. James and I jumped at the chance to feed the swans by the Chapel Bridge as everyone else walked right by (I hope they enjoyed my granola bar!). After about four hours of free time, the group road up the side of Mount Pilatus in gondolas. It was very eerie traveling up the mountain because it was so foggy. I road in a gondola with Mrs. Mayer, Emma, and Katie and the girls kept the ride interesting by jumping around trying to take pictures and of course, licking clouds. That's totally normal, right? After our full day in Lucerne, Siggi drove us back to the hotel for dinner then our Prentice crew met in the "man cave" (a.k.a. The boys room) to go over our plans for three days in Paris! Most of our group attended a candlelight Easter service an afterward we were invited to the fellowship hall for an Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun to be welcomed like that, and no one wanted to crack their eggs! They were too pretty! Tonight we will be losing an hour of sleep so I think the kids will be thankful for a little time to snooze on the bus tomorrow morning on our way to Heidelberg via the Black Forest! My lunch tomorrow? Black forest cake. :) I'm thinking I'll have to run an extra mile for that one!

Italy to Switzerland

Our group started early this morning with a bus ride to Huttwil, Switzerland where we will be staying for two nights. We made a stop along the way in Verona but before we got off the bus James went up to the mic and shared the story of Romeo and Juliet with all of our travelers! Students had the chance to see Juliet's balcony, leave a message to their beloved on the walls to the courtyard, or leave locks on the gates as well. After leaving Verona, Italy we continued to the Swiss border where we had fantastic views of the Alps. We went through the Gotthard tunnel, one of Europe's longest tunnels. It is around 17km long, and took us almost 13 minutes to drive through. When we entered the tunnel we had blue skies and sun, when we left the tunnel it was like driving into a winter wonderland. Claudia said she has never seen anything quite like that before. You can see a before and after pictures, I'm not making this up! We just checked into our hotel and it is very VERY nice. It has been around since 1469...check out the pictures to see just how awesome it is!

During the lengthy drive I had a few more students blog. Their posts are below!

James K.:
My favorite part so far was Innsbruck, Austria because the guys and I had some good wiener schnitzel. Today I was picked by Claudia to tell the group about Romeo and Juliet. I was not excited at all, but I did it anyway. I sat at the front of the bus and was pretty smooth.

Sam H.:
My favorite part of the trip so far was Italy for sure. I've always wanted to go here and it was a great experience. Today we were in Verona and it was beautiful. We went to the wall and to Romeo and Juliet's balcony. It was really cool to see all o the locks on the balcony. I also liked Innsbruck, Austria. :)

Brooke K.:
My favorite part of the trip so far has been Germany. I am in love with the language and it is just an awesome place. I can't wait to go back to go to Heidelberg. I also love the canals in Italy. Also the green grass over here is awesome an so much better than yucky snow! I will be staying in Germany and not returning home. ;)

That's all for today! Tomorrow we will go up almost 7000 feet in gondolas to the top of Mount Pilatus in Lucerne, Switzerland!

A Rainy Day in Venice

It was another dreary day but we didn't let that slow us down! We took our bus from Ponte di Piave to a water taxi outside Venice. We taxied to the island of Murano where everyone saw a glass blowing demonstration which was amazing! Afterward we had the chance to view a very large gallery of Murano glass before taking a taxi to Venice. When we arrived we received a brief tour from a local guide, after we were orientated with the area, most of our tour group went through the canals via gondolas which was a very fun experience! From there, we went our separate ways to explore the city. Several of our girls bought Venetian masks for prom and they are very excited to show everyone back home. After dinner tonight Dianne, Alyssia, Katie, Emma, myself and a few people from another tour group spent some time downstairs in the hotel singing and playing piano. We will have a long day on the bus tomorrow as we head to Switzerland, making a stop along the way in Verona, Italy.

For the parents looking for their children in pictures: We didn't have much of a chance for a group photo with the poor weather today, but we are all accounted for and having a blast!

Munich/Innsbruck/Venice

We checked out of the hotel and hit the road at 8am. It was about a 2 hour drive to Innsbruck, Austria where we had the chance to stretch our legs, sight-see, shop and eat some schnitzel. The majority of our time today was spent on the road but we are finally reaching warmer temperatures, green grass and sunshine! A few students wrote the posts below this afternoon during our bus ride through the Alps.

The photos of students are from our stop in Innsbruck. Mrs. Anderson: If you are out there reading this, Mrs. Mayer wanted to replicate a picture of you from the last trip. Enjoy!

Dianne, Mrs. Mayer and I enjoyed our first espresso followed by a cappuccino after arriving in Italy. The last photo shows the effects of caffeine! Sorry, but I jut had to post it! :)

Alyssia K.-
Hey everyone this is Alyssia! So the part I love the most so far is the food. I had this cookie, like a shortbread cookie, with jam between it and a bunny carved out on top. The most yummy ing I've ever had! The churches here are beautiful! My friends and I stopped into one for a minute or so and heard the congregation sing with the priest. For the most part I'm having a wonderful time!

