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!