Tonisha K.-
The trip has been so great! Just leaving Germany and the view of the alps is amazing! Long bus ride ahead of us through Austria and then on to Italy! I'm so excited! So funny story, yesterday when Emilie and I were shopping, I made Emilie stand there and hold my stuff so that I could try on my hat. I'm standing there laughing and stuff and then all of a sudden I notice a crane, the exact same color as the hat I just bought, backing towards Emilie. Apparently my face was funny because I went from laughing to screaming. Well not literally screaming but I told Emilie to watch out and then pulled her out of the way. She thought it was pretty funny I guess, and it was. Well I'm excited for the rest of Europe, low point is the weather, but hopefully it will get better. Not much room to complain, because we're in Europe!
P.S. Emilie and i made a friend in the Texas airport named Larry, but we were mean friends and left him behind to get run over and crushed some more which we were allowing to begin with...and laughing at.
P.P.S. Larry is a gummy worm.

Brityaney S.-
Hello everyone! This trip has been so amazing. Germany was great! After learning about culture, I understand why my father does enjoy some of the things he does. I am so excited for the rest of the trip. I wouldn't want to spend my spring break anywhere else. I love that my sister and I are traveling the world together; I would have to say that traveling with her is my favorite part. Overall, this has been the best experience of my life so far! I hope everyone is enjoying their spring break as well, and I look forward to seeing and talking with all of you when we come home! <3

Cassidy S.-
Hello to everyone back home. It was pretty cold in Germany, but that didn't stop me from having fun. Some of my favorite things so far were Rothenburg, Dachau, shopping and trying the different kinds of food. I can't wait to tell you guys all about it when I get home.

Our Current View

We just left Innsbruck, Austria and I wanted to quick share our view right now on the way to Venice, Italy! I will be posting later after we get to our hotel.

Munich/Dachau

Today the group visited Dachau, got a tour of Munich, and had some free time for shopping before having dinner. My exciting purchase of the day? A dirndl! The group picture from today is from Maria's Square in Munich as well as some candid shots. Don't worry about Alex with the microphone, he wasn't doing karaoke...he gave the bus a mini history lesson on WWII on our way back to Munich from Dachau. He did an excellent job!

I thought it would be fun to give the students a chance to give their views of the trip so far. They started writing books so I will have only a few write each day.

Katie M.-
Hi to everyone back home! I think we're all having an amazing time, or at least I am. Rothenburg was a great way to start the trip, and Neuschwanstein Castle was beautiful. I used to love hr Swan Lake Barbie movie, and it was pretty cool to go to where that was based. In Rothenburg I went into a gorgeous church where there was supposedly a drop of Jesus's blood displayed. It would be so cool if its real. Emma is keeping me well fed with stolen packets of Nutella and I'm excited for the rest of our adventure. I hope everyone is doing well back in Price County!
-KM :)

Emma S.-
Hello to everyone at home!! Germany has been beautiful and everything we have seen so far has been stunning! The size and age of the buildings here are amazing! Some have so much history behind them. Rothenburg was beautiful with all of the colorful buildings and cobblestone streets. Also, Neuschwanstein Castle was definitely a fun thing to see. You dont see a lot of castles in Northern Wisconsin ;) You can tell both the inside and outside of the castle took TONS of work to complete and the carvings and paintings are stunning. Anoher very memorable place was Dachau, which was a concentration camp. The history of the camp was very enlightening and interesting. Finally, Munich is a beautiful city! The buildings are huge and very unique. You would never see anything like that at home! Anyway, so far the trip has been awesome to say the least and definitely something I would do again! Hope the weather there is better than it is here! See everyone in a week or so!
-EM

Emilie B.-
Greetings to everyone in America! This trip has been AMAZING, and we have only seen Germany so far. We were delayed on the way to Europe, but everything turned out fine and we arrived safely in Europe and jumped right into our tour! We started with Rothenburg, which was , in one word, cute. The buildings were colorful and I love the cobblestone streets. Tonisha and I climbed up a ton of steps and ladders to climb to the top of a tower, which provided us with an awesome view of the city. Sometimes, if the people don't speak English very well, it is hard to communicate. We can't read sins and are awkwardly trying to pull open doors that say "push". Also, we are not used to bike lanes and frequently almost get run over by bicyclists. I think my favorite part so far was seeing the Neuschwanstein Castle, built by "mad" King Ludwig II. The castle was beautiful. I love hearing about the history of Germany. We learned a lot about World War II, and just finished our trip to Dachau, a concentration camp. I'm excited for the rest of our tour! But it will be nice, when we return to America, to not have to pay to use the "water closets". We haven't had the best weather buy it's okay, because we. Are. In. Europe! Can you tell that I'm excited?? See you all when we get home!

We will be leaving Germany in the morning and driving to Italy with a stop in Innsbruck, Austria! It will be a long day on the road but hopefully we will be snow-free for a few days after tomorrow!